A moment more and I had fettered him to the granite. On its surface were two iron staples, distant from each other about two feet, horizontally. From one of these he depended a short chain, from the other a padlock. Throwing the links about his waist, it was but the work of a few seconds to secure it. He was too astonished to resist. Withdrawing the key I stepped back from the recess. (Paragraph 71)
what figurative language is this