I begged them to be patient, and
asked my wife to supply me with a ball of thick strong thread. The
enchanted bag did not fail us; the very ball I wanted appeared at her
summons. This, my little ones declared, must be magic; but I explained
to them, that prudence, foresight, and presence of mind in danger, such
as their good mother had displayed, produced more miracles than magic.
I then tied the end of the ball of thread to one of my arrows, fixed it
in my bow, and sent it directly over one of the thickest of the lower
branches of the tree, and, falling to the ground, it drew the thread
after it. Charmed with this result, I hastened to complete my ladder.
Fritz had measured our ropes, and found two of forty feet each,--exactly
what I wanted. These I stretched on the ground at about one foot
distance from each other; Fritz cut pieces of cane two feet long, which
Ernest passed to me. I placed these in knots which I had made in the
cords, at about a foot distance from each other, and Jack fastened each
end with a long nail, to prevent it slipping. In a very short time our
ladder was completed; and, tying it to the end of the cord which went
over the branch, we drew it up without difficulty. All the boys were
anxious to ascend; but I chose Jack, as the lightest and most active.
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