For a girl as used to climbing trees as Bessie, it was a task of no great difficulty, and in a minute she was safely inside the room, and had turned to watch Jamieson following her. His greater weight made his task more difficult, and twice those above had all they could do to repress screams of terror, for the ivy gave way, and he seemed certain to fall.
But he was a trained athlete, and a skillful climber as well, and, difficult as the ascent proved to be for him, he managed it, and clambered over the sill of the window and into the room, breathless, but smiling and triumphant.
“Oh, I’m so glad you’re here, Charlie!” said Eleanor. “There is someone we can trust, after all, isn’t there?”
“Oh, sure!” he said. “Don’t you take on, Nell, and don’t ask a lot of questions now. It’ll be daylight pretty soon–and, believe me, when the light comes, there’s going to be considerable excitement around these parts.”
“But why did you bring Bessie back here? How did she find you?”
He raised his hand with a warning gesture, and smiled.
“Remember, Nell, no questions!” he said. “All we can do just now is to wait.”
Wait they did–and in silence, save for an occasional whisper.
“That man Holmes has a woman guarding us,” whispered Eleanor. “She is just outside the door in the hall–sleeping there. The idea is to keep us from leaving these rooms. Evidently they never thought of our going by the window. We did think of it, but we couldn’t see any use in it, because we felt we wouldn’t know where to go on this island, even if we got outside the grounds!”
“That’s what he counted on, I guess,” answered Charlie. “I’m glad you stayed. Cheer up, Nell! You’re going to have a package of assorted surprises before you’re very much older!”