Stuck on a ledge

 There followed one of those awkward periods which occur when a man who is compelled to confine himself entirely to grimaces is endeavoring to convey his thoughts to a second party who is so overcome with amazement that he would scarcely be in a position to understand the plainest speech. Mr. Slattery contorted his features. Mr. Carlisle continued to gape. It was only at the end of about five minutes, just after Mr. Slattery had nearly dislocated his lower jaw in a particularly eloquent passage, that the marveling Confidence Trick artist realized that what his friend was silently appealing for was a ladder.