She held her
breath. Felipe was a slender man; Alessandro was much heavier,
and many inches taller. Still, could any man carry such a burden
safely on that narrow beam! Ramona looked away, and shut her
eyes, through the silence which followed. It was only a few
moments; but it seemed an eternity before a glad murmur of voices
told her that it was done, and looking up, she saw Felipe lying on
the roof, unconscious, his face white, his eyes shut. At this sight,
all the servants broke out afresh, weeping and wailing, "He is
dead! He is dead!"
Ramona stood motionless, her eyes fixed on Felipe's face. She, too,
believed him dead; but her thought was of the Senora.
"He is not dead," cried Juan Canito, who had thrust his hand under
Felipe's shirt. "He is not dead. It is only a faint,"
At this the first tears rolled down Ramona's face. She looked
piteously at the ladder up and down which she had seen
Alessandro run as if it were an easy indoor staircase. "If I could
only get up there!" she said, looking from one to another. "I think I
can;" and she put one foot on the lower round.
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