Janet Aldridge - The Meadow Brook Girls in the Hills
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Janet Aldridge >> The Meadow Brook Girls in the Hills
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Margery indulged in a fresh attack of shivering. Hazel gripped her
arm, whispering, "Brace up, dear!"
"Oh, I can--n't," sobbed Margery. "My knees won't hold me up."
"Now, girls," called Harriet cheerily, "take hold of the rope, but be
gentle about it. Remember, a sharp jolt might be a serious thing for
Tommy. It might jerk Miss Elting over, too, so be very careful. Now,
Tommy, we are going to pull you up. Don't reach for the rock. It
won't help you any to do so. Just hang limp. Try to imagine that you
are a bag of meal and we are pulling you up for the muffins to-morrow
morning."
"Oh, I can't laugh," wailed Tommy.
"Then cry, if you wish, but don't make a noise doing it. Shed all the
tears you wish to, but let them be silent tears. Now then!"
Harriet stepped back, taking firm hold of the rope. She was near the
edge of the shelf, Hazel directly behind her, with Margery still
farther back.
"When you are ready, Miss Elting! Let us know when you wish a fresh
hold." Harriet was perfectly calm outwardly.
"Ready!"
"All together! One, two, three--pull! Steady; not so violently. This
is a small rope, and----"
"Whoa!" interjected the guardian sharply.
"We are taking up the slack back here. Good work for you girls,"
encouraged the guide.
"What is it? Oh, what is it?" screamed Tommy.
"Stop that noise!" commanded Harriet. "Everything is all right!"
"Ready again," commanded Miss Elting. "One, two, three--pull!"
Tommy came up about a foot this time. Her progress was slow, but it
was, at least, sure.
Jane and the guide were acting as anchors, at the same time assisting
in pulling on the line, holding down when the pauses came.
After every pull Miss Elting would call a halt while she worked the
round stick down over the edge of the rock to keep the rope from being
unduly worn. In this way Tommy came up little by little, now and then
uttering a sharp scream at some unexpected jolt. Once, when the rope
slipped from the round stick, Tommy felt herself slipping into
unconsciousness, but pluckily recovered herself. She clenched her
fists until the nails almost cut into the flesh of her hands, and all
the time she was wondering if the belt that seemed to be cutting her in
two would hold or break. Those on the ledge above were wondering much
the same thing. They were operating with extreme caution for that very
reason.
"You are almost up to us, Tommy," encouraged the guardian. "Be very
careful. Make no sudden moves. Don't try to take hold of the edge
when we get you level with it. We shall have to pull you over the last
two or three feet by taking hold of you. Then we will have something
to be thankful for, won't we?"
"Yeth," wailed a weak voice from over the side.
"Ready!"
This time Tommy came up so close that the guardian was able to touch
her. Miss Elting leaned over and patted Tommy on the shoulder
reassuringly.
"One more long, strong pull and we shall have you within a little way
of safety. Girls, are you ready for the last pull?"
Margery was breathing heavily, Hazel, too, was taking short, excited
breaths.
"Yes, when you are ready," answered Hazel. "Get ready back there,
ready to hold fast after the last pull. Don't give way the fraction of
an inch," called Harriet. "This is like things I have read about
Alpine climbing, except that I guess they don't pull them up dangling
in this fashion."
"Pull!" called the guardian. "Steadily and slowly this time."
The girls were breathing heavily now.
"Stop!"
"Oh, am I up?" wailed the little, lisping girl.
"Yes. Now be perfectly quiet. Harriet, can you help me?"
"Yes. All hold fast. I am going to let go. Step back a little
farther, girls. There!"
"We have it," shouted Janus.
"We have," cried Crazy Jane.
Harriet stepped forward.
"Hold up your arm, Tommy," directed the guardian. "You take that arm,
Harriet. Now one foot, Tommy. I'll take that. Don't move about any
more than you can help. Wait! Her arm first. Have you got it,
Harriet?"
"Yes."
Snap! Tommy uttered a wild scream of terror. Miss Elting was reaching
for the upraised foot.
Tommy's belt gave way when her foot was almost within the guardian's
grasp, and her slender body shot downward.
CHAPTER XIII
PLACING THE BLAME
Such screams as rose from over the ledge none of that party ever had
heard. Harriet, it will be remembered, had hold of the little girl's
hands, or rather one hand, when Tommy's belt broke. The jolt was so
great that it seemed to the two girls as if their arms would be pulled
from their sockets.
Tommy thought, too, that she was being hurled to her death when she
felt herself falling. But Harriet, with unusual presence of mind, had
clutched the little girl's hand with a desperate grip.
