“Oh, I see! All right.”
The Curlytops ran over toward the old well, which had not been used for a number of years, the water having seeped out of it, so that the well was dry. But the curbing, the windlass, the bucket, and the rope were still in place, and they had given Ted the idea for playing diamond mine. He had seen some pictures of miners going down a hole in the ground by means of a bucket and rope, and had got the idea that diamonds were thus secured.
The reason Ted and Janet had not, before this, played at the old well, was because they did not know it existed. It was on some land next to their house which Mr. Martin had recently bought. And, learning there was an old well on it, the children’s father had decided to do away with it, for it might be dangerous, even if there was no water in it, for it was about thirty feet deep.
The first step in doing away with the old well had been to have Patrick clear away the weeds around it. Then the curbing was to have been taken away and the well filled up. But when Patrick had cut down the weeds he was called to other tasks, and so the old well stood plainly revealed.
Ted and Janet had discovered it, and then into Ted’s mind had come the idea of going down into the dry well. He had tested the rope, with its bucket and windlass, and found that it worked.
“Now, Jan,” said her brother, when they were at the well, with no one near to stop their mischievous play, “I’ll climb up and stand on the bucket. You keep hold of the handle and let it unwind slowly. I don’t want to go down too fast, you know.”
“No, I guess you don’t,” agreed Jan.
“After I get down to the bottom I’ll make believe dig diamonds,” went on Ted. “Then you can twist the handle the other way and pull me up. After that I’ll let you go down.”
“I don’t want to go down!” said Jan quickly, after one look into the black depths of the well. “You can go. I don’t want to.”
“All right,” agreed Ted cheerfully. “I’ll go down twice. Now get ready.”