They looked, but that did no good at this late moment. The extra one and a half feet of wire overlapped on the ground and was of no use there. It kept the wire from fitting snugly to the post, that was all.
“We’ve got to pull the nails out again, Janet, and begin to nail the wire down to the post, starting from the bottom up,” suggested Belle, eyeing the problem judiciously.
“And I hit those nails so hard—just to make them stay put!” sighed Janet.
“Don’t let’s waste words over what was done wrong, but let’s find a way to get the nails out again,” advised Frances, wisely.
“What can I use to pull them with?” asked Belle.
“That’s a claw-hammer. Use the claw on the other end of the handle,” said Janet.
So Belle managed to worm a way under each nail and get the claw underneath so it gripped the head of the nail, and then she bent the handle backward until the nail came out. After many mishaps, all the nails were out but they were so misshapen that they had to be flung away as useless. Then the two girls fitted the wire at the bottom of the post close to the ground, and began to nail down the wire, working upwards to the top of the post.
“It looks queer, sticking a foot and a half above the post, doesn’t it?” said Belle.
“I don’t care about looks. It is on right, this time, and that is the principle thing,” retorted Janet.
“Maybe the wire will prove to be so resistant that it will stand up above the posts, all right, when we get it all fastened to the places,” suggested Frances.