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. "A bill of fare? O, no; those are for hotels. But there's almost everything else. Now you can go up stairs with me, and wash your face." Dotty appeared at table with smooth hair and a fresh ruffle which Prudy had basted in the neck of her dress. She looked very neat and prim, and, as Percy had predicted, carried her head higher than ever. "I suppose," said aunt Eastman, "you will have a great many wonderful things to tell us, Dotty, for I am sure you travelled with your eyes open." "Yes'm; I hardly ever went to sleep in the cars. But when you said 'eyes,' auntie, it made me think of the blind children. We went to the 'Sylum to see them." "How do they look?" asked Johnny. "They don't _look_ at all; they are blind." "Astonishing! I'd open my eyes if I were they." "Why, Percy, they are blind--stone-blind!" "How is that? How blind is a stone?" Dotty busied herself with her turkey. Her Eastman cousins all had a way of rendering her very uncomfortable. They made remarks which were intended to be witty, but were only pert. They were not really kind-hearted, or they would have been more thoughtful of the feelings of others. "Alice," said dear Mrs. Read, trying to turn the conversation, "I see thee wears a very pretty ring." Dotty took it off her finger, and passed it around for inspection. "I never had a ring before," said she, with animation. "I never had anything to wear--'cept _clothes_" Percy laughed. "I found the pearl in an oyster stew, grandma. It is such a very funny place Out West" "Yes, it is really a pearl," said Percy, "only spoiled by boiling. Look her, Toddlekins; oysters don't grow Out West; they grow here on the coast. You'd better study astronomy." Dotty took refuge in silence again, like an oyster withdrawing into his shell. "O, Dotty," said Susy, presently, "tell me what you saw Out West. I want to hear all about it." "Well, I saw a pandrammer," replied Dotty, briefly. "What in the world is that?" said Johnny. "It is a long picture, and they keep pulling it out like India rubber." "She means a _panorama_" cried Johnny. "Why, I went to one last night. We can see as much as you can, without going Out West, either."