could ride up to the
door without the trouble of opening any gate. The children walked up
this open yard.

They went to the door, intending to unlock it with their key, but they
were surprised to find that there was not any key hole. Mary Bell said
that she supposed the key hole was not made yet. They tried to open
the door, but they could not succeed. It was obviously fastened on the
inside.

"Now how can we get in?" said Bella.

"I don't see," replied Mary Bell, "and I can't think how they locked
the door without any key-hole."

"Could not we climb in at one of the windows?" said Mary Bell,--"only
they are so high up!"

The children looked around at the windows. They were all too high
from the ground for them to reach. There was, however, a heap of short
blocks and boards which the carpenters had left in the yard near the
house, and Mary Bell said that perhaps they could build up a "climbing
pile" with them, so as to get in at a window. She accordingly went to
this heap, and by means of considerable exertion and toil she rolled
two large blocks--the ends of sticks of timber which the carpenters
had sawed off in framing the house--up under the nearest window.
She placed these blocks, which were about two feet long, at a little
distance apart under the window, with one end of each block against
the house. She then, with Bella's help, got some short boards from
the pile, and placed them across these blocks from one to the other,
making a sort of a flooring.

"There," said Mary Bell, looking at the work with great satisfaction,
"that is _one_ story."

Then she brought two more blocks, and laid them upon the flooring over
the first two, placing the second pair of blocks, like the first, at
right angles to the house, and with the ends close against it to
keep them steady. On these blocks she laid a second flooring of short
boards, which made the second story. She then stepped up upon the
staging which she had thus built, to see if it was steady. It was very
steady indeed.

"Let _me_ get up on it," said Bella.

Bella accordingly climbed up, and she and Mary Bell danced upon it
together in great glee for some time to show how steady it was.

Mary Bell then attempted to open the window. She found that she could
open it a little way, but not far enough to get in. So she said that
she must make one more "story." They then both went back to the pile,
and got two more blocks and another board to lay across upon the t