"Where is he?" cried Pierre.
"Downstairs, downstairs," sang the bird, as he too, flew away.
"How can there be stairs in the woods?" asked Pierre.
"In the hollow tree,
See what you can see,"
sang somebody. It might have been a bird, but the children thought it sounded like Rose-Petal's voice. At any rate they began looking for a hollow tree and at last found one.
They climbed up with their small hands and feet and looked all about the hollow. At one side there seemed to be a dark hole and as they came closer they saw little stairs leading downward.
A woodpecker outside the trunk saw them go in. Tapping hard on the bark he said, "Flatter him, flatter him."
"I don't see anyone to flatter," said Pierre.