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 the
building proudly pointed out as the tallest in Washington.
A soft breeze was blowing, and it was a cloudless day so that the
city 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 how
it feels to fly."
"If you go much nearer that edge you'll know how it feels all
right," Bob warned her. "Come down here and I'll show you our drying
racks. Perhaps that will keep your mind off airplanes."
The wooden racks held lengths of silk and cloth, weighted at the
ends to keep them from blowing away. The materials were dyed in
crude, vivid colors, and Bob explained that they were brought from
the factory after being dipped so that his employer might personally
observe the changes they underwent after exposure to strong sunlight.
"We only take orders and send out salesmen from the office
downstairs," he said. "The factory is near Georgetown and employs
about two hundred hands."
After they had made the circuit of the roof, picking out familiar
landmarks and wrangling lazily over distances and geographical
boundaries, they were ready to go down.
Pages:
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173