"Give me the other hand," she panted.
"I--I can't," sobbed Tommy, who immediately began to wriggle in an
attempt to reach the shelf.
"Then keep quiet. Don't stir." Instead of keeping quiet, the girl,
now fairly beside herself with fear, began a series of lunges for the
ridge above her. The result was what Harriet had feared. She felt
herself slipping forward toward the edge. In those few seconds Harriet
Burrell came nearer to realizing what fear was than ever before. To
let go would be to save herself at the cost of Tommy's life. Harriet
not only held on; but reached over her free hand which she clasped over
that of her companion. Now she slipped more than ever. Her companions
did not seem to realize what had occurred. It had all come about so
quickly that they did not quite comprehend.
"Grab me!" cried Harriet. "I've got her! Why don't you do something?
I'm slipping over. Quick! For mercy's sake, move!"
Jane McCarthy, who, with Janus, was still clinging to the rope, now
dropped it and sprang forward. Jane went down on her knees, grasping
Harriet by the ankles.
"Hold me! Are you all asleep?" shouted Jane.
Janus awakened suddenly. But Miss Elting was a little ahead of him.
The guardian sprang behind Jane and slipped both arms around the
latter's waist.
"Help Harriet!" she cried.
Janus ran forward with a rope, making a noose in it as he ran. The
guide went down on his knees beside Harriet Burrell.
"Can you swing her a little without dropping her?" he shouted.
"Yes, but she'll be dreadfully frightened."
"We can't help that. Swing her," commanded Janus.
Harriet did so, bringing from Tommy Thompson a series of terrified
screams. If any one else heard he must have believed that some one was
being killed. But her shouts and screams did no harm. The guide took
quick advantage of the opportunity offered by Harriet to slip the loop
in the rope over one of Tommy's feet, then draw it taut.
"I'm caught. Mercy, I'm caught!" screamed Tommy.
"Hang on to her! Don't let go! Stop that yelling until I tell you
what to do!" commanded the guide. "We're going to pull you up the best
way we can git you up. If you don't like it, don't fight; just yell.
Hold her as she is, Miss Harriet, while I give her foot a yank."
He really did jerk on the rope, but more for the purpose of tightening
the loop than for any other reason. Of course, the proceeding was
followed by an ear-piercing scream. Janus promptly began to pull up on
the line. Tommy's foot came up with it, leaving the other foot and one
arm dangling in the air nearly two hundred feet from the bottom of the
cliff.
"Pull when we get her level. No; the rest of you folks keep back, or
we'll all be over, first thing we know. There! Over she comes!" With
a final effort they had landed Tommy on the shelf. She was sobbing
pitifully. Her ordeal had been sufficient to upset the strongest
nerved person.
"You poor darling," cried Miss Elting, gathering the terror-stricken
Tommy in her arms and staggering to the rear of the shelf, where she
placed the terrified girl on a blanket.
Harriet sat back where she was. She was breathing heavily from her
exertions, and further than this she admitted to herself that she was a
little faint. But not for worlds would she have her companions know
this.
"Better get back," advised the guide. "One is enough."
"Don't trouble about me. I will as soon as I get my breath. That was
a hard position in which to do any lifting."
"I reckon. I take off my hat to you, Miss Burrell. This outfit isn't
in such great need of a pilot. You could get along without me and
never miss me for a minute except when it comes to toting a pack, and
even then I guess you could do without me, especially if that young
lady threw a dish or so overboard after every meal," he added jocularly.
"Is there any wood?"
"Yes. There you are again. I never think of anything. I get lost
wondering what's going to happen next. You sit down. I'll attend to
the fire. It is cold. You are shivering, aren't you"?
"I--I believe I am." Harriet got up and walked over to her companions.
She walked rather unsteadily, but they were too much upset themselves
to observe it. Tommy lay on a blanket with face buried in her arms,
sobbing, every fourth sob being a hysterical moan. Harriet sat down
beside the unhappy little girl, slipping an arm about her waist.
"It's all over now, honey. Don't cry."
"I'm thick! Pleathe give me thome--thome water."
"Water," called Harriet. "Is there any? If not, let Mr. Janus get
it, if he will."
"If she can wait a few moments we'll all have some hot coffee,"
answered the guide. But Tommy could not wait. She insisted on having
a drink of water, so the guide brought it to her. This seemed to take
the girl's mind from her recent fright, and lying on her back Tommy
Thompson gradually became quiet and surveyed the guide's coffee-making
through half-closed eyes.
"Do you think you can go to sleep?" asked Miss Elting, stooping over
the recumbent Tommy.
