CHAPTER XI--THE MAN ON THE SPIRE
Walking was included in the athletics approved by the Girls' Branch andthe girls of Central High did not have to wait for the athletic field tobe put into condition before they took part in this most accessible andperhaps wisest of all physical exercises.
Many a famous athlete has kept himself in perfect training for years bylittle more than a straight-away walk of a few miles each day. Walkingbrings into play more muscles than almost any other exercise--and musclesthat are of "practical" use, too. Mrs. Case had planned for eight walksduring each school year for both her elementary and advanced classes.For the younger girls the longest walk was not over three miles. Theadvanced girls, however, after training by much walking on Saturdays,were advanced steadily from two, to three, then four, then six, theneight, and finally to a ten mile walk. Only those girls of thesophomores, juniors and seniors in the best physical condition wereallowed to take these longer walks.
On the Saturday after "touching day" of the M. O. R. came the first ofthe two mile walks to be carried out that season. The girls gathered atthe schoolhouse at two o'clock and Mrs. Case looked them over carefully.
"Miss Morse, I cannot approve of those shoes. I have told you beforethat any girl is foolish to wear high heels and attempt to keep up anypace in walking," was the athletic instructor's comment.
"But, Mrs. Case! these are only Cuban heels," cried poor Jess.
"That makes no difference. Some girls might be able to wear that heelwith comfort. Not you, Miss Morse. Your instep is not high enough. Youare cramping your foot. First thing you know your arches will begin tofall. Then you will know what suffering is, young lady. It is badshoeing that makes so many people suffer from 'flatfoot.' Haven't you apair of comfortable shoes in your locker?"
"Yes, ma'am," admitted the girl who followed the fashions soassiduously.
"And what's that on your face, Miss?"
"P--p--powder!" stammered Jess, while some of the other girls giggled.
"Well, powder on one's face may be all right if one has a greasy, coarseskin. But I did not think your complexion was of that nature. Take alittle of it off, please. We don't wish to attract any more attentionthan possible going through the street. Next thing, I suppose, some ofyou girls will begin to use rouge--pah!"
Some of the other girls rubbed their own cheeks and noses on the sly.And some smiled knowingly at Lily Pendleton. Lily's face to-day wasalmost as highly colored as that of her chum, Hester. But Hester'scomplexion was naturally red and coarse, whereas ordinarily Lily had nomore color than the flower for which she was named.
Mrs. Case chanced to overlook Miss Pendleton's rosy cheeks, however, andthey filed out of the school house, Mrs. Case walking with the lastgirl.
Laura and Jess were ahead, for they knew the route selected. There wasno attempt in any of these walks to make fast time; nor did theinstructor allow them to stroll. The idea was to go at a comfortable,straight-away pace, and to rest when tired. The pace was that at whichthe least active girl could walk comfortably.
At the resting points Mrs. Case usually gave little lectures upon theexercise, or discussed questions of athletics, or informed the girlsupon historical points or public buildings which they passed. This daythe route lay down the hill, across Market Street, and out through theeast end of the city.
At the corner of Rowan Street they passed a big open lot where boys wereflying kites. There was a brisk wind and one youngster was just puttinginto the air a kite which the girls watched for a few moments. But therewas something much more interesting going on a couple of blocks beyond.
There had been a heavy thunderstorm during the week and lightning haddamaged the steeple of St. Cecelia's Episcopal Church a few feet belowthe apex. How much damage had been done the masonry could not easily belearned without making a close examination and the fire insuranceadjuster had sent a professional steeple climber to make it.
Quite a crowd had gathered in the square to watch the work of thisexpert, and as the girls came up the steeple-jack had just passed out atthe belfry at the foot of the spire. Two men came with him to set up andhold a ladder which reached some distance up the steeple.
The man mounted this ladder very quickly. At the top he passed a ropearound his body and around the steeple, and then began to work upward.It looked like a very dangerous feat, and the girls were all interestedin it. He mounted steadily and soon reached the place where thelightning had struck. Here his progress ceased and he seemed to betrying to adjust the rope.
"He's stuck!" exclaimed Jess. "Don't you see?"
"Oh, I guess not," returned Laura.
