"So master Johnny wiped and dusted our cages till we felt very clean, although I own I did not enjoy having him work about me with his brush and dust cloth. Just as he had finished and put us back in our places the doorbell sounded, and presently we heard children's voices in the hall asking the maid if Johnny Morris was at home. "'It is some one to see you,' said Mrs. Morris. But Johnny did not reply. He was nowhere to be seen. At the first sound he had quietly slipped out of the room and I could now see him hiding behind the curtains in the library. Soon Sarah came ushering three or four little barefooted children into the parlor. "'They've come to Johnny's party, ma'am,' she explained to Mrs. Morris, who looked up from her work as the children entered. "'How do you do, my dears?' said Mrs. Morris sweetly, though I could see she was greatly surprised. 'I believe I don't know your names, so you will have to introduce yourselves.' "The children looked bashful, and made no reply. "'You are not Johnny Morris' schoolmates, are you?' she questioned. "'No, ma'am,' answered the tallest girl, as she gazed about the handsome room with wide-open eyes, I could see that she was not accustomed to such beautiful things. "Where did you get acquainted with him, then?' went on Mrs. Morris kindly. "'We hain't acquainted at all, ma'am; but he seed us on the street this morning, and said for us to come to his party to-day. He thought as how maybe they'd be ice-cream to eat, and he told us where he lived, and so we are here.' "'Well, we must try to make you have a pleasant time,' she replied. 'Sarah, please call Johnny and tell him his guests have arrived.' "But Sarah had been answering a second peal of the bell, and now appeared with a very queer smile on her face at the head of a line of three girls and a small boy, whom she introduced by saying: "'A few more children, ma'am, who have come to take tea with master Johnny.' "'Why, really,' exclaimed Mrs. Morris, in a sort of flutter, as she helped Sarah to seat the new arrivals. 'The house is hardly in order for company.' "The children appeared quite embarrassed, and ranged themselves silently and sedately on the chairs to which they had been directed.