TOMBOY

For about five seconds my blood ran cold. I kind of seemed to see everything just as if I were dreaming. Then I noticed that all the fellows were hanging on to the rope. And I saw that Will and Dorry hadn’t gone away. I saw that the rope was tight, down over the edge of the hill and across and over the edge of the shelf. I knew that Warde Hollister must be hanging on to the end of that rope. He wasn’t trusting his life to any old weeds now. That rope was held by scouts and he should worry. And we should worry, too, because by that time we knew Warde and we knew he wouldn’t let go.

I just jumped up and down shouting, “Hurrah, hurrah!” I couldn’t help it. It seemed awful funny for seven fellows to be holding one up, but Warde had come so near to death that I guess they wanted to make saving him double sure. Even Pee-wee was tugging on the rope with both hands, his cheeks all puffed out. The girl just stood there panting and laughing.

She said, “What’s on the other end of that rope? An elephant?”

I just went right up to her and I said, “Dora Dane Daring, on the other end of that rope is the best scout in the western hemispheres, including Flatbush and Hoboken—the best scout with one exception, and that exception is you.”

She said, “Oh, isn’t it just too funny to see that little Pee-wee pulling on the rope? Oh, dear! I could just kiss him. I’d run two miles to see that!”

I said, “Tell me——”

“You finish before I tell you anything,” she said. “Did I save the bee-line hike?”

“Did you!” I said. “You saved a fellow’s life too. You’re going to get a hero medal if I have to go over to National Headquarters and see Mr. National personally. Meanwhile you can kiss Pee-wee six times if you want to.”

“Look over the edge and see if the rope is chafing, Roy,” Westy said to me.

“I’ll do more than that,” I said. “I’ll go down there and stuff a jacket under it. Give me a jacket, somebody.” I was feeling so happy I didn’t care what I said or did.

The fellows got beside a tree so that the rope went part way around the trunk. That way they could pass it out easily. We were sure of the rope, that was one thing. Hemp—you’ve got to go some to break that. That was no clothesline. Backyard ropes are all right, but not for scouts.

“Don’t take any chances,” Westy said. “Just look and see if it’s chafing on the edge.”

“If it is, tell me,” Pee-wee puffed out.

“Let it down slowly,” Warde called. “What are you waiting for? It’s all right down here.”

There were only two places where that rope could rub; those were on the top of the wall right near us and down on the edge of the shelf. We knew it was all right below that on account of what Warde had said. In both of those places the rope went over clumps of bushes and moss. No rope will stand rubbing all the time, but all we had to do was to let it down to the bottom and we knew it would stand that much rubbing.

So we just passed it out little by little and pretty soon it was slack. Then we could hear Warde calling from away down below.

“All right,” I shouted; “We’ll be down pretty soon. Take a rest.”

We tied the rope good and fast to the tree and then I said to Will and Dorry, “How far did you go when you started from here?”

“Not more than ten or twenty feet,” Dorry said.

“Then the bee-line hike is saved!” I said.

Dora said, “Oh, I’m so glad. I wondered how you’d ever get down the cliff. When the men came back from Riverview Park they had that horrid bandit with them—just think!”

“What did I tell you?” Pee-wee said.

She said, “Oh, I think it was just wonderful how you fastened him there——”

“Without the loss of a single life,” the kid shouted.

She said, “And when I saw that villainous creature and thought how you had really caught him, and when I saw the men had your rope, I was just stricken with remorse for the way we girls fooled you. I said, ‘I’m just going to run after them and take their rope so their hike won’t be spoiled.’ Because I thought you’d need it. So you’ll forgive me, won’t you, for pretending to be so brave when all the time it was my own house? You will, won’t you?”

I said, “I don’t know much about the girl scouts except that they giggle a lot but I’ll say this much, they know how to run and when it comes to good turns——”

“Will you let me prove I’m a scout? A real one?”

I said, “You’re as real as real estate. All you have to do is say what you want.”

She said, “Will you let me climb down that rope and go with you, and finish the bee-line hike with you?”

“G-o-o-d night!” I said.

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