Chapter Forty Four.
Home Again.
It was on a bright sunny day in July that my uncle and I jumped into a cab and bade the man drive us to the old house, where I had passed so many happy as well as unhappy days.
“We will not stop to go and see barbers or to dress, Nat, but go and take them by surprise,” said my uncle; and for the first time I began to wonder whether I had altered.
“Am I very much more sunburnt than I used to be?” I said suddenly, as we drew near the door.
“Well, you are not quite black,” he said laughing, “but you have altered, Nat, since they saw you last.”
How my heart beat as we walked up to the front door, where the maid, a stranger, stared at us, and said that her mistress was out, and looked suspiciously at us, evidently, as she afterwards owned, taking us for sailor fellows with parrots and silk things for sale.
“Where’s Uncle Joseph?” I said sharply.