"It's wattle," Prudence answered. "It's in the fields over there. You can smell it for miles sometimes, in the country; it's a nice smell. Let's go and look at Papa's parcels. He went to see Mrs. Macfarline at her toyshop to-day, and when he goes there he always brings something home. It's a beautiful shop. Once I stayed with Lucy Macfarline from Saturday till Monday, and her mamma allowed us to play in the shop on Sunday; it was so funny, all dark and dim, and the dolls looking like little ghosts. We played with the toys on the shelves and had a lovely time. I love shops--oh, Mollie, we have forgotten Grizzel! She is up in the tree all this time! We must run and get her down. I hope Hugh hasn't hidden the ladder--I wish he wouldn't tease so." "All brothers do," Mollie said philosophically. "Dick is simply the limit sometimes, but I do wish we could get him over here, Prudence. Do you think we could?" "I'll think. But first we must find that ladder." As they neared the tree Prudence called to her sister that they were coming, but got no answer. They jumped the low wall and stood underneath the tree, nearly dislocating their necks in their efforts to see some sign of life in the little house. But Grizzel neither answered nor showed herself, in spite of Prue's eloquent description of Papa's parcels and denunciations of their brother. "Perhaps she is having her evening hate," suggested Mollie. "She does take awful fits of the sulks sometimes," Prudence allowed, "but I don't think she would be sulky with _me_ just now; it wasn't me that stole the ladder--oh _bother_ that Hugh! We had better go and look for it as fast as we can. I wonder where he has hidden it?" "It can't be far away, because he was only gone for a few minutes at tea-time," Mollie remarked sensibly. "Very likely it is simply lying on the ground behind the wall." That was precisely where it was, and without much trouble the girls got it into place again, and Prudence mounted quickly. She disappeared through the little door, but in one moment appeared again with a frightened face. "She's not here, Mollie. She's gone." "Gone!" Mollie exclaimed incredulously. "She can't be gone! How could she get down without the ladder? She must be up in the tree." "No, she isn't. I can see every branch from here; there is not a single place where she could hide." "But she _must_ be up there somewhere," Mollie persisted. "If she had fallen out she would be lying round somewhere. There is no way she _could_ get down without the ladder. She is so nervous. I'll come up too and look." "You may come, but you won't see anything," Prudence said, steadying her end of the ladder while Mollie climbed. The Nest was certainly empty. The little blue bird must have found wings and flown, Mollie thought. She looked up and down and round about, but not a vestige of Grizzel was there to be seen. Then she called her Scouting lore to her aid, and set her wits to work.