"Grab the branch with your legs, Fairburn! and I'll cut Mary clear."
No sooner said than done. By the aid of a good clasp-knife Matthew
severed the cords and secured his little sister, her weight, however,
as it came upon him, almost knocking him from his perch. But he held
desperately, and in another moment had Mary on the branch beside him.
Then George, throwing his legs apart, suddenly loosed his hold of the
branches and dropped also astride of the bough, which he grasped tight
with both hands. He swung round and hung from the branch head
downwards. But the next minute he had righted himself, and was ready
to help with Mary.
The rescue was complete. To guide the child along the branch, towards
the middle of the tree, and then to lower her from limb to limb of the
old yew was mere play to the two boys. The three dropped the last four
or five feet to earth just as a man rushed forward with a great cry,
to clasp in his arms the fainting girl.
"God is merciful!" he ejaculated. It was Squire Blackett, who had
arrived just in time to see his beloved child saved from an awful
fate.
For a few moments father and children clung to each other. When at
length they looked round to express their gratitude to the plucky
rescuer, he was nowhere to be seen.
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