The workmen were so alarmed that they could think of no way to help their comrade. They stood helpless, looking first at the coil of rope at their feet and then at their friend high in the air.
"He will starve if he stays there, and he will be killed if he tries to climb down," they said sadly.
Just then the wife of the man appeared. She did not cry, scold, or fret. Instead, she said to herself, "What can I do to save him? There must be some way."
Soon a bright idea came to her, and she shouted to her husband:
"John! John! Unravel your stocking! Begin at the toe!"
John understood at once. He took off the coarse yarn stocking that she had knitted for him, cut off the toe, and began to unravel the yarn.
When he had pulled out a long piece, he tied the end around a small piece of brick. This he very carefully let down to the ground.
How eagerly the men below seized upon it. They fastened the yarn to a ball of twine which John's wife had fetched. Then they shouted:
"Pull up the yarn till you get the twine."
Soon John called to them: