“The moonlight has worked magic,” she thought in surprise. “It has changed that ugly district into a thing of beauty; those dirty adobe huts look white and shining, and that muddy river, silvery and peaceful. If only something could transform the lives of the people who live there the same way! I wish there were something I could do to help them.”
She shook herself slightly. “It won’t do any good to stand here dreaming about it,” she said aloud, then turned and called softly to the girls, “Come on. It’s light enough now for me to see to get that rope.”
While she had been talking she had fastened her flashlight to her belt and slipped on a pair of heavy gloves to protect her hands from the scratchy fiber rope. That done, she lowered herself over the wall and slipped down till her feet reached the loop on the end; then holding the rope firmly under one arm, she dug her fingers into the rough plaster and moved slowly across the wall. When she had almost reached the window, her hands slipped. Like the pendulum of a huge clock, she swung back and forth, clinging tightly to the rope. Simultaneously there was the sting of fire across her shoulder and arm. Glancing around, she saw that her shirt was torn and blood was oozing from her shoulder.
“What’s a little thing like that?” she thought. “There’s no time to bother with it now.” Maybe if she’d take off her gloves, she could reach the window. Jerking them off, she tried again and again to get a fingerhold in the wall to pull herself across, but without success.
“It’s not as simple as I thought,” she told herself, wondering what to do next.
Hearing a soft whistle just then, she glanced up where Peggy and Florence were watching from the roof. Peggy was gesturing excitedly as if she were trying to tell her what to do. What could she mean?
The next moment she felt the end of the heavy cord dangling in her face, and immediately she understood. She grasped the cord and fastened it securely to the rope to which she was clinging; then with Peggy and Florence pulling on the cord from the roof, she found it easy to move across the wall. There was no danger of slipping now. Having braced herself with one foot between the iron bars of the window, she unwound the coil of rope which she had fastened there from the inside earlier in the evening. After testing it to see that the end was securely fastened to the bars, she whistled softly to the girls. At once the cord slackened, and she swung slowly back with the end of the long, knotted rope in her hand.
On reaching the narrow window she pitched the rope through, then wriggled herself onto the ledge. After turning on her stomach she had both hands free to unfasten her flashlight.
Anxiously then she waited for Florence to descend. By having her come between them she and Peggy felt they could look after her better. But now, to her amazement, she saw that Florence was fully capable of looking after herself. She was climbing down slowly and cautiously, but not timidly.
Since the narrow window was very small and would hold only one, Jo Ann knew she must hurry to get out of it. After a hasty examination of the room below, she lowered herself to the floor, careful to avoid falling into the open shaft which extended completely across one end.