SO excited that they chattered like a flock of blackbirds, the Brownie Scouts gathered about Veve.

“Open it quick!” urged Connie.

“What does it say?” demanded Jane, forgetting that she ever had teased Veve about being silly.

The stone obviously had been tossed from the cliff a short distance behind the oak tree.

Miss Gordon gazed quickly in that direction. However, the face of the cliff was covered with cedar and scrub trees. She could see no one hiding there.

“Here, give me that paper!” Eileen exclaimed, trying to take it from Veve. “Your hand is shaking so you can’t unwrap it.”

Veve, however, had gained a grip upon herself. Quickly, she unrolled the paper.

“It is a message for us!” she cried. “It is!” “Read it, can’t you?” pleaded Jane.

“‘To the little girl who believes in brownies,’” Veve began, her voice shaky. “‘Return to this same tree two days from today and who knows? Your wish may be fulfilled.’”

“Well, can you beat that?” Jane muttered.

“It proves there are brownies!” Veve cried happily. “We’re to have our tree house!”

“If that brownie is so smart, why didn’t he just wave a wand and have the tree house built presto-chango?” Eileen asked, doubt entering her mind. “You know what I think? Someone is playing a joke on us!”

“Of course!” agreed Jane, seizing upon the explanation. “From that cliff above, our conversation easily could be heard. Every word of it!”

“Let’s find out,” proposed Connie. “May we go up there, Miss Gordon?”

The teacher hesitated and then nodded consent. “Yes, I think we should investigate,” she said. “I’m curious myself to learn who tossed that stone. I tend to share Jane’s belief that someone must be playing a joke on us.”

Losing not a moment, the Brownie Scouts started up the steep trail. In their haste they slipped and scuffed their shoes on the sharp stones. But at last they reached the summit.

“No one here!” Connie announced, glancing carefully about.

“Of course not!” exclaimed Sunny triumphantly. “That proves the message came from a genuine brownie!”

“Genuine, my eye!” Jane cut in. “Ask Miss Gordon if fairies and brownies are real.”

“We all know they are merely story-book characters,” the Brownie Scout leader said. Then, seeing how crestfallen Sunny and Veve looked, she added kindly:

“But someone certainly tossed a message down the slope. Let’s look around for clues.”

Spreading out, the girls covered every inch of the cleared area.

“Someone was here all right!” cried Connie as she came upon several large footprints. “He wasn’t a brownie either! Look at these huge footprints!”

At least six large shoe marks were visible in the moist earth.

“A person could have stood here and looked directly down upon our picnic site,” Miss Gordon observed. “I wonder if voices carry that far.” Eileen and Rosemary offered to run back to the oak tree to make a test. Five minutes later as they talked together below the cliff, those above were able to hear nearly every word.

“That explains how the person chanced to learn of Veve’s wish,” Miss Gordon said.

“But it doesn’t explain who threw the stone,” protested Veve.

“It was someone’s idea of a practical joke,” Connie replied, sitting down on a log to rest. “Too bad! I’d have liked a tree house. Think of the good times we could have had there.”

“Maybe we’ll get it yet,” Veve hinted.

The others, with the exception of Sunny, laughed. They were convinced that the stone had been thrown by a practical joker.

“All right, laugh!” Veve said crossly. “Maybe I will have the last one.”

“You aren’t silly enough to think that tree house will be built?” Jane demanded.

“Maybe it will. At any rate, I intend to come back here in two days to see.”

“Why wait two days?” Sunny asked. “Let’s come again tomorrow.”

Veve, however, said that would never do. “We must obey instructions exactly,” she insisted. “Miss Gordon, may we have another hike through the park?”

“Well, I suppose so, if the others are willing,” the Brownie leader answered thoughtfully. “As for finding a tree house at the end of two days—well, Veve, I think it unwise to build up false hope.”

“At least it won’t do any harm to come,” Veve argued. “Please, Miss Gordon.”

“It’s entirely up to the girls to decide what they wish to do.”

Veve quickly put the matter to a vote. Everyone except Jane said they would like to return to the park area in two days.

Rejoining Rosemary and Eileen at the oak tree, the girls gathered together their knapsacks and nature notebooks.

Now not even Veve really expected that upon their return to the area they would find anything out of the ordinary.

However, in the past the Brownies had enjoyed several unusual adventures. From experience they knew that strange things could occur. Hadn’t the entire troop once been snowbound at Snow Valley?

