Only one thing of any value was in the range of her vision. The two long ropes she had seen long before were still hanging from the roof and fastened securely to a large plank almost on the ground. It brought to Jinnie's mind what Lafe had told her,--of Jimmie Malligan who had been killed, and of how he himself had lost his legs.
Could she, by means of the rope, save the three precious things back in that awful room--Bobbie, Happy Pete, and her fiddle?
To be once more under God's sun with the blue above gave her new strength. Then she turned and crawled slowly back.
At the corner she grew faint-hearted. It must have been the gorge below that made her breath come in catching sobs. But on and on she went until through the window she could see Bobbie with Happy Pete asleep in his arms. The child was still muttering over his little prayers, his blind eyes rolling in bewildered anxiety.
Jinnie was very white when she sat down beside him. Putting her face close to his, she brushed his cheek lovingly.
"Bobbie," she said, touching his hair with her lips, "how much do you love Jinnie?"
"More'n all the world," replied Bobbie without hesitation.
"Then if you love me that much, you'll do just what I tell you."
"Yes," Bobbie assured her under his breath.
Jinnie took a towel--she couldn't find a rope--and strapped the violin to Bobbie's back.
"I've got to take my fiddle with me, dearie," she explained, "and I can't carry it because I've got you. You can't carry it because you've got to hold Happy Pete.... Now, then, come on!"
Jinnie drew the reluctant, trembling child to his feet and permitted him to feel around the window-sash; she also held him tightly while he measured the stone ledge with his fingers.
"I'm awful 'fraid," he moaned, drooping.
Jinnie feared he was going to have another fainting spell. To ward it off, she said firmly: "Bobbie, you want to see Lafe, don't you?"
"S'awful much," groaned Bobbie.
"Then don't hold your breath." She saw him stagger, and grasping him, cried out "Breathe, Bobbie, breathe! We're going to Peggy."
Bobbie began to breathe naturally, and a beatific smile touched the corners of his lips.
"I got so many stars to-day, Jinnie," he quavered, "one slipped right down my throat."
"But you mustn't be scared again, Bobbie! If we stay, the black man'll come back and shake you again and take us to some place that'll make us both sick. You just keep on praying, and I will, too.... Now, then, I'm going out, and when I say, 'Ready,' you crawl after me."