The Washington times., 1910-09-21
PLUMBER ISLAND

of siddiness fl she looked directly down
This she knew from former experience.
and avoided repeatedly the experiment.
SHe dared not test her strength Of pur-
pose-she might prove wanting. and II
she did
OF that she must no. think she must
not admit the possibility Of failure. The
beam hung black against the sky above
her head. the cable was at last within
her grasp She leaned ont and caught
the inside length Of rope and began to
pull ft through the block. hand over
hand. letting the siScIz fall into the void
beneath. n her excitement the task
seemed intermina bic. She began to be-
Iieve that she would never reach the
end long ere II caught against the block
At the end q steel eve was Spliced into
the rope and from II swung a heavy
hook Of steel. The girl puIIcd this in
upon the baIco-y. and left IL there while
she returned TO The serVice-room and
found a length Of new rope somewhat
sIiehter than the cable. HitchiuE the
former twice round her waist, she at
tached il 10 the cable about q yard
above the eye. She had no time TO cast
about for any more safe and comfort
able device.
Il was with a prayer that she finally.
Clutching firmly the inside length of
cable. swung herself Up on ne giddy
half-inch iron railing, her feet over
and calmly, she lifted the hook over the
rail and set her feet in it, there was
just space enough % hold them both
And there she falJered for the first
time The final step was the hardest to
take Once taken. IT was irTetrievsble.
and If 1cT strength proved insufficient
Her soul quaked- One hundred and fifty
feet
Suddenly-it seemed hardly Of her own
vOlidOn-she found herself suspended in
midair, the whole of her weight sup
ported by the two small hands that
chung 10 the cable. She was swinging IL
sickening fashion. OsciIIating like a pen
Gulum, and slowly twir1ing The sky
swan about her. strealSed with whirIinz
lines Of light Her eyes closed. and she
became very pale beneath her tan
But there was now no turning back
She began to pay out the rope, inch BY
inch, jealousy. vet in a breath she had
dropped beneath the floor Of the bal
cOny- Her Jaws and teeth ached with
the pressure she put upon them to bold
her self-COnUOI- If she should lose her
consciousness for single instant
Slowly, SrUdgingly. inch by inch, she
vas descending swinging between
heaven and earth Il she opened he
eyeS>it was now to face the blank rod
wall of brick now TO see the v@StTesS
of space revolving round her The voice
Of the crawling, cold, cruel sea came
up to her ears, a dull. thick. inartiCu1ate
menace, Ike the Erowl Of hungry
monster Though she might not look
she knew that il was watching her with
every eve IN its myriad facets. watching
her eagerly. licking its chops with an
ticiDatiOn- Tor il she fell md ESCAPED
the rocks the sea would claim her
\ little wind rOared about her like
mighty booming gle. The least
sWayinE Of the rope IS If she were
swung around great
With every foot Of desc 1T the " 5Cht
Of 50 much rope was added to her own.
and by the time she had covered 2
third Of the drop the strain had grown
TO seem futOIera BILE: her hands more
over, were cut and bleeding from the
rough, fierce contact with the hemp.
and the pain was like fire To ease the
strain she managed 10 twist tbs cable
twice around her left arm, which gave
her additional purchase s-pon IL ard
r-ade her task seem a little less difl-
cult
But the relief was not much She was
faint with agony long ere she reached
the rock at the bottom-So faint that
for a time she hardly realized that she
had gained it AT last, and lay in a half
stupOr for many ,mentS. dazed.
quivering, spent
This phase passing. ne reused to the
belief that hours must have Ella pSed
since Willing had locked her within the
tower. She took no account of the as
pect Of the sky and the sea which
could have told different tale. but rose.
trembling, chilled and torn with appre-
tensions both on her fathers behalf and
on CadoSsn : and somehow with her
pOOT raw hands managed 10 uDfasten
the rope from about her waist, an then