CHAPTER XXI
THE ACCIDENT
"I'd like to live up here!" It was Esther who spoke so enthusiastically,as she stood, with Bob Henderson and the four girls, on the roof of thebuilding proudly pointed out as the tallest in Washington.
A soft breeze was blowing, and it was a cloudless day so that thecity was clearly spread before them.
"Wouldn't I like to go up in an airplane!" exclaimed Betty. "See,they're flying over the Navy Yard now. I'd give anything to know howit feels to fly."
"If you go much nearer that edge you'll know how it feels allright," Bob warned her. "Come down here and I'll show you our dryingracks. Perhaps that will keep your mind off airplanes."
The wooden racks held lengths of silk and cloth, weighted at theends to keep them from blowing away. The materials were dyed incrude, vivid colors, and Bob explained that they were brought fromthe factory after being dipped so that his employer might personallyobserve the changes they underwent after exposure to strong sunlight.
"We only take orders and send out salesmen from the officedownstairs," he said. "The factory is near Georgetown and employsabout two hundred hands."
After they had made the circuit of the roof, picking out familiarlandmarks and wrangling lazily over distances and geographicalboundaries, they were ready to go down. Bob must return to work, andthe girls had planned a trip to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
"I tell you I was glad our office wasn't on the top floor thismorning," Bob casually remarked as they stood waiting for theelevator. "Something was the matter, and everybody had to walk up.The fourth floor was plenty far enough up for us then."
"Mother always says we don't appreciate conveniences till we have todo without them," said Bobby. "Here comes the car."
The grinning negro boy who operated the elevator smiled a wide smileas they filed into his car.
"You-all get a nice view?" he asked sociably.
They assured him that they had, and he seemed pleased, but his redlight glowing at that moment, he gave all his attention to stoppingat the next floor. Two women got on and, at the next floor, two men.
The gate had just closed after this last stop, and Betty had openedher mouth to tell Bobby that her hat was tipped crookedly when with asickening speed the car began to drop!
"We's slipping! I can't stop her! Oh, good gracious, the brakes ornothin' don't work!" The frenzied wail of the negro who was workingvaliantly at his levers gave the first intimation of danger.
Betty saw Bob spring to his aid, saw Esther sink in a miserablelittle white heap to the floor, Bobby put her hands up to her eyes asif to shut out the light, and Louise mechanically try to defendherself from the strangle hold of the woman who stood next to her. Itseemed minutes to Betty that the car was falling, and she watched theothers' behavior with a curious, semi-detached interest that wasoddly impersonal. One of the men passengers began to claw at the gatefrantically and the other kept muttering under his breath, softly andsteadily, biting off his words crisply and quite unconscious of whathe was saying. The woman who had clutched Louise was silent at first,but her companion instantly screamed, and in a fraction of a secondshe, too, was screaming.
Now Betty had never heard the sound of women in terror, and she wasunprepared for the wild anguish of those shrill voices.
The experience was terrifying, but it was all over very swiftly. Themechanism jammed between the third and second floors and the elevatorcame to a stop with a suddenness that jarred the teeth of thepassengers. It had begun to fall after leaving the seventh floor.
For a moment every one stared at every one else stupidly. BobbyLittell was the first to find her voice.
"Well, I guess we're all here," she observed matter-of-factly."Esther, are you hurt?"
"No-o, I think not," said Esther slowly. "Wasn't it awful! Let's getout of here, quick."
A hasty investigation proved that no one was injured, and as one ofthe men said, shaken nerves could not be allowed to count.
"That was a narrow escape, a mighty narrow escape!" said the otherman. "I fully expected to be smashed in the wreck of the car when itstruck the concrete well."
"I'll never ride in another elevator, never!" ejaculated the womanwho had seized Louise. "Why, I'll dream of this for weeks to come."
The girls said nothing, though their lips were white and Betty'sknees were trembling. She was rather angry that she should feel thisloss of control after everything was over, but it was natural.
