“Just to prove how helpful I can be,” went on Peggy, “I’ll tell you how to find out the height of the first floor. Drop enough rope from the balcony to touch the street, then pull your rope up and measure it.”
“Good headwork,” approved Jo Ann, to Peggy’s delight. “I—no, we—will do that the first chance we have. Since you were so kind as to solve that problem, I’ll give you a much harder one to figure out. It’s this—how and to what are we going to fasten this rope so we can go down into the shaft? There’s nothing in that room to which we could fasten it.”
Peggy silently considered this puzzle for a few minutes, then said slowly, “I can’t answer that right now, but I’ll keep on thinking till I do.”
Florence, who had been unusually quiet up to now, spoke up encouragingly, “Jo’s always managed so far to do what seemed impossible, and she’ll be sure to find a way to fasten the rope, if you don’t.”
“I hope your prophecy comes true,” Jo Ann said, smiling over at Florence. “I believe I’d better go out and take a look at the back of the house before it gets dark and see if I can’t figure out a way right now. I’m ready to stop, anyway. This rough rope has almost blistered my hands. Don’t you girls want to go with me?”
“I do for one,” Peggy replied quickly. “I’m tired of the house—and it’s lovely outside now. There’s a gorgeous sunset.” She pointed out the window to the rose and gold clouds floating across the azure sky.
“Let’s all go,” agreed Florence.
With one accord the three girls hastened down the stairs.
“Let’s go on out to the Plaza and watch the sunset a few minutes before we go back of the house,” Peggy urged when they reached the door.
The girls nodded assent, and arm in arm they started walking slowly around the square, drinking in the beauty of the slow tropical sunset as they went.