o some part of the work
almost beyond his reach.

Once Harlow had just started painting some rainpipes from the top of a
40-ft ladder when one of several small boys who were playing in the
street ran violently against the foot. Harlow was so startled that he
dropped his brushes and clutched wildly at the ladder, which turned
completely round and slid about six feet along the parapet into the
angle of the wall, with Harlow hanging beneath by his hands. The paint
pot was hanging by a hook from one of the rungs, and the jerk scattered
the brown paint it contained all over Harlow and all over the brickwork
of the front of the house. He managed to descend safely by clasping
his legs round the sides of the ladder and sliding down. When Misery
came there was a row about what he called carelessness. And the next
day Harlow had to wear his Sunday trousers to work.

On another occasion they were painting the outside of a house called
'Gothic Lodge'. At one corner it had a tower surmounted by a spire or
steeple, and this steeple terminated with an ornamental wrought-iron
pinnacle which had to be painted. The ladder they had was not quite
long enough, and besides that, as it had to stand in a sort of a
courtyard at the base of the tower, it was impossible to slant it
sufficiently: instead of lying along the roof of the steeple, it was
sticking up in the air.

When Easton went up to paint the pinnacle he had to stand on almost the
very top rung of the ladder, to be exact, the third from the top, and
lean over to steady himself by holding on to the pinnacle with his left
hand while he used the brush with his right. As it was only about
twenty minutes' work there were two men to hold the foot of the ladder.

It was cheaper to do it this way than to rig up a proper scaffold,
which would have entailed perhaps two hours' work for two or three men.
Of course it was very dangerous, but that did not matter at all,
because even if the man fell it would make no difference to the
firm--all the men were insured and somehow or other, although they
frequently had narrow escapes, they did not often come to grief.

On this occasion, just as Easton was finishing he felt the pinnacle
that he was holding on to give way, and he got such a fright that his
heart nearly stopped beating. He let go his hold and steadied himself
on the ladder as well as he was able, and when he had descended three
or four steps--into comparative safety--he remain