“You will fall!” exclaimed Nathalie in nervous fear.
“Oh, no, she won’t,” called out Helen hastily. “You don’t know Edith; that’s an easy feat for her, for she’s a regular acrobat. But, Edith, be careful!” she finished, with sudden anxiety, as she saw the girl climb up on the beam and then lift herself upright.
Nathalie, with her breath held, watched Edith for a moment, and then as she saw her reach out to catch the dangling rope, she closed her eyes, thrilled in every nerve with silent terror for fear she would miss her footing.
But she didn’t, for when Nathalie opened her eyes just for a hurried peep, she saw Edith with the rope in her hand. The next instant she had bent to her task and a loud “Clang! Clang!” rang sharply out.
“One, two, three!” a moment’s pause, then, “One, two, three!” Twice this was repeated as the girls stood waiting below with their eyes fixed on the ringer’s every movement; Helen, fearful that she would become reckless and reach too far, while Nathalie obeyed an impulse she could not define and just watched in nervous tension.
Ah, she had dropped her arms and was looking down at the girls. “What are you standing there for, ninnies?” she emphasized with a stamp of her foot that sent a shiver of horror through Nathalie’s wildly beating heart. “Why don’t you go and get the engine out?”
“Oh, so we can,” rejoined Helen quickly. “I never thought! Come, you help me!” catching Nathalie by the arm.
Nathalie turned and followed Helen, who had swiftly run to the fire-engine, a newly painted affair, a box on wheels, standing in the rear of the fire-house. With an alert spring she was close at Helen’s heels, and in a moment more had grabbed one of the two ropes tied to the front axle. Helen, who stood with the other rope in her hand, now cried, “Quick, let’s run it out to the road!”
It rolled easily, and the two girls were just about to wheel it through the open door, when a man in a red shirt, leather hat, and his trousers tucked into his rubber boots dashed hurriedly up to them.
“Where’s the fire?” he panted. With heated face and eyes bulging excitement he seized the rope from Nathalie’s hand, and the next minute, with Helen’s help, had run the engine out into the road.