by. "Why--why--Where's the man who
owns the old contraption?"

They explained further. Tubby went around to the other side and caught a
glimpse of Dave playing engineer. The chums shouted back and forth to
each other for some time.

Tubby wanted to see if he couldn't stop the sails by making a grab at
them.

"You do it, Tubby, and the blamed things will throw you a mile through
the air," declared Dave. "Besides, we don't want to smash the farmer's
mill. We have done enough harm as it is. So, there's no use in backing
one of those heavy wagons into it and wrecking the sails. No. I guess
we've got to stand it here for a while."

They heard one of the girls calling, and Tubby lumbered around to see
Frankie gesticulating from the window.

"Oh, Tubby! don't leave us to starve--and we're so _awfully_
thirsty, too," cried Wyn, pushing her friend to one side. "Get us a
bucket of water from the well, first of all."

"Gee! how am I going to get it up to you--throw it?" cackled the fat
youth.

"You get the bucket--and a rope," commanded Wyn.

"But if he can throw a rope up to us, we can get out of this fix,"
Ferdinand cried. "Can't we, Dave?" he asked of his captain, who had come
up the ladders for a breath of fresh air.

"Tubby couldn't throw a coil of rope for a cent. He couldn't learn to
use a lasso, you know."

"And we girls could not get down on a rope," objected Bess.

"We could lower you," Ferd declared.

"It would have to be a pretty strong rope," said Dave. "And maybe there
isn't anything bigger than clothes line about the farm."

Which proved to be the case. At least, Tubby could find nothing else and
finally brought the brimming bucket and the line he had found on the
drying green behind the farmhouse.

"I can't throw the thing up so high," complained Tubby, after two or
three attempts.

"Wait!" commanded Wyn.

"Hold on! Wynnie's great mind is at work."

"Everybody sit down and unlace his or her shoes. I want the lacings,"
declared Wynifred.

"Hurray!" exclaimed Ferd. "Wait a bit, Tubby; don't wear your poor
little self to a grease spot trying to throw that rope over the mill."

Tubby, nothing loath, sat down and breathed heavily. The day _was_
hot in spite of the high wind.

Wyn got all the shoe strings and tied them together, with a bolt
fastened to the lower end for a sinker, and let it down to the ground.
There Tubby attached the end of the clothes line and they pulled it up.
It was long