There were still many things to be arranged before they could set a date for their departure. Their chief concern was the home. Frank had been fortunate enough to sell his pretty cottage, but the old-fashioned gabled house with its wistaria vines and terraced lawns, was not so easy to dispose of. Dr. Morton hoped to rent it for a year or two until he could sell it. He was most anxious that they should all accompany Frank and Marian to the new home in September.
One afternoon as Chicken Little was coming leisurely up the walk with Katy and Gertie, Mrs. Morton called from the window:
“Hurry up, Chickabiddy, there is somebody here you would like to see.”
The little girls started to run, guessing eagerly as to who the visitor might be.
As Chicken Little crossed the threshold the mysterious someone pounced upon her and lifted her up bodily from the floor, exclaiming:
“Oh, Chicken Little, I’ve been homesick to see you in spite of the kitty! Dear me, how you have grown!”
It was Alice, laughing and crying and hugging her all in one instant. Katy and Gertie came in for their share, too. Then they must all go into the parlor to meet Uncle Joseph, for he had come all the way from Cincinnati with Alice.
Jane edged rather shyly up to the dignified, gray-haired man who was talking to her mother. She hadn’t forgotten the evening when she had written to him in fear and trembling beside the very window where he was sitting now. But Uncle Joseph rose to meet her with a broad smile making little kindly wrinkles around his eyes.
“So this is Chicken Little Jane,” he said, taking both her hands and looking down into her wondering brown eyes. “Well, Chicken Little, I believe I should have known you anywhere. You look so exactly like yourself, big eyes and all.”
Uncle Joseph laughed at her mystified expression.