"How good they are to me!'" she exclaimed, feeling almost like crying; but just then the canary in the window burst into a song, thus calling attention to himself and to the pot of ivy from Miss Brown.
It was a morning of surprises. While her mother sat in her easy-chair, with a more cheerful face than she had worn for years, Dora went about finding every now and then something new. There were hyacinths from Helen and Carie, Elsie's pincushion on the bureau, a table cover from Constance, and on the sideboard a cunning teapot, with this touching verse tied on the handle:
"Whene'er a cup of tea you drink,
Of me I hope you'll kindly think.
To make the memory more complete,
Be sure to take it very sweet."
This effusion did not need Carl's initials to tell her where it came from. The last thing to be discovered was a beautiful chair to match the desk, from Carl's father.
Late in the afternoon a happy face looked in on Aunt Zélie, and a merry voice exclaimed, "It is going to be a success; and to-day has been better than Christmas!"