"I think I am going to have a surprise party," said Mrs. Owen. "Won't you stay for it?"

"That is just what I mean to do," said Mr. Thornton. "Bruno and I had an especial invitation."

The dining-room door opened, and who should come into the parlor but Mrs. Owen's dear friend Mrs. Horton, who she thought was miles away.

"Hester!" she cried, in delight. And the two ladies kissed each other, just as heartily as if they had been little girls.

"Why, Clara, how do you do? Here are more surprises," she said.

Clara gave a stiff little curtsey and held up her cheek primly to be kissed.

"And Miss Rand, too; this is great! Oh, and Mr. Beal! I did not see you at first. What a delightful party this is!" and she greeted Mrs. Carter and her children, as they came out of the dining-room.

"The doctor had to go out of town to see a patient," said Mrs. Carter, "but he hopes to get here before we go."

Then the door from the kitchen opened, and Miss Betsy Porter came into the dining-room with the chocolate urn, and Miss Pauline followed with plates of cake.

It was a delightful party. Everybody enjoyed it. The only trouble was that Uncle Joe found so much to say to Miss Pauline that Peggy did not see as much of him as she would have liked. If he had to talk to a grown-up young lady, she did not see why he did not talk to Miss Rand--she was so much nicer.

Mrs. Owen had no idea there was anything more in the way of a surprise.

She drank her cup of tea and talked to Mrs. Horton and Mrs. Carter with pleasure that seemed to shine out from her face.

"Would you take me out to the hen-house, to see your c.o.c.k and hen, Mrs.

Owen?" Mr. Thornton asked, a little later. "I have heard so much about Peggy's new family, I'd like to see them."

"Certainly," said Mrs. Owen, a little surprised; "they are not much to look at, just a pair of Rhode Island Reds."

She was surprised to find all of her guests following them, but she had no suspicions. They went out of the front door, and walked around through the side yard to the back of the house. What was Mrs. Owen's surprise to see a sign on the hen-house, painted in red letters, outlined in white:

HOTEL HENNERY

she read. "Why, how amazing!" she said.

"It's Mr. Farrell's present to you, mother," Peggy said. "He has been working at home, painting that board, and he put it up while you were at Mr. Thornton's. Isn't it a nice sign?"

As Mrs. Owen came near the hen-house, she stood still, in amazement. It seemed as if something was the matter with her eyes, and she was seeing double. For there, walking about the netted-in hen-yard, with an air of being completely at home, were not only Henry and Henrietta c.o.x, but two others, closely resembling Henrietta.

"They are Henrietta's cousins," Peggy explained, "the Henderson sisters, Charity and Hope, and Faith is inside the house." Sure enough, there was Faith and another lady from Rhode Island whom Peggy introduced to her mother as Biddy Henshaw. But who was the seventh feathered person walking out of the door? Peggy counted again--yes, there were the three Hendersons and Biddy Henshaw--that made four; and Rhoda Rhodes, and her own dear Henrietta, and Henry c.o.x--six hens and a c.o.c.k--there were surely seven hens. Where did the seventh come from? She counted them over and over again. There were seven. Who had brought the seventh? She asked everybody. No one knew. Suddenly, she knew as well as if she had been told. It must have been old Michael. He had brought it as a surprise when he came with the sign. And the hen's name flashed into her mind.

"Mother," she said, "this is Angelica Seraphina Hen-Farrell."

"What a silly name!" said Clara.

"I'm tired of giving them sensible names," said Peggy.

And so the surprise party turned into a surprise for Peggy herself.

Peggy had asked old Michael to come to the surprise party, but he had refused.

"I haven't the right clothes to wear," he said.

"It doesn't matter about the clothes," said Peggy. "It is the person inside them."

Old Michael was so curious to see how Peggy took the surprise of the seventh hen that he strolled around to see. He had on his working clothes, but his face and hands had been well scrubbed after the day's work was over. He waited until the grown-up people turned to go back into the house, and then came forward where Peggy could see him. Alice, followed by the other children, was going toward the house.

"Well, Peggy, was it a good surprise party?" he asked.

"It was great, and I got surprised myself! How nice of you to give mother Angelica Seraphina Hen-Farrell! That is her name, isn't it?"

"Certainly," said Mr. Farrell. "How did you happen to know it?"

"It just popped into my head," said Peggy. "I shut up my eyes, and I just seemed to know she was Angelica Seraphina Hen-Farrell."

"She is called 'Angel' for short," he said.

"Angel? What a nice name! I'm so glad we have seven hens. Don't you like odd numbers best, Mr. Farrell? I think they are much more interesting."

"They say there is luck in odd numbers," he said.

"Alice likes even numbers best," said Peggy.

"Yes, she would; she's a kind of even-dispositioned young one."

"Yes, Alice is a darling," said Peggy.

"There are other darlings round here," he said.

"Yes, seven of them: Hope, Faith, and Charity Henderson; Biddy Henshaw, Rhoda Rhodes, Angel Hen-Farrell, and my own dear Henrietta c.o.x. Oh, there are eight--I forgot Mr. Henry c.o.x. He's the greatest darling of them all."

CHAPTER XIV

A CHRISTMAS EGG

Carols are what one thinks of at Christmas, and eggs seem to belong to Easter, but this was an especial egg that was very dear to Peggy because it was one of the first. Peggy and Alice had hunted with such anxious care, every morning in Hotel Hennery, to see if they could find any eggs, and each morning they were disappointed; for all the hens were moulting.

"It does seem as if they needn't all moult at the same time," said Peggy. "I do hope somebody will begin to lay before Thanksgiving, so we can have a Thanksgiving egg. Henrietta, don't you think you could give me just one egg for Thanksgiving?"

Whatever Henrietta's thoughts were, she kept them to herself, and not one hen produced an egg in time for Thanksgiving.

Mrs. Owen, with Peggy and Alice, dined with the Carters. Mrs. Carter wrote saying what pleasure it would give them all if they could come, and she added there would be no other guests except her husband's Aunt Betsy and her brother Joe. She hoped it would not be too hard for Mrs.

Owen to have a Thanksgiving dinner in her own old house; if she did not feel like it, she would understand.

_Dear Mrs. Carter_ Mrs. Owen replied--

It would be much harder to stay at home than to go to you. The greatest cause I have for Thanksgiving this year is the fact that you are my friend, and that Diana is the friend of my children.