impulse, too. He went mad on one of the tallest spires in Cincinnati;
right at the top of it."

"Went mad?"

"Yes, sir, raving mad, and I was by him when it happened. I forget
whether the church was Baptist or Presbyterian, but I know it stood on
Sixth Street, near Vine, and there was a big hand on top of the steeple,
with the forefinger pointing to heaven. We were putting fresh gilding on
this hand. I was working on the thumb side and O'Brien on the
little-finger side, both of us standing on tiny stagings about the size
of a chair-seat, and both of us made fast to the steeple by life-lines
under our arms. That's an absolute rule in climbing steeples--never to
do the smallest thing unless you're secured by a life-line. It was
coming on dark, and I was hurrying to get the gold leaf on, because we'd
given the hand a fresh coat of sizing that would be dry before morning.
We hadn't spoken for some time, when suddenly I heard a laugh from
O'Brien's side that sent a shiver down my spine. Did you ever hear a
crazy man laugh? Well, if ever you do, you'll remember it. I looked at
him and saw by his face that something was wrong.

"'What are you doing?' said I.

"He answered very polite and steady like, but his tone was queer: 'I'm
trying to figure out how long it would take a man to get down if he went
the fastest way.'

"I thought I had better keep him in a good humor, so I said: 'I'll tell
you what, Dan, you brace up and get this gold on, and then we'll race to
the ground in our saddles.'

"'That's a fair idea,' said he in a shrill voice, 'but I've got a better
one. We'll race down without any saddles; yes, sir, without any lines,
without a blamed thing.'

"'Don't be a fool, Dan. What you want to do is to get that gold
on--quick.' I tried to speak sharp.

"'No, sir; I'm going to jump, and so are you.'

"I caught his eye just then and saw it wasn't any time to bother about
gold leaf. I reached up and eased the hitch of my line around the hand
so I could swing toward him. I knew if I once got my grip on him he
wouldn't make any more trouble. But I'd never had a crazy man to deal
with, and I didn't realize how tricky and quick they are. While I was
working around to his side and thinking he didn't notice it, he was
laying for me out of the corner of his eye, and the first thing I knew
he had me by the throat and everything was turning black. I let go of
the line and dropped back on my saddle-board helpless, and if it h