To their vexation, when they returned to the same corner fifteen minutes later, they found that Felipe was still standing in the doorway.
“Look, Peg! The watchdog is still there. I’m not going to throw this rope away now that I’ve got this near home with it. What shall I——” She stopped abruptly. “I’ve got it! I’ll slip it inside the parasol.”
Putting her words into action, she closed the parasol and slipped the coil of rope inside.
Peggy laughed, “That’s a funny-looking parasol, I must say.”
“I don’t care if it is funny. You walk close to me, and I’ll carry the parasol between us. Now, how’s that?”
“All right, I suppose—only I’m sure Felipe is wondering why we’re not carrying it over our heads as we’re supposed to do.”
With an effort to conceal their amusement, they hurried on past Felipe and up to their room.
Quickly snatching the rope from its hiding place, Jo Ann threw it into her trunk and slammed the lid down with a bang.
“There now—I’m glad that much is done,” she remarked with a sigh of satisfaction. “I hope I don’t have as much trouble using this rope as I’ve had getting it.”
Even as she spoke these words she began thinking of the many problems she still had to solve before she could reach the mysterious window. Would she be able to climb the crude scaffold? How would she be able to fasten the rope after she got to the roof? And how could she manage to do all this without being seen?