"O, Dotty Dimple, I'm so glad to see you!" cried Prudy.

"It is my sister Alice,
And she is grown so dear, so dear,
That I would be the jewel
That trembles at her ear,--

only you don't wear ear-rings, you know."

"Are you glad to see me, though, Prudy? Then what made you go off and
shut the house up?"

"O, we didn't expect you till to-morrow; and it's Johnny's birthday.
Dinner is almost ready; aren't you glad? Such a dinner, too!"

"Any bill of fare?" asked Dotty, with a sudden recollection of
past grandeur.

"A bill of fare? O, no; those are for hotels. But there's almost
everything else. Now you can go up stairs with me, and wash your face."

Dotty appeared at table with smooth hair and a fresh ruffle which Prudy
had basted in the neck of her dress. She looked very neat and prim, and,
as Percy had predicted, carried her head higher than ever.

"I suppose," said aunt Eastman, "you will have a great many
wonderful things to tell us, Dotty, for I am sure you travelled with
your eyes open."