Then they went and got
another drink.
When they at last got tired of the kitchen, they went to a window at
the back side of the sitting-room, which looked out toward the garden,
and commanded also a beautiful prospect beyond. They opened this
window in order to see the garden better. A fresh and delightful
breeze came in immediately, which the children enjoyed very much.
The breeze, however, in drawing through the house, shut all the doors
which the children had left open, with a loud noise, and then having
no longer any egress, it ceased to come in. The air seemed suddenly to
become calm; the children stood for some time at the window, looking
out at the garden, and at the pond, and the mountains beyond.
At length they shut the window again, and went to the door at which
they had entered, and found it shut fast. They could not open it,
for there was now no one to push upon the outside. Mary Bell laughed.
Bella looked very much frightened.
"What shall we do?" said she. "We can't get out."
"Oh, don't be afraid," said Mary Bell, "we will get out some way or
other."
She then tried again to open the door, exerting all her strength in
pulling upon the latch, but all in vain. They were finally obliged to
give up the attempt as utterly hopeless.
Mary Bell then led the way to the window where Bella had got in, and
looked out upon the little scaffolding. It looked as if the window was
too high above the scaffolding for them to get down there safely. One
of them might, perhaps, have succeeded in descending, if the other had
been outside to help her down; but as it was, Mary Bell herself did
not dare to make the attempt.
"I will tell you what we will do," said Mary Bell. "We will go to
another window where there are no blocks below, and throw all the
shavings out from the kitchen. That will make a soft bed for us to
jump upon."
"Well," said Bella, "let us do that."
So they went to the kitchen, and opening one of the windows, they
began to gather up the shavings in their arms from off the floor, and
to throw them out. They worked very industriously at this undertaking
for a long time, until the kitchen floor was entirely cleared. They
picked out carefully all the sticks, and blocks, and pieces of board
which were mixed with the shavings, before throwing them out, in order
that there might be nothing hard in the heap which they were to jump
upon. When the work was completed, and all the shavings were out, they
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