The prospect made him sick and faint for a time, for
that which in his first blind sense of shame he had proposed to
do, now that he had heard Ida's heaven-inspired words, seemed base
and cowardly to the last degree. If she had not brought to him
sane and quiet thought, he would have grimly said to himself that
fate had taken him out of his dilemma in a fitting way, punishing
and destroying him at one and the same time; but now to die and
forever seem unworthy of the trust of the woman he so loved and
revered was a kind of eternal punishment in itself. He called and
shouted with desperate energy for aid but the freshening wind of
early September rustled millions of leaves in the forest around
him and drowned his voice. He soon realized that one standing on
the bank just above him would scarcely be able to hear, even though
listening. Oh, why would that remorseless wind blow so steadily!
Was there no pity in nature?
Then in a frenzy he struggled and wrenched his leg till it was
bruised and bleeding, but the rocky grip would not yield. He soon
began to consider that he was exhausting himself and thus lessening
his chances of escape, and he lay quietly on his side and tried
to think how long he could survive, and now deeply regretted that
his wild passion for the past two days had drawn so largely on his
vital powers.
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