At last the disturbance was too much for one of the old hornets. He flew in circles about her head and scolded until his exasperation took form in the offensive. Natalie's neck was a very advantageous spot and she could not see him when he lit on her collar and quickly crept up to the soft smooth skin in the nape of the neck.
Without further warning he drove in his dagger-point and Natalie screamed with pain. Forgetting that she was up in a tree, and must cling fast to the boughs, she suddenly put both hands to her neck. The natural result was, she fell down so quickly that her friends could not get to her assistance in time to do a thing.
Smaller twigs and branches had given way with her weight and she would have fallen to the ground, had not a friendly bough caught her under the arms and suspended her momentarily. Then the smaller bough that grew from the friendly one snapped short off under the girl's weight, and the sharp up-thrusting section left on the tree ran right through the suspender-straps at the back of her overalls. There she hung, like a toy doll on a Christmas Tree,--her feet dangling and her head and hands helplessly held out to be taken down by some kind friend.
The terrifying scream brought Rachel running from the kitchen and Mrs. James up from the cellar, where she had gone to hunt for more containers for the cherries. When Rachel saw what had happened she wrung her fat hands in agony.
"Oh, m' Honey! My li'l' chile--hang on t' dat limb fer all you'se wuth!" yelled she. Then she rushed over the grass to the rescue,--but Natalie dangled just out of reach above her head.
Janet slid down the rough trunk of the cherry-tree the moment she heard her friend shriek. Her thin stockings hung in strips when she reached the ground, and her legs were skinned from knees to ankles, but she felt no pain, as she was so excited over the outcome of this accident.
"Quick! Someone get that step-ladder we had here!" cried she, jumping up and down in her fear that Natalie would let go and fall; yet she was too excited to run for the ladder herself.
Rachel instantly comprehended and jumped across the intervening space between the two trees and caught a firm hold of the lower part of the step-ladder. She never stopped to see if anyone was on the top step. But one of the Scouts had been standing on it with her form hidden in the foliage of the tree. As Rachel whirled the ladder out from under her, the Scout was left in mid-air, instinctively clutching the branches to save herself.