The ground had given way beneath her feet, and she fell straight backwards over that awful edge.

For the fraction of an instant she saw the stars in the deep blue sky above her, then, like the snap of a spring, they vanished into darkness...
It was a darkness that spread and spread like an endless sea, submerging all things.

No light could penetrate it; only a few vague sounds and impressions somehow filtered through.

And then--how it happened she had not the faintest notion--she was aware of someone lifting her out of the depth that had received her, and there came again to her nostrils that subtle aroma of cigarette-smoke that had mingled with the scent of the gorse.

She came to herself gasping, but for some reason she dared not look up.