es, from which he
dragged the tall fruit-picking ladder that Uncle Rufus had stowed away.

[Illustration: "Neale reached up with a rake and unhooked the hanging
basket"]

Fortunately before any excited person turned in a fire alarm, Neale,
with the help of Luke Shepard and Uncle Rufus, set up the step-ladder
directly under the squalling cat and her kittens. From the top step, on
which he perched precariously with Luke and the old negro steadying the
ladder, Neale reached up with a rake and unhooked the hanging basket
from the tramway.

It was rather a delicate piece of work, and the children were scarcely
assured of Sandyface's safety--nor was the old cat sure of it
herself--until Neale, hanging the basket on the reversed garden rake,
lowered the entire family to the ground.

"Sartain suah am glad to see dat ol' coat ob' mine again," mumbled
Uncle Rufus, as everybody else was congratulating one another upon the
safety of the cats. "I had a paper dollar tucked away ag'in some time
w'en I'd need it, in de inside pocket of dat ol' coat. It moughty near
got clean 'way f'om me, 'cause of dat boy's foolishness. Sartain suah am
de baddes' boy I ever seen."

The consensus of opinion seemed to follow the bent of Uncle Rufus' mind.
Sammy was in evil repute in the neighborhood in any case; this was
considered the capsheaf.

Had it not been that the aerial tramway was so securely affixed to the
two houses, and to take it down would be to deprive Tess, who was
innocent, of some amusement, Mrs. Pinkney would have ordered the
connections between the two houses severed at once.

As it was, she drove the shamefaced Sammy into the house ahead of her,
and some of his boy acquaintances, lingering with ghoulish curiosity
outside, heard unmistakable sounds of punishment being inflicted upon
the culprit.

He was then sent up to his room to meditate. And just outside his
screened window was the tantalizing tramway which Neale had repaired and
which was again in good working order.

Sammy had been forbidden to use the new plaything; but the little Corner
House girls soon began to feel sorry for him. Even Tess thought that his
punishment was too hard.

"For he didn't really hurt Sandyface and the kittens. Only scared 'em,"
she said.

"But s'pose they'd've got dizzy and fell out--like I did out of the
swing?" Dot observed, inclined to make the matter more serious even than
her sister. "_Then_ what would have happened?"

Tess neve