At the end of the stairs she sprang upon the bough of the fir, and in a
moment more was sitting in the full light of the sunset.
"O Willie! Willie! this _is_ grand! How good, how kind of you! You
_have_ made a bird of me! What will papa and mamma say? Won't they be
delighted? I must run and fetch Mona."
So saying she hurried across again, and down the stair, and away to look
for Mona Shepherd, shouting with delight as she ran. In a few minutes
her cries had gathered the whole house to the bottom of the garden, as
well as Mr Shepherd and Mona and Mrs Hunter. Mr Macmichael and all of
them went up into the tree, Mr Shepherd last and with some misgivings;
for, having no mechanical faculty himself, he could not rightly value
Willie's, and feared that he might not have made the stair safe. But Mr
Macmichael soon satisfied him, showing him how strong and firm Willie
had made every part of it.
The next evening, Willie went on with his plan, which was to make a way
for Bird Agnes from one tree to another over the whole of the clump. It
took him many evenings, however, to complete it, and a good many more
to construct in the elm tree a thin wooden house cunningly perched upon
several of the strongest boughs and branches.
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