"Not until I get thome coffee," answered Tommy, gazing up soulfully
into the anxious face of the guardian.
Margery laughed almost hysterically. It was the first laugh that had
been heard in camp for some time, so it was welcome, helping to relieve
the tension as it did. Tommy turned her eyes on her stout friend in a
droll way which set Margery to giggling afresh.
The fire was crackling by this time. Harriet dragged Tommy's blanket
up closer to it, that she might get some of its warmth. Janus, looking
unusually solemn, was boiling water for the coffee.
"She had a pretty narrow escape," he nodded, observing Harriet's eyes
upon him.
"Indeed she did," agreed Harriet, with a slight shudder.
"No more sleep for me this night," cried Crazy Jane. "It's my opinion
that that wild Indian chief put a hoodoo on this rock, as well as on
the lake below. I shouldn't be surprised at most anything happening
here."
"Yes. Suppose the wall should fall in?" suggested Margery, gazing
apprehensively up the side of the granite wall, on which the light from
the fire was reflected in arrow-like shafts.
"Will you stop that?" demanded Jane. "Haven't we had trouble enough
for one night without your suggesting anything else?"
"You started the subject yourself," reminded Harriet.
"Who would like a bite to eat with her coffee?" interrupted the
guardian. "Tommy, would you like to have a biscuit?"
"Oh, no, thank you."
"I would," declared Margery.
"Yeth. Buthter ith never thatithfied. Thhe is always hungry," taunted
Tommy.
"And you've got over your scare," added Jane significantly.
The guardian set out some biscuits and lumps of sugar on a piece of
paper. The condensed milk was not brought. Everyone with the
exception of Harriet and Tommy was possessed of keen appetites after
their trying experiences. Janus, too, ate three biscuits and drank
three cups of strong coffee.
"Better have some," he urged, glancing at Harriet, who had refused the
coffee.
"I guess Harriet is ill, too," suggested Margery.
"I wish to sleep to-night. I shouldn't sleep a wink were I to drink
that black stuff, nor will you."
"You watch us and see," chuckled Margery.
"Tommy, how did you come to get over the edge?" questioned the
guardian, now that the little girl had begun to feel better.
"You certainly cannot blame our enemy for this accident," declared Jane.
"I wonder if he did push Tommy over?" Margery's eyes were large as she
voiced the question.
"Nonsense!" retorted Harriet Burrell.
"Yes. That's what I say," agreed Miss Elting.
"I suppose she will lay it to me," chuckled the guide.
"Yeth, I ought to," nodded Tommy. "But we agreed not to fight any
more, didn't we?"
"We did," he replied very gravely, "and we are not going to, are we?"
Tommy shook her head.
"Not before to-morrow, I gueth. I'm too tired to fight. Did I
furnithh you with exthitement enough for one night?"
"Will you listen to her?" laughed Crazy Jane. "Little Tommy Thompson
fell off the mountain to furnish us with excitement. Of course we are
satisfied. We forgive you for all your tricks, and we don't care how
much excitement you furnish if you will only keep your feet on
something solid. We came within a little of all going over with you in
our fright."
"Ithn't that nithe?" glowed Tommy. She was recovering her spirits. "I
thhould have had company."
"That is a very ill-timed remark, Tommy," answered Miss Elting in a
severe tone. "I am surprised at your flippancy. I really believe you
enjoyed our fright."
"Yeth. Didn't you hear me laugh when I wath down there?"
"I wouldn't say such things if I had made as much trouble as Tommy
has," declared Margery.
"Of courthe you wouldn't," agreed Tommy. "You haven't a thenthe of
humor."
"Some people have no sense at all," flung back Buster.
"We have forgotten something," interrupted Harriet. "Tommy's blanket
is down there somewhere. We ought to have it before going on in the
morning. You may keep mine for to-night, if you wish. You are going
to sit up the rest of the night, are you not, Mr. Grubb?"
"Yes. I'll take no more chances with this party on Sokoki Leap. I'll
keep the fire going the rest of the night, too. Fix your blankets so
your feet will be toward the fire. The Indians would say, 'Indian keep
him head cool, feet warm.'"
"We have done better than that this evening," answered Jane laughingly.
"We managed to keep our head and feet warm at the same time."
"I should say we have," mused Harriet. "But what about the blanket?
We do not wish to lose it."
