Bert was a sturdy chap, and soon he was "shinnying," or climbing, up the rope like a human monkey. Then Harry did it, managing to reach the big limb, to which the rope was fastened, more quickly than had Bert. "Now it's my turn!" exclaimed Nan, when the two boys were on the ground again. "Pooh! Girls can't climb ropes!" declared Harry. "Yes, I can, too! You watch!" Nan was almost as strong as her brother. She caught hold of the rope, and managed to scramble up, though it was hard work. "You can't do it!" laughed Harry, when, almost at the top, she paused for a moment. "Yes, I can! I can! You just watch!" Nan gave a wiggle, another scramble, and then, just as she managed to get one leg over the limb, she slipped. "Oh! Oh!" she screamed. "I'm going to fall!" But she did not fall. Instead, one foot caught in a loop of the rope, and there poor Nan hung, half way over the limb, one leg dangling down, and her hands clutching the rope. She could neither get up nor down! She was caught on the limb of the tree! CHAPTER X DOWN A BIG HOLE For a few seconds Bert and Harry were so surprised at what had happened to Nan that they could do nothing but stand and stare up at her. As for Nan, she also was surprised at the suddenness of her tumble when she was almost perched safely astride the limb to which the rope of the swing was tied. As she felt herself slipping she had clung with all her might, one hand and part of her arm over the branch, another hand grasping the rope, one leg partly up over the limb, and the other leg tangled in the rope. This was what had caused the trouble--the leg getting caught and tangled in a loop of the rope. But for that, Nan could have swung this leg up over the limb and so have perched there in safety. "Come on down!" cried Harry. "Don't fall!" begged Bert. "Oh, Nan, be careful! Mother'll think I oughtn't to have let you climb up there!" "You didn't--you didn't let--me!" panted Nan. "I did it myself!" "Well, come on down!" begged Harry again. "I--I can't!" half sobbed Nan, with a catch in her voice. "I--I'm stuck! Go get a ladder--get something to help me. I can't hold on much longer!" "Shall we get the tennis net and let you fall into that?" asked Bert, starting toward the swing with half an idea that he could climb up the rope and loosen Nan. "No, I don't want to fall!" cried his sister. "Get a ladder so I can climb down. Call daddy!" "I'll call my father!" offered Harry. "He's got a long ladder!" "Do something! Quick!" begged Nan desperately. As Bert and Harry started to run toward the house to summon their fathers and mothers, Flossie and Freddie, tired of playing with the little boat in the brook, came up to the apple tree. Freddie saw Nan hanging there, some distance above the ground. "Oh, Nan's doing circus tricks! Nan's doing circus tricks!" cried Freddie. "Look at her, Flossie. Nan's doing circus tricks an' I want to do 'em, too!"