“Hush your racket, you little fool,” I said angrily. “Do you want the whole Yankee army to trap us here like rats? I cannot get up this chimney any farther; it is growing too small to permit my body to pass.”
“Is thet so, Cap?” he asked anxiously. “Whut be ye goin' ter dew 'bout it?”
I made no answer for a moment; I was groping about in the darkness of our narrow quarters to see if I could determine exactly where we were.
“How high is this house, Jed, do you know?”
“Three stories an' attic.”
“How far up are we?”
“'Bout halfway 'long ther third story, I reckon; must be jist b'low whar ye are thet I stuck my fut down an openin'. Reckon 't was 'nother fireplace, like thet one on ther first flure.”
I lowered myself silently, and felt along the stones until I located the opening, and roughly measured its dimensions.
“I shall have to risk crawling out here, Jed,” I said finally, “for I shall surely stick fast if I go up another ten feet. Do you suppose you can squeeze through to the top?”
“I reckon I kin,” he returned calmly. “'Just as the minstrel's sounds were stayed, a stranger climbed the steepy glade.' But hadn't we better stick tergether, Cap?” “No,” I answered firmly. “You go on, and one of us must get through to Lee. Don't mind me at all; get down from the roof as best you can. If I am caught it will be all the more important that you should succeed.”