With deft fingers Jo Ann began tying the loops in the rough fiber rope.
“It seems to me you’ll have to make lots of loops so you can climb ’way down in that black hole—or shaft, as you call it,” Peggy observed.
“I know that. I’ll have to figure out the depth of the shaft so I’ll be sure to have enough rope to reach that far.”
When Florence came into the room a few minutes later, Jo Ann turned to her and asked, “Do you know how high the first floor of this building is?”
Florence shook her head. “I haven’t the slightest idea.”
“Well, I’ll have to figure it out some way. I can’t afford to get ’way down there in that shaft and find out I haven’t enough rope.”
“Why don’t you talk about what we’re going to do instead of I all the time?” put in Peggy. “If you think you’re the only one who’s going to explore that shaft, you’re badly mistaken—I’m going too.”
Jo Ann half smiled and answered slowly, “Well—all right—if you aren’t afraid.”
“Afraid! Why should I be afraid, any more than you? I can go anywhere you can. I don’t go around hunting for trouble the way you do, but I don’t lose my head when I get in a tight place. You’ll probably need me, at any rate, if you’re going down in that shaft.”
“That’s true,” Jo Ann admitted.