"I'll go down and get it in the morning," said Janus. "You needn't
wait breakfast for me; I'll have something to eat before leaving. But
do be careful. I don't want to have the little one falling down the
rocks and landing on my head when I get there. Better turn in as soon
as possible, young ladies. We have a mighty hard trail ahead of us in
the morning, and some more slippery granite to climb. Another thing,
you'd better put another belt on Miss Thompson. You'll find some
leather and a buckle in my kit. There's sewing material there also."
"How far shall we have to climb?" asked Hazel.
"'Bout a thousand feet, as a bird flies," Janus answered, with a
careless gesture.
"Ob, thave me!" wailed Tommy desperately. "I can't thtand any more."
"Why, Tommy, we've hardly begun yet," Harriet retorted smilingly.
"Maybe _you_ haven't, but thome of uth have about finithed," asserted
the little, lisping girl.
"For once, Tommy and I agree," groaned Margery.
Not long after the girls turned in for the second time that night.
Daybreak would soon send its gray light into their camp on Sokoki Leap.
But the day ahead of them was not fated to be, in all respects, a time
of calm. Tommy Thompson and even her better-poised companions were to
have further opportunities for distinguishing themselves.
CHAPTER XIV
GIVING A TOBOGGAN POINTS
A brilliant sun, gilding the peaks of Chocorua and shining in her eyes,
awoke Harriet Burrell.
A panorama of sunlit hills, still darkened caverns and gorges,
precipitous cliffs and sombre ravines caused the Meadow-Brook Girls to
exclaim joyously. Thin, silvery ribbons in the landscape showed where
foaming brooks ran. There were short waterfalls, long cascades, bright
little lakes and countless valleys of green.
"It's too beautiful to be real!" throbbed Harriet Burrell as she
unwound herself from her blanket and started to replenish the fire.
The coffee pot was already on the fire, supported by two stones. It
was steaming and sputtering. Then, for the first time, she observed
that Janus Grubb was nowhere in sight. Harriet got up and tip-toed
softly to the edge of the cliff, where she lay down flat, peering over.
At first she saw nothing of interest; then all at once she caught sight
of a moving speck at the foot of the cliff.
"It's Janus!" she exclaimed. "Why, he doesn't look any larger than a
chessman. I wonder how much would have been left of Tommy had she
fallen down there?"
Harriet shuddered at the thought of her companion's narrow escape--the
narrow escape of the entire party, for that matter. Crawling
cautiously back, she lay gazing off over the valley. "The poisoned
lake" lay in plain view. The girl pondered over the tragedy of which
the guide had told them. Such tragedies, such deeds of violence as he
had named, should have no place in a peaceful scene such as this,
thought Harriet.
"Harriet!" She turned her head to find Miss Elting sitting up with a
worried expression on her face.
"For pity's sake, come away from there! My nerves will not stand many
more such shocks as we had last night."
"Why, I am not afraid," answered Harriet.
"What are you doing there?"
"Watching Janus. He is down below. You ought to take a peep at him.
He looks so small and so funny."
"Thank you. I am well satisfied to take your word for it. Will you
please come away from there?"
"Certainly, if you wish it." Harriet got up promptly and walked back,
stepping over her companions, then sitting down beside the guardian.
"You are a brave little girl, Harriet, dear," said Miss Elting softly,
patting the brown head affectionately. "But don't you think you are
just a little bit foolhardy?"
"I--I hadn't thought about it," answered the girl, flushing. "I do not
mean to be."
"I know. You are thoughtless of your own peril. You know we must not
let anything happen to any of our party. We want to have other happy
summers in the open together; and, were anything serious to occur to
any member of our party, that would end it. Neither your parents nor
those of the other girls would permit them to go out again in this way.
Will you promise to be more careful in future?"
"I don't like to do that; I am afraid I might not keep my promise,"
admitted Harriet, hanging her head. "But I will promise to do the best
I can and not to take any more chances than I have to."
Jane awakened at this juncture and lay blinking at them for a moment,
after which she sat up, rubbing her eyes.
"Good morning, Misses Owls. Have you two been croaking there all
night?"
"No, Jane, dear, we have not. We have been conversing for the past ten
or fifteen minutes. Previous to that time I was peeping over the edge
at Mr. Grubb, who is down there looking for Tommy's blanket. Still
farther back than that I was sound asleep. Miss Elting has been
reading me a lecture. It is your turn now."
Margery sat up at this juncture. She unrolled her blanket, flung it
aside, and, going to the wall, sank down against it, resting her still
heavy head in her hands.
"What's the matter with you, Margery?" questioned Jane.
"Matter?" complained Buster. "One might as well try to sleep in that
boiler factory at Meadow-Brook as in this camp."
"That's so, Little Sunshine; I agree with you. This is a dynamite as
well as a boiler factory, with an explosion twice, every day and at
least once in the night."
"Dynamite?" piped Tommy. "Where ith it?"
"There, you see! You have awakened every one of us except Hazel,"
complained Jane. "Now, go on talking and you'll waken her, too; then
we'll all be awake, and can think about cooking breakfast."
"Jane McCarthy, you can talk more and say less than any person I ever
knew," exclaimed Margery petulantly.
"I agree with you, Little Sunshine. I agree with every word you have
said this morning, and I'm going to come right over there and kiss you
for your sweetness. Isn't she good-natured, and so early in the
morning, too?" laughed Jane, her eyes sparkling with mischief.
A shout of laughter greeted Crazy Jane's naive words. The shout
awakened Hazel. Margery dropped her hands from her face. Her petulant
mouth relaxed into an unwilling smile; then she burst out laughing.
"I thought I'd chase away that sour face," teased Jane.
"I'll look crosser than ever if you don't stop," threatened the stout
girl.
One by one the girls went over to the rivulet and washed. There was
not much water to be had, but it made up in coldness what it lacked in
quantity and freshened them greatly. Harriet started to prepare the
breakfast as soon as she had washed and dried her face and hands. The
dishes were set out on the granite shelf, and there, more than two
thousand feet in the air, the Meadow-Brook Girls sat down to their
morning meal. Janus had not returned by the time they finished, but
came in about half an hour later. He had the blanket and the handle of
the frying-pan that Tommy had dropped. He said that was all there was
left of the frying-pan. He thought the handle might be useful
somewhere, so had brought it back with him.
"I suggest that we take the handle home and frame it. We might give it
to Tommy as a souvenir," suggested Harriet.
"Never mind. I've thouvenirth enough as it ith. I've got thouvenirth
all over my perthon," declared Tommy.
"You may have more before the day is done," chuckled Jane, pointing to
the heights that they were to climb that day. Tommy eyed them askance.
She did not fancy what was before her, but with a sigh of resignation
went about getting her pack ready for starting. The other girls were
now doing the same, Janus passing on the packs after they had been made
ready. To have a pack come open while climbing a steep mountain would
mean the loss of almost everything in that pack. But the danger of
this was not so great now as though the luggage were being carried on
pack horses.
The start was made in a leisurely manner. Janus halted every little
while to point out some interesting feature of the landscape, or to
relate some legend of the past associated with this or that particular
bit of mountain scenery. An hour had been occupied in this easy
jogging before they came to the sheer climb that lay before them. This
latter was more than a thousand feet, but the guide proposed to take
the greater part of the day for it. There was no need for haste, as
the journey could be made easily before night.
As one gazed up the jagged side it did not seem possible that anything
other than a bird could make the ascent. It looked a sheer wall from
where the girls stood, the projections and jutting crags appearing
perfectly flat to them. Even Harriet Burrell and Miss Elting were a
little dubious.
"Do you think it safe?" questioned the guardian apprehensively.
"No. Mountain climbing is never safe," replied Janus. "It can be
done, and easily at that, if that's what you mean. Shall we go ahead
or go back, Miss?"
"Ahead, of course," the guardian nodded.
Janus got his line ready, a small but strong and pliant rope. He
nodded to his party, glanced up for the most favorable starting point,
then began to go up. The Meadow Brook Girls followed in single file.
Miss Elting bringing up the rear. Now the guide passed the rope to
them as the ascent became more precipitous. Up and up wound the trail.
The climbers kept a firm grip on the life line, for a misstep here
would mean a bad tumble, and might take others down also. At times the
girls were out of sight of each other, like the ends of a train
rounding a sharp curve. The advice of the guide to "look up, never
down," was followed by each one. In fact, none dared to look down,
fearing to lose her head and grow dizzy.
[Illustration: Up and up wound the trail.]
"We rest here," announced Janus, after they had been climbing for an
hour without once stopping during that time. It was not a particularly
desirable place in which to rest, being located on a steep slope, but
the spot was surrounded by bushes, so that, when all came together and
sat down, they could see nothing of the rugged mountain scenery about
them.
"Better get out some biscuit or something to munch on, for we shan't
find a place where we can cook a meal until we get nearly to the top.
We'll have to rest hanging on by our eyelids after this," declared
Janus.
"No more mountain climbing for me," declared Margery.
"This is nothing," chuckled the guide. "Wait until you climb Mt.
Washington."
"Wait until I do!" nodded Margery with emphasis.
"That is to be our next," Miss Elting informed them. "By the time we
have finished that I think we shall be seasoned mountain climbers."
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