"How do we get out?" Bob addressed the operator briskly. "Can youopen the doors? Come on now, nothing is going to hurt you--the dangeris over."
The poor darky was actually gray with fright, and his face wasbruised where he had been thrown against the grating when the carstopped.
"I doan know how you-all kin get out, Boss," he said tremulously."We's stuck between the floors."
"Hello! Hello you, down there! Anybody hurt?" a friendly bellow camedown to them from the grating of the floor above.
A crowd had collected on each floor, having heard the screams, andall these people now ran downstairs to get as close to the strandedcar as they could. They collected about the gate on the third floor,and many from the street, hearing that there had been an accident,crowded around the shaft on the second floor. They were advised thatno one was hurt and what was needed was a way of escape from thebrass cage.
"Knock a hole in the roof," some one advised cheerfully. "You cancrawl out on the top of the car and then shinny your way up to us. Orwe'll let down a rope to you."
"What'll we knock a hole in the roof with?" demanded Bob, and whenoffers were made to drop an axe down to him he had difficulty incalming the woman who had so nearly strangled Louise, and who hadvisions of being accidently decapitated.
"I cain't get the doors open," announced the darky, after tinkeringvainly with them. "I reckon the lock's done got jammed. If I couldget 'em open the lil girl under the seat could shinny up the wall andthat would be one out, 'tannyrate."
Attention thus focused upon her, Libbie crawled from under the seatwhere she had dived, following an ostrich-like impulse to hide herhead from coming danger. Her confusion was increased by the tactlesscomment of the operator who, seeing her "full view" for the firsttime, exclaimed:
"Lawsy, Missie, you couldn't shinny up no wall. You is too fat."
Many suggestions were forthcoming, all of them impractical, and thealready frayed nerves of the passengers began to show evidence ofreaching the snapping point. Bob's employer was among those who hadgathered in the corridor, and he decidedly favored the axe idea.
The plan to chop their way out gained in favor, and a boy had beendispatched for one of the fire axes when the woman who had graspedLouise created a diversion by going into hysterics and declaring thatshe would not have them dropping axes on her head. Her companiontried in vain to soothe her, but she was in a highly nervous stateand it was impossible to explain or reason with her. She began toscream again, and this was more than those imprisoned in the car withher could be expected to stand.
"That settles it--call off the axe!" shouted the older man,exchanging a desperate glance with Bob. "If this goes on much longerwe'll be floated out on a river of salt tears. It's all right, Madam,they are not going to send any axes down."
The women continued to sob violently for a time, but at last theygot her quieted and were free to consider other ways and means ofescape.
Pat Kelly, the genial engineer of the building, was sent down to thebasement to see what he could do with the refractory machinery, foralthough the elevator people had been telephoned to, their men had notyet put in an appearance. Pat's contribution was to create a horribledin by hammering on every pipe he came to, stopping at three-minuteintervals to yell, "Can ye be moving now?"
"Call that man off!" shouted the younger of the two men passengers."What do you think this is--a boiler factory? About all the goodhe'll do will be to dislodge the car, and we'll fall the rest of theway."
This was a bad suggestion,
and only by hard work were two more casesof hysterics averted.
"I think what we need is a drink of water," declared Betty timidly."Do you think they could get some down to us? And, Bob, why don'tthey send for the fire department?"
"I suppose because we are not on fire," answered Bob seriously."What good could the firemen do?"
"Oh, I don't know," said Betty vaguely. "Only in Pineville thefiremen get people out of all sorts of scrapes. They can climb youknow, and they have long ladders and ropes----"
"By George, the girl is right!" The elder man looked at Bettyadmiringly. "Hey, some of you who want to help! Go and 'phone thefire department. And say, send us down some water--we're dry as dustafter this rumpus."
Half of the waiting crowd scattered to telephone to the firedepartment and the other half ran for the water coolers. Their zealoutstripped their judgment in this latter service, and the result wasan icy stream of water that poured into the car.
Betty Gordon in Washington; Or, Strange Adventures in a Great City Page 21
