Part 33 (1/2)

She looks at it once, and begins to flop her arms and take on again. ”I never can do it, I know I can't!” says she. ”I'll fall, I'll fall!”

Well, it was a case of Shorty McCabe to the rescue, after all. ”Coming up!” says I, and hops on the thing, holdin' out me paws.

She didn't need any more coaxin'. She scrabbled over that balcony rail and got a shoulder clutch on me that you couldn't have loosened with a crowbar. I gathered in the rest of her with my left hand and steadied myself with the other. Lucky she wasn't a heavy-weight, or that pot-holder wouldn't have stood the strain. It creaked some as we went down, but it held together.

”Street floor, all out!” says I, as I hit the gra.s.s.

But that didn't even get a wiggle out of her.

”It's all over,” says I. ”You're rescued.”

Talk about your cling-stones! She was it. Never a move. I couldn't tell whether she'd fainted, or was too scared to let go. But it was up to me to do something. I couldn't stand there for the rest of the night holdin' a strange lady draped the way she was, and it didn't seem to be just the right thing to sit down to it. Besides, one of her elbows was tryin' to puncture my right lung.

”If you're over the fire panic, I'll try and hoist you back through the window, miss,” says I.

She wasn't ready to do any conversin' then, though. She was just holdin'

onto me like I was too good a thing to let slip.

”Well, it looks to me as though we'd got to make a front entrance,” says I; ”but I hope the audience'll be slim,” and with that I starts to finish the lap around the house and make for the double doors.

[Ill.u.s.tration: One of her elbows was tryin' to puncture my right lung.]

I've carried weight before, but never that kind, and it seemed like that blamed house was as big around as a city block. Once or twice we b.u.t.ted into the bushes, and another time I near tumbled the two of us into the pool of a fountain; but after awhile I struck the front porch, some out of breath, and with a few wisps of black hair in my eyes, but still in the game. The lady hadn't made a murmur, and she hadn't slacked her clinch.

I was hopin' to slide in quiet, without bein' spotted by anyone, for most of the women had gone back to bed, and I could hear the men down in the billiard room clickin' gla.s.ses over an extra dream-soother. Luck was against me, though. Right under the newel-post light stood Pinckney, wearin' a silk pajama coat outside of a pair of black broadcloth trousers. When he sees me and what I was luggin' he looks kind of pleased.

”h.e.l.lo, Shorty!” says he. ”What have you there?”

”It might be a porous-plaster, by the way it sticks,” says I, ”but it ain't. It's a lady I've been rescuin' while the rest of you guys was standin' around watchin' a wet cook.”

”By Jove!” says Pinckney, steppin' up and takin' a close look. ”Miriam!”

”Thanks,” says I. ”We ain't been introduced yet. Do you mind unhookin'

her fingers from the back of my neck?”

But all he did was to stand there with his mouth corners workin', and them black eyes of his winkin' like a pair of arc lights.

”It's too pretty a picture to spoil,” says he. ”So touching! Reminds me of Andromeda and What's-his-name. Just keep that pose a minute, will you, until I bring up the rest of the fellows?”

”You'll bring up nothin',” says I, reachin' out with one hand and gettin' a grip on the collar of his silk jacket. ”Now get busy, or off comes your kimono.”

With that he quits kiddin' and goes to work on Miriam's fingers, and in about a minute she gives a little jump, like she'd just heard the breakfast bell.

”Why!” says she. ”Where am I?”

”Right where you landed five minutes ago,” says I.

Then she shudders all over and squeals: ”Oh! A man! A man!”

”Sure,” says I, ”you didn't take me for a Morris chair, did you?”