A SURPRISE. 913

rang and thumped at the door. No one an-
swered. He ran around to the back piazza.
The driver, meantime, who brought him from
the depot, carried Howard’s trunk and left it
standing upon the front piazza.

What was to be done? Tom had gone to
his own home, and here was Howard alone at |
the deserted house.

He had paid the driver at the gate before
he entered; so there was no one to aid him.
The travelling trunk was a small one. He
shouldered it, and marched off to the brown
cottage.

“There [ am sure I shall find a warm wel-
come. ‘Friends in need, are friends indeed,’
as Bessie used to say.”

Tom had arrived at the brown cottage before
him. Not brown now; for as Howard ap-
proached the well-known spot, he was surprised
to see a neat, white cottage, with green Vene-
tian blinds. It was the same old cottage, to
which paint and green had been a wonderful
improvement. The yard in front was bloom-
ing with roses, honey-suckles, and pansies.