And another time, Veve and Connie had been carried away with a traveling circus. The Brownie Scouts never would forget that time, because in trying to find the two girls they also had become involved with a man named Pickpocket Joe.

Even more recently the Brownies had earned a great deal of money picking cherries at a nearby orchard. Through their efforts the city had sponsored a cherry festival. Then, as a special reward, the Brownies had been sent to Washington with all expenses paid. This story has been recounted in another volume, entitled: “The Brownie Scouts in the Cherry Festival.”

Wishing for a tree house, however, was an entirely different matter. Even Veve and Sunny who were very imaginative, knew that fairies existed only in story books. Yet could one be certain that the message telling them to return had been a joke?

“Time to start home,” Miss Gordon abruptly announced. “We’ve had enough excitement for one day.”

En route to the exit gate, the girls kept an alert watch for strangers. The trail was deserted and not a car had been parked in the enclosure near the road.

Without meeting a single person they came presently to the caretaker’s stone hut. “Let’s stop here a minute,” Connie suggested. “Maybe the superintendent can tell us who has been in the park today.”

“An excellent idea,” agreed Miss Gordon. “I was about to propose the same thing myself. I also want to ask the caretaker about those markings on the trees.”

A cheerful fire blazed on the hearth inside the stone gatehouse.

As the Brownies shuffled in, the superintendent, Charlie Karwhite, poked at a log to stir up the flames.

Hearing footsteps, he turned around to smile at the girls. The six were dressed exactly alike in pinchecked Brownie uniforms, stout hiking shoes, and beanies on their heads.

“Well, well,” he said in a friendly way. “A delegation! Anything I can do for you?”

Mr. Karwhite, a man well past middle age, had supervised the metropolitan park for seven years.

The heavily wooded tract was less than a mile from the outskirts of Rosedale. Stone fireplaces had been built in the area and many trails marked. For the most part, however, the park remained in its natural state. Circling around, the Brownies enjoyed the warmth of the fire.

Miss Gordon explained that the troop had hiked through the park. “A few minutes ago we had a most unusual experience,” she added.

Sensing that the teacher had something interesting to report, Mr. Karwhite put his poker away and listened attentively.

“First of all, may I ask a question?” began Miss Gordon. “Are all your trees correctly marked with scientific names?”

“Why, yes. The job was done early this spring by Phillip Mallet, the naturalist.”

“Several trees on Trail 3 seem to be improperly identified. Either that or I am hopelessly confused.”

“I’ve not been over the trail within the last three days,” Mr. Karwhite replied. “I’ll check the matter as soon as I can.”

The matter of the trees disposed of, the Brownie leader next asked the superintendent if many persons had visited the park that morning.

“Not many,” he informed. “A few boys came through right after breakfast. They didn’t stay long.”

“No one else?”

“Two or three cars drove through.” “No one in the last hour or so?”

“Not that I’ve noticed,” Mr. Karwhite answered. “However, there is another gateway at the far end of the park. Anything wrong?”

“Someone played a little joke on us,” the teacher said. “We were eating our lunch by a large oak tree when someone tossed a stone from the cliff.”

“A message was attached,” contributed Sunny. “It said—”

Jane gave her a hard nudge in the ribs. She did not want Mr. Karwhite to hear about the tree house.

Sunny subsided into silence. The superintendent did not appear to notice how quickly she had broken off.

“It must have been those boys who threw the stone,” he said. “I’ve warned ’em to behave themselves or have their park privileges denied.”

“We’re making no complaint,” Miss Gordon said quickly. “After all, it was just a little joke. Furthermore, we aren’t certain who tossed the stone. The footprints we saw on the cliff were quite large.”

“Well, if you’re annoyed again, let me know,” Mr. Karwhite invited. “I’ll not tolerate any foolishness.”

The Brownies soon said good-bye to the superintendent and started for home. Veve and Sunny lagged at the rear of the line, talking over the events of the morning.

“Maybe it was just a joke,” Veve said, walking along with her arm about Sunny’s waist. “I don’t think so though.”

“Neither do I,” agreed the other. “I’m certain that stone never was thrown by a boy.”

“There’s one thing sure,” Veve announced impressively. “I don’t care what the other Brownies do! Two days from today I’m going back to the park.”

“So am I,” agreed Sunny. “I don’t really believe in fairies, but if we should get our tree house—how wonderful it would be!”