uncle would shortly go to supper, I might soon venture out by the
window, high up as it was, to buy myself some food in the town. I
liked the notion; but when I came to look down from the window it
seemed a giddy height from the pavement. Going down would be
easy; but getting back would be quite another matter. Thinking it
over, I remembered that I had seen a short gardener's ladder
hooked to the garden wall. If I could make a rope, by which to
let myself down, I could, I thought, make use of this ladder to
get back by, for it would cover nearly half the height to my
window sill, a full thirty feet from the ground. If, by standing
on the upper rungs, could reach within five yards of the window,
I knew that I should be able to scramble up so far by a rope.
There was no difficulty about a rope. I had a good eighteen yards
of choice stout rope there in the room with me, the lashings of
my two trunks. I was about to pay this out into the lane, when I
thought that would be far more effective if I fashioned a ladder
for myself, using the two trunk lashings as the uprights. This
was a glorious thought. I tied the lashings together behind the
wooden bed-post which was to be my support in midair. Then I
rummaged out a hank of sailor's spunyarn, a kind of very strong
tarred string, with which to make my steps, or rungs. did not do
this very well, for I was working in the dark, but you may be
sure that I made those steps with all my strength, since my bones
were to depend upon them. I ran short of spunyarn before I had
finished, so my last three steps were made of the fire-irons.
They made a good finish to the whole; for, being heavy, they kept
the ladder steady. At least thought that they would keep the
ladder steady, in the innocence of my heart.

I was so excited, when I finished the tying of the tongs, that I