The night passed away, and the stars still shone clear until day dawned once more, and the sun was as bright as ever; the storm died away and with it all remains of fear. But once one has been influenced by anything so terrifying there will ever after be, as it were, a dread of the actual terror. Not only by night in evil dreams, but by day when one fancies one's self safest, it lurks in our imagination, ready to seize hold of us at the smallest provocation, and devouring us with cunning eyes and bated breath drives us sometimes to madness. As the lad stood there he began to feel afraid of the deepening twilight and the roar of the sea; and all at once a terrible fear came upon him, and all the horrors of the last day began afresh. How could he have been so foolish as to venture up there, and _alone_, too! He stood like one paralysed, he dared not move one foot forward, it might be noticed, and he was surrounded by enemies. He whispered a prayer to his dead mother that if this really were the last day, and the resurrection set her free, she would come to him up there and stay with him; not with his sister, for she had the headmaster of the school to take care of her; but he was quite alone. But all remained as before. Only toward the west it grew lighter, but darker toward the east; the cold grew more intense and reigned supreme; but there was a comforting feeling in the more equal size and monotony of all around. By degrees he regained courage, and began to breathe more freely--timidly at first, then a long-drawn breath several times; he began then to touch himself all over very gently and cautiously, half afraid that those invisible powers which were looking out for him might suspect some evil. Softly he crept away from the edge of the precipice and drew nearer to the downward path. He was not going to run away, oh dear no! He was not even sure that he would go down; he might just try; certainly he would gladly come again. But the descent just here was dangerous, and really ought to be got over before dark, and at this time of year it got dark so very quickly. If he could manage to climb down to the path that led across the mountain from the fishing village down below, then there would be no danger; but up here--well, he would go carefully, cautiously, one little step forward, then another quite tiny little step. It was just a trial; he would be sure to come again.