Adventures of Working Men Part 18

"'No, I aint going to try again, neither,' said Billy gruffly. 'I left the rope up at the top there, thinking you were so clever you'd like to go.'

"'Oh, I could do it if I liked,' said Joey.

"'Only you daren't,' said Bill, rubbing his elbows, and putting his lips to his bleeding knuckles.

"'Daren't I?' said Joey.

"Without another word he pushed by Billy, and went on steadily up towards the top of the tower.

"'I hope he'll like it,' said Billy, chuckling. 'It aint so easy as he thinks. Let's go down. I'm a good bit shook, and want a drop of brandy.'

"Poor fellow, he looked rather white when we got down; and to our surprise on looking up, on hearing a cheer, there was Joey hard at work, with the rope over his shoulder, climbing away, the lads cheering him again and again as he climbed higher and higher, till he at last reached the great copper support of the weatherc.o.c.k, and then, drawing himself up a bit higher, he clung there motionless for a few minutes, and we began to think that he had lost his nerve and was afraid to move.

"But that wasn't it--he was only gathering breath; and we gave him a cheer, in which Billy Johnson heartily joined, as, up there looking as small as a crow the plucky fellow gave the weatherc.o.c.k a spin round, afterwards holding on by his legs, clasped round the copper support, while he took the rope from his shoulders, undid the loop, and then tied it securely to the great, strong copper rod.

"All this time he had had his straw hat on; and now, taking it off, he gave it a skim away from him; and away it went right out into s.p.a.ce, to fall at last far from the foot of the tower.

"Joey now began to descend very slowly and carefully, as if the coming down was worse than the going up, and more than once he slipped; but he had tight hold of the rope with one hand, and that saved him, so that he only rested, and then continued his task.

"You see, the spire sloped so that he did not hang away from it, but against the stone sides; and so we went on watching him till he was about half-way down, when he stopped to rest, and, pulling up the rope a bit as he stood with one foot on a crocket, he tied in it a big loop, slipped one leg right through, and sat in it, swinging to and fro as he held on to the rope so as to rest his legs.

"We gave him another cheer, and so did the Rector, who just then came up, when Joey waved his hand.

"As he did this, something occurred which took away my breath; for, poor fellow, he seemed to slip, and, before we could utter a cry, he turned over and hung head downwards, falling, with his leg slipping through the loop, till his foot caught; and he hung by it, fighting hard for a few moments to get back, but all in vain; and, as we watched him, his struggles got weaker, so that he did not turn himself up so far when trying to reach the loop where his ankle was caught; and at last he hung there, swinging gently to and fro, only moving his hands.

"By this time the Rector, I and two more had got to the belfry door, and we ran panting up the dark staircase till we got out upon the leads.

"'Hold on, Joey,' I shouted. 'I'm coming.'

"'Make haste,' he cried faintly, 'I'm about done.'

"By this time I was about ten feet up, and climbing as hard as I could, forgetting all the danger in the excitement; for I don't think I should have dared to go up on another occasion.

"It was very hard work, and as I climbed the wind seemed to blow terribly; but I got up and up, panting as I did so, till at last I was clinging there with one foot resting on a crocket, wondering what I should do.

"'Look sharp, lad,' said poor Joey, 'It seems as if all my blood was rus.h.i.+ng into my head.'

"I leaned over and got hold of the rope close to his ankle, but do anything more I could not. I had all the will in the world to help the poor fellow, but it took all my strength to keep myself with one hand from falling; and as to raising my old companion, I neither had the strength nor the idea as to how it could be done.

"The only way out of the difficulty seemed to be to take out my knife and cut the rope, and then the poor fellow would be killed.

"'Come down,' cried a voice below me.

"Looking towards the leads, there was the Rector stripped to his s.h.i.+rt and trousers, and with a coil of rope over his shoulder--for the new well rope had proved to be long enough to let him cut off some five and thirty feet.

"'Don't leave me,' groaned Joey, who was half fainting. 'I feel as if I should fall any moment. I say, lad, this is very awful!'

