or three days all the family looked for Margalo.
"I think that she has flown away because of spring," said George. "Normal birds do not stay in houses when spring comes."
"Perhaps she has a husband somewhere and has gone to him," said Mr. Little.
"She has no husband," cried Stuart.
"How do you know?" said George.
"Because I asked her once," said Stuart.
Everybody questioned Snowball about Margalo. But the cat said that he knew nothing.
"I don’t know what you want. I have not touched that silly little bird," said Snowball angrily.
Stuart was heart-broken. 1 He had no appetite, ate nothing, and lost weight. 2 At last he decided to run away from home, and go out into the world 3 to look for Margalo.
Early next morning he took his biggest handkerchief and put in it his tooth-brush, his money, his soap, his comb and brush and his pocket compass.
"I must also take something to remember my mother by," 4 he said to himself.
So he went into his mother’s bedroom where she was still asleep and pulled one hair from Mrs. Little’s comb. He rolled it up and put it in the handkerchief with the other things. Then he made a bundle and tied it to one end of a wooden match. He put on his grey hat, took his stick, put the bundle across his shoulder and went softly out of the house.
"Good-bye, dear home," he whispered. "Shall I ever see you again?"
For a moment Stuart stood in the street, in front of the house. The world was a big place, and it was difficult to find a little bird in it. Stuart could not decide which way to go 5 — north, south, east or west. So he went to his new friend Dr. Carey, the dentist, owner of the schooner Wasp.
The doctor was glad to see Stuart. He took him into his office. 6 There was a man there. This man’s name was Edward Dale. 7 He sat in the chair with his mouth wide open, 8 and Dr. Carey was just going 9 to pull out one of his teeth. It was difficult to pull out that big tooth, so Dr. Carey asked Stuart to sit down on his instrument tray. Now they could talk quietly during the operation.
"This is my friend, Stuart Little," the doctor said to the man with the open mouth.
"How ’oo’oo, Soo’rt?" 10 said the man.
"Very well, thank you," said Stuart.
"What are you going to do, Stuart?" asked Dr. Carey and began to pull the man’s tooth with a pair of pincers.
"I ran away from home this morning," said Stuart. "I am going out into the world to look for a lost bird. Which way must I go?"
Dr. Carey turned the pincers a little. "What colour is the bird?" he asked.