OUT OF THE DEPTHS
The two boys turned to look at one another; and if they showed signs of
alarm it was hardly to be wondered at.
"Oh! there it is again, Fred!" whispered Bristles, as a second sound,
that was certainly very like a groan, came from the well.
Fred caught his breath. It was an unpleasant experience, to be sure; and
might have tried the nerves of much older persons than two half-grown
lads; but, after all, why should they be afraid?
"Somebody may have fallen down the well, and can't get out again," Fred
remarked, with just the least tremor to his usually steady voice.
"Say, that's so," Bristles hastened to admit, as he cast a quick glance
at the almost ropeless wooden windlass; "don't you see the bucket's away
down? Whoever it is, Fred, they just can't climb up again. It takes you
to get on the inside track of things, Fred."
"If that's so, it might account for the fact that nobody seems to be
around the place," Fred went on to say.
"P'raps an old man lives here all alone, and he tripped over these
stones when he went to lift the bucket of water out, and fell in
himself. Gee! Fred, then it's up to us to get him out!"
The other stepped directly up to the edge of the old well. He saw that
the coping was uneven, some of the stones being loose. It looked very
much as if what Bristles had suggested might be the truth, and that some
person, when striving to raise a heavy bucket, had lost his balance,
slipped on the treacherous footing, and toppled into the well.
And, even as Fred Fenton bent down, he was thrilled to hear a third
groan come out of the depths. Nevertheless, instead of starting back, he
bent over further, as though hoping to look down and discover the truth.
"Can you see him?" asked Bristles, very white in the face, but bent on
sticking it out as long as his chum did.
"Sorry to say I can't," replied the other, calmly now, and with an air
of business about him that inspired Bristles to conquer his own
weakness. "My eyes have been so used to the sun that it looks as black
as a pocket down in this well. But perhaps he might answer a call."
"Give the poor fellow a hail, then, Fred, please. Just think how he
must have suffered, hollering all this time, with nobody to help him
out," and Bristles, who really had a very tender heart himself, leaned
over the curbing of the well.
"Be careful not to push one of these big stones in, or you'll finish the
poor fellow," warned Fred; and then bending low he called out very
loudly: "Hello! down there! We want to help you get out. Are you badly
hurt?"
"Oh! I don't know, but I'm so cold. Please hurry, or I'll die!" came in
a faint voice from far below.
"Good gracious!" gasped Bristles; "did you hear that, Fred?"
"I certainly did," replied the other.
"But--the voice; it was a woman's or a girl's!" continued the amazed
Bristles.
"Just what I thought; and that makes it all the more necessary that
something be done in a hurry to get her out. That rope looks pretty
sound; doesn't it, Bristles?"
"What do you mean to do now, Fred; go down there?" and the boy shuddered
as he looked at the gaping hole.
"Somebody's got to, and what's the matter with my doing it?" Fred
demanded. "I'll tell you what to do while I'm sliding down the rope;
just carefully take away all these loose stones, so none of 'em can drop
on top of me. And, Bristles, when I give the word, buckle down to turn
that windlass for all you're worth!"
"I'll do it, Fred. Gosh! if it don't take you to think of things that
wouldn't come to me in a thousand years. Say, he's gone, as quick as
that! I guess I'll get busy with these stones."
Fred was indeed already slipping carefully down the rope. He believed it
was fairly new, and could easily sustain the weight of himself, and
another as well, if only the stout Bristles could turn the handle of the
windlass long enough to bring them to the top.
Once below the region of sunlight his eyes began to grow more accustomed
to the surrounding gloom. He could make out the rough stones all about
him that went to form the well itself.
Then he stopped, wondering if he must not be pretty nearly down to the
water. The rope still went on, and he could hear what seemed like heavy
breathing not far away.
Bristles was working like a beaver above, taking away the loose stones,
but exercising great care so that not even a bit of loose earth, or
mortar, should fall down the shaft to alarm his chum.
"Hello! where are you, below?"
"Close by you now. Oh! do you think you can get me up again, mister?"
came in a quavering voice.
