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