n from the wall and, fastening a glow worm inside to
light the way, showed Laurie great piles of nuts and acorns stacked in
the corners. After a while they came to a little door and, passing
through it--the squirrel leading the way, after him the pigeon, and
Laurie bringing up the rear--they found themselves in a long passage,
smelling of earth and mould. "It surely must be underground," thought
Laurie, "I wonder if the moles and mice have streets just as we do. Oh,
dear! I do hope we don't meet that dreadful turkey-gobbler." Before he
had time to think much about it, they came to another little door, on
the other side of which was a stair that evidently led up into another
tree.

Here the squirrel with the lantern bade them good-bye, and disappeared
down the corridor. The pigeon led the way up the stair, at the top of
which was a rough wooden door. "We must leave a message here," said he,
tapping on the door, and after waiting some time, Laurie thought he
heard a gruff voice say, "To-who-to-who?" "Why doesn't he come and see
instead of asking?" thought Laurie, but just then the door opened, and
an old owl put out his head.

[Illustration: An old owl put out his head]

[Illustration: The owl]

CHAPTER V.

The owl looked very sleepy, and blinked his eyes very hard. "He must
have been asleep," said Laurie to himself, "owls always do sleep in the
day-time I suppose."

"Who-oo!" screeched the owl, flapping his wings and ruffling up his
feathers, and looking very hard at Laurie. "Oh, dear! I beg your
pardon," said Laurie, feeling very much frightened indeed, "I didn't
mean to be rude, but all the birds and animals on the farm here have
such a curious way of knowing what I'm thinking." The owl paid no
attention to him, however, but opened the door wider for them to enter,
and Laurie, keeping close behind the pigeon, stepped in. The owl was
evidently a bachelor, for his room was very untidy; books and papers lay
piled about in the greatest confusion, and while he tried in a clumsy
way to make room for them, every now and then he would upset something,
as he was extremely near-sighted. He finally pushed a revolving globe on
a stand toward Laurie, evidently thinking it a stool; it was very
uncomfortable to sit on, and it had a way of turning round at the least
little motion, and Laurie hoped that whatever the message was the
pigeon would not remain long.

[Illustration: The owl reads over the paper]

The pigeo