Fred let himself slip down a little further, inch by inch as it were. He
was afraid of striking the one who must be clinging to the rope below,
undoubtedly chilled to the bone, and sick with fear.
Even at that moment the boy was filled with amazement, and could not
imagine how a girl could have gotten into such a strange situation. But
his first duty was to get her out.
Ten seconds later and he could feel her beside him.
"Don't be afraid, we'll get you on dry land in a jiffy," he said, as
cheerfully as possible. "Can you hold on to the rope if my friend turns
the windlass? I'll do all I can to help you. If only the bucket could be
used for you to stand on! It's the only way to work it, I guess."
"Yes, yes, anything you say, I'll do, mister. Oh! what if they have hurt
him, and me such a coward as to run away like I did and hide. But pop
made me, he just said I must. He'll tell you that same, mister, if so be
he's alive yet."
The girl said this in broken sentences. She was almost in a state of
complete collapse, and Fred knew that unless he hurried to get her up
where she could obtain warmth, she would be a dead weight on his hands.
"Hello! Bristles!" he called out.
"Yes; what d'ye want, Fred? Shall I begin to wind up?" came from above,
accompanied by the musical clank of the iron brake falling over the cogs
that were intended to hold it firmly, and prevent a slip, should the one
at the handle let go suddenly.
"Go slow, Bristles, and stop when you hear me shout!"
"O. K. Fred; slow she is! Are you coming now?"
Fred had felt the rope slip through his hands inch by inch. He was
feeling with his dangling feet for the bucket, and presently discovered
it.
"Hold on till I tilt the bucket, and empty out the water; we have to use
it to stand on as you pull us up!" he shouted.
With more or less difficulty he managed to accomplish this task. It
would relieve Bristles considerably; and even as it was, the straining
boy up there would have a tremendous task ahead of him, raising two
persons at a time.
Fred threw his arm around the girl, whom he could just dimly make out.
She clung wildly to him, as though realizing that all her hopes of
getting out of this strange prison rested in the boy who had come down
the rope so daringly.
"Now once again, old fellow, and do your level best!" Fred sang out.
So they went up, foot by foot. He held the girl in a tight clasp, and
kept hoping the rope would not break, or any other accident happen.
Bristles was tugging wildly away at the handle of the windlass,
doubtless with his teeth set hard together, and every muscle of his body
in play.
Now they were close to the top, and Fred called out, to caution his chum
to slacken his violent efforts.
So once again Fred's eyes came above the curbing of the old well, and he
found Bristles, panting for breath, but eager to assist still further in
the work of rescue.
"Reach down," Fred said, quietly, wishing to calm the other; "and get
your arms around her, if you can; then lift for all you're worth! She
isn't heavy, only her clothes are soaked with water. There you are, and
well done, old chap!"
Bristles had actually plucked the girl from the grasp of the boy who had
to cling to the rope with one hand; she was already placed upon the
ground, while he turned to assist Fred, starting to climb out unaided.
But the girl had not fainted, as Fred suspected. She was now on her
knees, and trying to get upon her feet.
"Oh! what can have happened to him?" she muttered.
"Who is it you are talking about?" asked Bristles.
"My poor sick father," she replied. "They came in on us, and made me get
a meal. Then they began to hunt all over the house for money, just as if
we ever had any such thing hidden. Oh! the terrible threats they made;
father was afraid for me, and ordered me to watch out for the first
chance to run away, to go to the nearest neighbor for help; but he lives
two miles away. I was afraid to leave the place, because I thought they
might set the house on fire. So I tried to hide just below the curbing
of the well; but the brake wasn't set, and I went down with the bucket.
I might have drowned, only I held on all these hours, hoping and
fearing. Oh! I wonder if he is still alive!"
"Who was it came and did these things?" asked Fred, indignantly.
"Three tramps; and they were bad men, too," she replied, starting toward
the old farmhouse, where the door stood open. A few whiffs of smoke
curled up from the chimney, yet there was no sign of life.
And, wondering what they would find there, the two boys strode along
beside her, ready to catch her should she show signs of falling. But a
great hope seemed to sustain the girl they had rescued from the well.