els choky and stuffy.
You see flowers aren't like us, except hot-house ones of course, they're
used to live out-of-doors."

Pansy looked very anxious.

"I wonder if it's that," she said. "I noticed, though I tried to think
it was fancy, that one of the biggest flower-leaves," (she meant
"petals," but she was too little to know the right word), "not the
_leaf_-leaves you know, was a tiny atom of a bit crushed up, almost
like," and here Pansy dropped her voice, as if what she was going to say
was almost _too_ dreadful to put in words, "almost like as if it was
beginning to--to wither a little."

Bob nodded his head.

"That's it," he said, "I bet you anything that's it. It's want of fresh
air. Well, Pansy, I've measured the ledge outside, it's quite wide
enough to hold the flower-pot and the saucer, and though it slopes
downwards a very little, it's nothing to make it stand unsteady. Now
suppose, last thing at night, we put it outside, I'm sure it would
freshen it up, and flowers are just as used to night air as to day air."

Pansy agreed; she examined the outer sill with Bob, it seemed all right.
So that evening when the children's bedtime came, pansy flower was told
by Pansy little girl what her kind mamma and uncle had planned for her
benefit, and with what Pansy called a kiss, a very butterfly kiss it
was, for the little girl was as afraid of hurting the pansy as if it had
been a sensitive plant, the flower-pot was placed on the ledge outside.

First thing next morning Pansy flew to look at the flower.

"Have you had a good night, my darling? oh, yes, I think so. You look
very fresh and well, though a _little_ wet." For a gentle shower had
fallen in the night. "Perhaps the rain will have done you good."

Bob was quite sure it had, certainly the crumply look on the purple
petal was no _worse_, so the plan was kept to, and every night the pot
was carefully settled on the ledge.

I think it was on the third morning that the dreadful thing happened
which I must now tell you of.

When Pansy opened the window to draw in her dear flower and bid it good
morning, there was no pansy, no flower-pot, _nothing_ to be seen!

With a sort of shriek Pansy flew across the day nursery to the bedroom
where nurse was dressing baby Charley, while Bob, all ready, was giving
the last touch up to his curly hair.

[Illustration]

"Nurse, Bob," she cried, "have you _possibly_ brought the pansy in while
I was asleep?"

But nurse