, to come round for the travellers. The gardener
said he thought it might be possible to find a few ladders, which, being
tied one above another, would perhaps reach as high as the window, where
Harry had now appeared, and by which he could easily scramble down; so
the servants made haste to fetch all they could find, and to borrow all
they could see, till a great many were collected. These they joined
together very strongly with ropes, but when it was at last reared
against the wall, to the great disappointment of Mrs. Darwin, the
ladder appeared a yard and a-half too short!

What was to be done?

The obliging gardener mounted to the very top of his ladder, and Harry
leaned so far over the window, he seemed in danger of falling out, but
still they did not reach one another, so not a single person could guess
what plan was to be tried next. At length Harry called out very loudly
to the gardener,

"Hollo! Mr. King of Spades! If I were to let myself drop very gently
down from the window, could you catch me in your arms?"

"Mr. Harry! Mr. Harry! if you dare!" cried Mrs. Crabtree, shaking her
fist at him. "You'll be broken in pieces like a tea-pot, you'll be made
as flat as a pancake! Stay where you are! Do ye hear!"

But Harry seemed suddenly grown deaf, and was now more than half
out--fixing his fingers very firmly on the ledge of the window, and
slowly dropping his legs downwards.

"Oh Harry! you will be killed!" screamed Laura. "Stop! stop! Harry, are
you mad? can nobody stop him?"

But nobody could stop him, for, being so high above everybody's head,
Harry had it all his own way, and was now nearly hanging altogether out
of the window, but he stopped a single minute, and called out, "Do not
be frightened, Laura! I have behaved very ill, and deserve the worst
that can happen. If I do break my head, it will save Mrs. Crabtree the
trouble of breaking it for me, after I come down."

The gardener now balanced himself steadily on the upper step of the
ladder, and spread his arms out, while Harry slowly let himself drop.
Laura tried to look on without screaming out, as that might have
startled him, but the scene became too frightful, so she closed her
eyes, put her hands over her face and turned away, while her heart beat
so violently, that it might almost have been heard. Even Mrs. Crabtree
clasped her hands in an agony of alarm, while Mrs. Darwin put up her
pocket handkerchief, and could not look on another moment.