ng up she saw Miss Carter's face
smiling down at her from the third floor.

"Oh, Mary Rose, honey," came the soft whisper. "There's a package
there for me, parcel post. You know they don't come up. Will you
bring it to me? I'm not dressed to go down. Do, there's a love!"

Mary Rose ran into the vestibule and found a parcel addressed to Miss
Blanche Carter. It was rather a large package and Mary Rose's arms
were not so long as they would be some day. She looked dubiously from
the package to Jenny Lind.

"You'll just have to stay by yourself a minute, Jenny Lind. It's lucky
for you that the law doesn't let the cats come into this house."

She put the cage on the flat top of the newel post and, taking Miss
Carter's package in her arms, she went up as fast as she could. She
had to tell Miss Carter of Lottie Schuneman's wedding and of the
invitation that she and Jenny Lind were to receive, and Miss Carter had
to open the parcel and show the contents to Mary Rose, so that it was
several minutes instead of one before Mary Rose ran downstairs.

The newel post was empty. There was no bird cage with a yellow canary,
on it. Mary Rose couldn't believe there wasn't and looked again. She
was frightened.

"Jenny Lind!" she called. "Jenny Lind!" Perhaps someone had taken the
cage to tease her. Perhaps there had been a new law and birds were not
allowed in the house. Perhaps a cat had slipped in regardless of the
fact that cats were forbidden. But no cat could have carried the cage
out of the front door. Mary Rose wrung her hands in horror and ran to
knock at Mrs. Schuneman's door. Mrs. Schuneman cried out in dismay.

"Why didn't you leave her with me?"

"I didn't want to bother you when you'd been so kind," faltered Mary
Rose. "Where can she be? Perhaps Uncle Larry took her home."

But neither Uncle Larry nor Aunt Kate had taken Jenny Lind to the
basement flat. Aunt Kate shook her head when Mary Rose told what had
happened and followed her up to look at the empty newel post. She
could only suggest feebly that someone must have taken the bird. "For
a joke," she added when she saw Mary Rose's frightened face.

"A nice kind of a joke to frighten a child to death," grunted Mrs.
Schuneman. "Here, Mary Rose, we'll knock on every door and ask. I'll
go with you and if anyone is playing a joke they'll stop when they see
me."

She looked quite grim enough to frighten any joker as they went from
door to door.