The words came in jerks and showed that the young major was all but exhausted. He had done what he could to loosen the lower end of the rope but without success. Climbing back to the tower had proved equally difficult. Now he was sitting astride of the rope, clutching it with both hands and leaning against the building for support.
Pepper was frantic, but could do nothing to aid his chum. Had the lower end of the rope been loose he might have raised Jack to the belfry. He climbed out of the window as far as he dared and looked over the edge of the roof.
“Jack, can I do anything?” he asked, frantically.
“I—I do—don’t know,” was the gasped-out reply.
“Can’t you get that end of the rope loose somehow?”
“No, it won’t budge.”
It made Pepper a little dizzy to look directly downward over the edge of the gutter and for a moment he allowed his gaze to stray to the roadway beyond the church. In the moonlight he saw the figure of a man or boy approaching.
“Here comes somebody!” he cried. “I’m going to call for help.”
“We’ll be caught,” faltered Jack.
“I don’t care. I am not going to keep quiet and see you run the risk of breaking your neck.”