"I should not like to trust a child with that thing, Dick, much less a
grown man. It is no thicker than a flag halliard."
"It is thin, Father, but there is no fear as to its strength. I tested
every yard of it, and found it would bear six hundred weight."
"Well, that is ample; but how is one to hold on to a cord like that?"
"That is just what we want you to tell us, Father. There must be some
way of managing it, if one could but hit upon it."
"Yes, that is so, lad," the sailor said thoughtfully. "I will think it
over. Anyhow, I think I could lower you both down, and by knotting it
I might get hold enough to come down after you; but even the knots
would be precious small."
"One might get over that, Father, by fastening a short stick across,
every five or six feet; or every two or three feet, if you like."
"Good, Dick. That would prevent one's coming down with a run,
certainly, and by keeping it between one's legs, one could always get
a rest. Yes, that will do, lad, if I can think of nothing better.
There are a lot of spears stowed away, in the room adjoining mine. If
we were to cut them up into six-inch lengths, with one of a foot long
to each ten, for sitting on, they would be just the thing.
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