Light and ventilation came into the loft principally by means of the great window opening through which hay would ordinarily be tossed for storage purposes. In times of storm this opening would, of course, have to be closed. For this purpose there was a great door, made of uneven boards, roughly nailed together and which must be held in position by a stout stick braced against a plank in the floor. But even with this shutter in place light and air, and also rain, had ample circulation through chinks and crevices on every side. To this aerie retreat the children had already been forced to flee in haste several times at the ringing of the jangling bell which Peter Grimes had suspended above the newly constructed gateway. It had been difficult at first for little Mollie to mount the perpendicular ladder, with its widely placed rungs, which was the only means of access to the loft and which came up through a hole in the floor. Stimulated to frantic effort by the shouts of Peter in the yard without, the clamorous bell down at the gate and demoniac chuckles from Ambrose as he rounded the barn door with a wriggling green creature in his hand, the spritelike little girl performed a series of acrobatic feats without knowing it and arrived at the top of the ladder almost as quickly as Stephen. On the occasion of her first ascension Stephen had carried her on his back. Each successive mounting of the ladder only served to increase their agility. They soon went through the exercise as automatically as if it had been a fire drill at school. Few persons, however, came to the remote hog-farm. Peter Grimes was both feared and distrusted by the majority of those who knew him. Only when good and sufficient reasons prevailed to warrant their turning off the highway and traversing the precarious way to Peter's farm could they be induced to stop and dicker with him. During the several days following the installation of the children in the barn-loft it chanced that one man came, bringing a box. It was the box that held Mollie's clothes. From their place of observation in the loft Mollie and Stephen both recognized him as the "buggy man with the funny mustache" who had consigned Mollie to Peter. Another visitor to the Grimes estate was a farmer who argued at considerable length with Peter and, after inspecting his hogs, refused to pay the price demanded. He departed with some show of temper. The third person to ring the bell at the gate was a pedestrian who had lost his way and wanted directions. During the interim between each of these legitimate bell-ringings there were half a dozen others, purely rehearsal affairs, staged by Peter for the purpose of training the children to effect their disappearance in an ever lessening period of time.