"'Here's the parson coming up,' I said.

"And so it was; for he went to the row of crockets on the other side of Joey, who now hung, looking blue in the face, and with his eyes closed.

"'He must make haste--make haste,' he moaned, softly.

"I stopped, holding on, while the Rector climbed up quicker than either of us had done it, drawing himself up by his arms in a wonderful way till he was abreast of we two--me holding on, and Joey hanging on by one foot.

"As soon as the Rector reached us, he said a few words of encouragement to Joey, who did not speak a word, and then climbing higher, tied the short rope he carried to the long rope just above the loop-knot which held Joey's ankle. Then coming down a little, he tied his rope tightly round Joey, just under the armpits.

"'That will bear you, my lad,' he said. 'But catch fast hold of it with your hands, while I cut your foot free.'

"Climbing up higher once more, he pulled out his knife, opened it with his teeth, and then began to saw through the strands of the loop that held Joey's ankle, till there was a snap, a jerk, and a heavy swinging to and fro; for the poor fellow had fallen two or three feet, and was now hanging by the rope round his breast right way upwards.

"He did not make any effort for a few minutes, and as cheer after cheer came to us from below, he swung there, with us holding on for dear life.

"'Can you climb down now, Rance,' said the Rector, 'if I cut you free?'

"'No, sir,' he said hoa.r.s.ely, 'I've no use in my arms or legs--they're all pins and needles.'

"'Then we must lower you down,' said the Rector, calmly. And getting hold of the long piece of rope, he climbed up once more, as coolly as if he was on an apple tree in his own orchard, and saw that the knots were fast; then coming down, he pa.s.sed his long rope through the one round Joey's breast, and tied it again round him.

"'Now,' he said, 'Fincher and I will hold on by this rope, and you can let yourself slide through the other loop--one arm first, and then the other, steadily.'

"The poor fellow had hard work to do it; but the loop was loose enough to let him work it over his head, and then with the Rector striding across from the crocket at one angle to that on the other, and me holding on to the rope as well, we let him down, sliding with his back to the stone, till his feet touched the leads, when he fell down all of a heap.

"'Untie the rope,' said the Rector, 'and get him down.'

"He spoke very hoa.r.s.ely, shouting to them below; and a cheer came up.

"'Now, Fincher,' said the Rector, 'we've got to get down.'

"As he spoke, he made a running noose in the rope with the end he held in his hand, let it run up to the the big noose, and pulled it tight.

"Then he made an effort to get his legs together on one angle; but the distance he had been striding was too great, and he couldn't recover himself, but swung away by his hands.

"'I can't help it, Fincher--I must go first,' he cried. And he was already sliding down the rope as he spoke; but I was so unnerved and giddy now, that I dared not look down.

"I believe I quite lost my head then for a few moments; for I was clinging there for life a hundred and twenty feet above the ground, and the wind seemed to be trying to push me from my hold.

"I was brought to myself, though, just as the landscape about me seemed to be spinning round, by feeling the rope touch my side; and I clasped it convulsively with both hands, and then, winding my legs round it, slid rapidly down, the rope seeming to turn to fire as it pa.s.sed through my hands.

"A few moments later, and I was safe on the tower leads, trying like the rest to smile at the danger we had pa.s.sed through; but it was a faint sickly kind of smile and we were all very glad to get down to the green, and cared nothing for the cheers of the people.

"The rope was left hanging there, and stayed till it rotted away; but somehow before a week was out, that weatherc.o.c.k stopped squeaking, as if some one had been up to oil it, and, though nothing was said about it, I've always felt as sure as sure that the Rector went up by himself and did it early one morning before any one was up.

"He was cool-headed enough to do it, for he certainly saved Joe Rance's life, and I know no one in the village would have done it without bragging after. At all events, the weatherc.o.c.k was oiled, and as I said over and over again to Joey, 'if Parson didn't oil that weatherc.o.c.k, who did?'

"That all goes to prove what I say," I replied when he had finished.

"You were all guilty of foolhardiness just to gratify a little vanity."