'Come down, good lord, or of a verity thou wilt fall and crack thy coxcomb!' shouted the major-domo from beneath; but the intrepid Almeric heeded not the warning, and only rose higher and higher, nearer and nearer to the stars.

And then, suddenly, there was an awful shriek, and his body was seen to be hurtling steadily and surely towards the earth, gaining speed with every revolution.

'Help, help!' they cried; 'he must be dashed to pieces; nothing can save him.' But at that moment--" Here Horace had to go on.

He was not a literary boy, and it took him more than one minute to read all that had gone before.

All he could therefore add was: "-- he woke up.