hung on the
low limb of a pretty maple. First Harry made sure the messages were
safe under each bird's wing, then he called:

"All ready!"

Snap! went something that sounded like a shot (but it wasn't), and then
away flew the pretty birds to take the messages home to John and
Martha. The shot was only a dry stick that Tom Mason snapped to imitate
a gun, as they do at bicycle races, but the effect was quite startling
and made the girls jump.

"It won't take long for them to get home!" said Bert, watching the
birds fly away.

"They'll get lost!" cried Freddie.

"No, they won't. They know which way we came," Nan explained.

"But they was shut up in the basket," argued Freddie.

"Yet they could see," Nan told him.

"Can pigeons see when they're asleep?" inquired the little fellow.

"Maybe," Nan answered.

"Then I'd like to have pigeon eyes," he finished, thinking to himself
how fine it would be to see everything going on around and be fast
asleep too.

"Oh, mamma, come quick!" called Flossie, running along a path at the
edge of the wood. "There's a tree over there pouring water, and it
isn't raining a drop!"

Everybody set out now to look at the wonderful tree, which was soon
discovered where Flossie had found it.

"There it is!" she exclaimed. "See the water dropping down!"

"A maple tree," Harry informed them, "and that sap is what they make
maple sugar out of."

"Oh, catch it!" called Freddie, promptly holding his cap under the
drops.

"It would take a good deal to make a sugar cake," Harry said, "but
maybe we can get enough of it to make a little cake for Freddie."

At this the country boys began looking around for young maples, and as
small limbs of the trees were broken the girls caught the drops in
their tin cups. It took quite a while to get a little, but by putting
it all together a cupful was finally gathered.

"Now we will put it in a clean milk bottle," Mrs. Bobbsey said, "and
maybe we can make maple syrup cake to-morrow."

"Let's have a game of hide-and-seek," Nan suggested.

In a twinkling every boy and girl was hidden behind a tree, and Nan
found herself "It." Of course it took a big tree to hide the girls'
dresses, and Nan had no trouble in spying Mildred first. Soon the game
was going along merrily, and the boys and girls were out of breath
trying to get "home free."

"Where's Roy?" exclaimed Tom Mason, the little boy's brother.

"Hiding somewhere," Bessie ventured, for it only