A MYSTERY UNSOLVED. 47 



sounded marvelously like a chuckling laugh, and 

 in a moment left the grove. Did, then, the 

 daughters of the house meekly fly, without pre- 

 liminary study of the world from the door? 

 Were there, perchance, no daughters ? Indeed, 

 had more than one infant reached maturity? 

 All these questions I asked myself, but not one 

 shall I ever be able to answer. 



I waited several hours. Many birds sang and 

 called among the trees, but no sound came from 

 the oak-tree household, and to me the wood was 

 deserted. 



