With the rope tied under my arms, I got on the chimney edge and swung my legs into the black hole, sort of measuring the chimney with my feet. It was plenty big enough for me, I concluded, though it wasn’t as roomy on the inside as I had thought it would be.
“As soon as I’m down,” I told Scoop, “pull up [[136]]the rope and drop it to the ground where it was. For we may have to use it in a hurry. I’ll let you in the east window.”
“Check,” said Scoop, meaning that he understood.
I had figured that the chimney, long unused and open to the weather, would be washed clean of soot. But that shows how little I knew about chimneys!
Soot! Man alive, in less than ten seconds I was plastered with it. I hardly dared to breathe. Blinded, my ears stuffed full of the nasty black stuff, I opened my mouth to tell Scoop to haul me up in a hurry. But I had so much soot in my mouth that I couldn’t say a word.
Halfway down I got hooked on a nail that had been plastered into the bricks.
“Untie the rope,” Scoop hissed down the black hole, thinking, of course, that I had landed at the bottom.
“Blub-blub-bub,” I spit.
“What’s that?” the rope handler hissed quickly.
“Blub-bub.”