CHAPTER VII.
A MEETING AND AN ALARM.
Autumn had come now; late autumn with winter not so very far off, and the days were growing very short and dark; so short and dark that there was no chance of working early in the morning before she went downstairs, nor after she went to bed at night, except by candlelight, and she could not, of course, burn candles.
So Mrs.Perry had to be taken into the secret, and Huldah worked in comfort by the fire in the afternoons, after she had done her housework.
And how she did love those cosy afternoons, and how the memory of them lived with her all her life after! The wind and rain storming outside, the snug little kitchen, where they sat so cosy and warm, Dick lying contentedly on his rug, Mrs.Perry sitting in her armchair by the fire, reading aloud from one of her few but precious books.
They were old, those stories, but to Huldah they were more beautiful than any she ever came across later on.
Then came the glad day when the basket was completed.

Huldah had taken more pains with it than with any she had ever made, and her care was rewarded, for a prettier, daintier basket no one could wish to possess.

As soon as it was finished there arose the great question of how, and when, and where the gift should be made.
"I want it to seem as if it comes from a brownie," Huldah insisted, eagerly.

"I couldn't make it at night, as the brownies would have done, but couldn't I leave it, as they left their gifts, just where it is sure to be found?
It would be much nicer, wouldn't it?
Miss Rose would laugh, and be so pleased.

I am sure she would like to have it that way." At last, after a great deal of thought, and a great many plans had been made and set aside as not quite suitable, it was decided that Huldah should get up early in the morning and walk to the vicarage, then creeping softly into the stable, she would tie the parcel on to Rob's back, or to his manger, where he could not reach it.
Miss Carew always went out early, to feed her hens, and to take Rob some bread and sugar, so she would be sure to see it.
Another plan was for Huldah to creep into Miss Rose's sitting-room when the maid's back was turned, and leave the parcel on the table; but they did not like this plan very well, for one thing, Huldah did not like creeping stealthily in and out of the house, and for another, Miss Rose might not find the basket for hours.
She was always so busy about the garden and Rob and the hen-houses that she might not go to her room till quite late in the day.
No; Rob, they decided, must be the medium, and Huldah thrilled with excitement.
When she went to bed that night, she was so full of fears that she would not wake in good time in the morning that she tried to keep awake all night.