"It is!"
Both little girls ran to the gate.
"O, father! O, Dotty! Why, when did you get home?"
By this time Mrs. Parlin had come out: also Mrs. Eastman and Johnny.
Everybody was as surprised and delighted as possible; and even Miss
Dimple, sitting in state in the coach, was perfectly satisfied, and
condescended to alight, instead of riding through the carriage gateway.
"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.