upon
one of the branches, which he thought was a bird's nest. It was the
same pine-tree that marked the place at which a road branched off into
the woods, where Mary Bell had lost her way, several years before.
Malleville was very unwilling to have Phonny climb up upon such a high
tree, but Phonny himself was very desirous to make the attempt. There
was a log fence at the foot of the tree, and the distance was not very
great from the uppermost log of the fence, to the lowermost branch
of the tree. So Phonny thought that he could get up without any
difficulty.

Malleville was afraid to have him try, and she said that if he did, he
would be acting just as foolish as the boy that Beechnut had told them
about, who nipped his own nose; and that she should not stop to see
him do any such foolishness. So she walked along as fast as she could
go.

Phonny unfortunately was rendered only the more determined to climb
the tree by Malleville's opposition. He accordingly mounted up to the
top of the fence, and thence reaching the lower branches of the tree
he succeeded at length, by dint of much scrambling and struggling, in
lifting himself up among them. He climbed out to the limb where he had
seen the appearances of a bird's nest, but found to his disappointment
that there was no bird's nest there. The bunch was only a little tuft
of twigs growing out together.

Phonny then began to shout out for Malleville to wait for him.

"Mal--le--ville! Mal--le--ville!" said he. "Wait a minute for me. I am
coming down."

He did not like to be left there all alone, in the gloomy and solitary
forest. So he made all the haste possible in descending. There are a
great many accidents which may befall a boy in coming down a tree. The
one which Phonny was fated to incur in this instance, was to catch his
trowsers near the knee, in a small sharp twig which projected from a
branch, and tear them.

When he reached the ground he looked at the rent in dismay. He was
generally nice and particular about his clothes, and he was very
unwilling to go to Mary Erskine's, and let her and Bella see him in
such a plight. He was equally unwilling to go home again, and to lose
his visit.

"Provoking!" said he. "That comes from Malleville's hurrying me so.
It is all her fault." Then starting off suddenly, he began to run,
shouting out, "Malleville! Malleville!"

At length, when he got pretty near her, he called out for her to stop
and see what she had mad