ny years at
Oak Villa, has got everything in apple-pie order for her much-esteemed
mistress, and a lovely brood of chickens, which have been hatched since
they went away, to present to the young lady who has the charge of all
the poultry.

CHAPTER X.

THE BROKEN BOX.

Before we congratulate ourselves on Aunt Mary's return home, let us just
take a look at the disappointed Mabel, after her sister Julia had gone
to the tea-party.

It was in vain that her too indulgent mother tried to soften her
affliction, very injudiciously, we think, as every remark of hers only
elicited a fresh burst of feeling; and Mrs. Ellis felt it quite a relief
when the self-tormenting girl rose up hastily and retreated to her
bedroom, there to ponder over, not her own delinquencies, we fear, but
the wrongs inflicted on her by others.

A little voice which said, 'May I come in, Mabel?' roused her for a
moment, and she answered very crossly: 'What is it you want, Fred? I
wish you would not come teasing me. Go away; I don't want any of you.

'I only want to show you the nice box of puzzles papa has brought home
for me,' replied Freddy. 'I want you, Mabel dear, to help me to put it
together. I won't tease you.'

'I don't want to see your box, and I shan't open the door,' said the
ungracious girl. 'Take your box away, and get some one else to help you
to put your puzzle together,' she added; and poor Fred, thus rudely
repressed, turned to wend his way downstairs again. Unfortunately, his
foot caught the fringe of the door-mat, which caused him to fall heavily
and strike his head against the railing of the banisters, while the
pretty box, escaping from his hand, went right down the stairs into the
hall, where it burst open, and scattered the inclosed pieces right and
left.

Mabel was now quite roused, and fearing that her papa, attracted by the
noise, might come up to see what was the matter, rather than being moved
by any sisterly feeling, she reluctantly opened the door, and lifted up
the prostrate Freddy, who, although he had received a rather severe blow
on the forehead from coming in contact with the railings, was too much
of a man to cry, and seemed more anxious about the fate of his new
plaything, than desirous of obtaining either aid or sympathy; nor was he
very likely to obtain either from Mabel, though she took him into her
room to scold him for what he had done.

'Now just see what you have done,' said the selfish girl, 'b