“What for?” exclaimed I, in astonishment.
“To get away—anywhere,” said he.
In a moment I was up on the window-sill, scrambling out on to the ledge beside him. The fresh morning breeze blew on my face as I did so, and a glorious sense of freedom took hold of both our drooping spirits. We needed no words. Only let us get free!
“Come along,” said Jack, crawling along the narrow ledge which ran round the top of the house.
“How shall we get down?” I asked.
“That’s what I want to find out,” said Jack. “Isn’t there a water-pipe or something in front?”
Carefully we made our perilous journey round the side of the house towards the front. Smith leaned over and peered down.
“Yes,” said he, “there’s a water-pipe we could easily slide down, if we could only get at it. Look!”
I looked over too. The ground seemed a long way below, and I felt a trifle nervous at the prospect of trying to reach it by such unorthodox means as a water-pipe, even could we get at that pipe. But the ledge on which
