Young and fond of adventure, I had rather enjoyed the prospect of this enterprise, and though disappointed not to carry it out in my intended father-in-law’s company, I saw no reason for declining Mr Hesketh’s proposal to go with him alone. Accordingly, signifying my assent to it, we proceeded to enter the chimney together. Some half-dozen men were waiting within, in readiness to turn the crank of the windlass; and a moment later, swaying and vibrating in mid-air, we were slowly ascending through the gradually narrowing aperture of the great chimney. On gaining the top I was the first to step from the bucket; but Mr Hesketh was speedily by my side. The stone coping being fully two feet in width and having a narrow parapet a foot in height, presented a perfectly safe footing. I had a strong head, and had not expected to feel dizzy; yet, as I now gazed from that tremendous height, a singular feeling of insecurity seized upon me. ‘Will you not walk round?’ said my companion when we had stood together for a few seconds on the spot where we had alighted. ‘Oh, certainly,’ I replied with an assumption of boldness, but an inward shrinking from the ordeal; and with Mr Hesketh at my heels, I commenced the circuit. About half the short distance was accomplished, when a hand laid on my arm arrested my steps. ‘We’ve a fine view from here—haven’t we?’ observed Mr Hesketh as I stopped, a sensation of dread thrilling through my nerves at his touch. ‘You see Holm Court there, down to the right, don’t you?’ ‘Of course, quite plainly,’ I returned, clearing my throat to cover the strange nervous uneasiness I was experiencing. ‘So glad I persuaded you to come and see the view,’ he remarked next in a very peculiar tone, and at the same time tightening his grasp upon my arm. ‘But it’s an awful height, isn’t it; I hope you don’t feel giddy?’ ‘Not at all,’ I replied, endeavouring to keep my composure as I gazed downwards at the long perpendicular wall of smooth brick, but feeling that I was trembling perceptibly. ‘And yet there is but a step between us and death,’ he pursued with a sneer. ‘Hollo! I’m quoting Scripture, I declare. You wouldn’t have expected that of me; would you?’ ‘Oh, anybody can quote Scripture, you know,’ I responded with a ghastly attempt at airiness. ‘But I say, Hesketh, let go my arm, will you? You’re hurting me.’ ‘Hurting you, am I? Ha, ha! I beg your pardon, I’m sure,’ he laughed, increasing instead of diminishing the vice-like pressure of his fingers. ‘I wouldn’t hurt you for the world; O no! But now, if you’ve quite finished with the scenery, Mr Frederick Carleton, I’ll trouble you to give me your attention for a moment. I’m going to ask you a question, which you may perhaps consider somewhat curiously timed. I am not a vain man, that I know of; but I should like to have your opinion respecting my personal appearance. Should you feel justified now, for instance, in describing me as a well-built, powerful kind of man?’