earch. For the first few minutes the search was pursued in almost
complete silence, but as time went on there came the sound of one
triumphant cry after another, as a busy searcher was rewarded by a
sudden sight of the longed-for paper wrapping. Darsie's envious eyes
beheld one young girl running gaily past, with no less than three
trophies carried bag-like in the folds of a chiffon scarf. _Three_!
And she herself had not yet discovered one! What would the Percivals
say if at the end of the hunt she returned empty-handed? The surprised
incredulity of the girls, the patronising condolences of Ralph, seemed
in prospect equally unwelcome. Desire for a present itself became
subservient to anxiety for the credit of her own sharp-sightedness and
intuition. She _must_ and would discover a parcel before the time limit
was past.

The next half-hour passed in a search ever more eager and strenuous, as
with every moment that passed the chance of success diminished. So many
treasures had already been discovered that Darsie began to think with a
pang that perhaps there were no more to be found. Every third or fourth
visitor seemed to be carrying a trophy; some with airs of would-be
modesty were wending their way back to the cedar lawn carrying as many
as three or four, declaring that really and really they must not look
any more--it was altogether _too_ greedy! As they passed by the spot
where Darsie pursued her ceaseless search, they would pause with words
of maddening advice or condolence.

"Not found anything yet? How unfortunate! Look beneath the leaves..."
Once Ralph passed by and arched his eyebrows in eloquent surprise. He
seemed on the point of offering advice, but Darsie whisked off in the
opposite direction, to take refuge in the least frequented portion of
the grounds, the orchard.

Only ten minutes left! The bell of warning was pealing loudly from the
cedar lawn, she could hear the merry chatter of the returning guests.

Darsie lifted her muslin skirts and ran quickly in and out between the
trees, searching for some hiding-place as yet undiscovered. The gnarled
branches seemed to offer endless convenient niches, but in none of them
could anything in the shape of a parcel be discovered. She was on the
point of abandoning the search and returning empty-handed, when, lifting
up a heavy branch, her eyes suddenly lit upon a cavity in the trunk of
one of the oldest trees. When the branch remained in its ord