But seconds grew into minutes, minutes slipped away, and still he seemedunable to move, and the anxious spectators below became more and moreapprehensive.
Finally from his giddy height the man was seen to pause and wave hishand, as if signalling to the men at the foot of the ladder. But theywere sixty feet below him and it was evident that they did not hear hiswords at first. Finally they seemed to understand, and one of them camedown inside the belfry and joined a group of men in the porch of thechurch.
The girls had crossed over to the porch and could hear all that wassaid.
"I told you he was stuck," said Jess, excitedly.
And it was a fact. They learned that the steeple-jack's rope had caughtin a crevice where the lightning bolt had forced the stones apart, andhe was unable to move up or down. His signal was for help, but the mendid not know what to do. Many schemes were hastily suggested; but nobodycould climb the steeple to aid him, and how to get another rope up tohim was a problem that nobody seemed able to solve.
The man was in a serious predicament. One of the onlookers--a tall oldman with a flowing white beard, became much excited.
"That's Colonel Swayne," whispered Hester Grimes. "He is one of thechurch wardens."
"We must aid the man. He cannot stay in that position long," declaredCol. Swayne. "He'll fall out of that sling. Come!" he added, addressingthe crowd in the square. "I'll give ten dollars to anybody who willsuggest a practical method of getting the man down."
The girls were so interested that the walking exercise was forgotten forthe time being. They gathered around Mrs. Case, and some of them beganto cry.
"The man will fall! He'll be killed!" was the general opinion.
But Laura had separated from the other girls and in a moment was runningacross the square. Nobody noticed her departure. She disappeared aroundthe corner and in ten minutes returned with two or three boys in tow.One of the boys carried an immense kite.
"Colonel Swayne!" cried Laura, from the outskirts of the crowd, "if youwill let us try, I believe we can get a line to that man on thesteeple."
"What's that, young lady?" demanded the old gentleman, quickly.
"You will pay the boys for their kite if it is lost, won't you?" thegirl asked.
"Of course we will!" exclaimed the warden. "I see your scheme. You're asmart girl. Can you get that kite up here in the square, boys?"
The boys said they would try. But it was Laura who advised them upon thedirection of the wind, and how to raise the kite properly. She had flownkites with Chet more than once.
They tested the wind, selected the point from which to fly the kite, andthe increasing crowd of spectators watched with breathless interest.Slowly the kite left the ground and rose above the treetops. The windwas steady and it rose faster and faster as they paid out the line.Finally the kite was above the steeple.
The steeple-jack understood what they were attempting, and waved hishand to them. The kite-string was manipulated so as to bring it withinthe man's reach. He grasped it, and a cheer went up from the crowd.
THE KITE STRING WAS MANIPULATED SO AS TO BRING IT WITHINTHE MAN'S REACH.]
But there was more to follow. Laura had sent one of the boys to a storefor a hundred yards of clothes line. This was attached by one end to thekite string, and the man on the steeple cut the kite loose and drew upthe clothes line.
When
he held the heavier line a piece of stronger rope was attached tothe clothes line and that was raised, too. Down fell the coil of clothesline, and they saw the steeple-jack rig himself a new sling, by which hesoon descended to the ladder, and by the ladder to the church roof andsafety.
The crowd cheered when this was accomplished, and Colonel Swayne brokethrough the throng about Laura.
"You are certainly a quick-witted girl," he said, shaking her by thehand. "You are her teacher, are you?" he added to Mrs. Case. "Humph!from Central High, are you? Well, if all your young ladies are asquick-witted as she it must be a pleasure to teach them."
He placed a ten dollar gold piece in Laura's hand, and Laura whisperedto Mrs. Case that she wanted to get away quickly from the spot.
"Those other men are coming, too," she whispered. "Let's go before theyall want to shake hands. Do, do come away, Mrs. Case!"
The athletic instructor laughed and nodded, and Laura and Jess took upthe line of march again. But when they were well away from the crowd,Jess began to laugh.
"Who says we can't get money from Colonel Swayne for our AthleticAssociation?" she cried. "What a smart girl you are, Laura!"
"I'm going to give this ten dollars into the treasury. And it won't bethe last money I get from Colonel Swayne for the same object--now yousee!"