ith childish faces, anxious to see what
sort of playmates their new neighbors might be; and when the young
strangers alighted on the sidewalk they observed the happy faces and smiled
back in return, thus pleasantly intimating that they hoped to be friends.
But when Dinah appeared with the baby, the faces in the window betrayed
their astonishment. "Oh! a black nurse! and the baby don't seem a bit
frightened of her!" they exclaimed in surprise.

"I wonder if they love her when she is so _very_ black," said little
Gracie. "I shouldn't love to kiss her, would you, Percy?" looking at their
own fair-faced nurse in loving approval.

Mrs. Sherwood was surprised to find the house so neatly and comfortably
arranged, but she soon learned that she was indebted to Mrs. Gurney for
this pleasant state of affairs, for she had given Mr. Sherwood much
material assistance in making the rooms look home-like and cheerful.

In the evening, when the family were assembled in the parlor, Mrs. Gurney
tapped lightly at the door, and her cordial greeting seemed more like that
of a friend than the first meeting of strangers, and when Mrs. Sherwood
began to thank her for the thoughtful attentions that had made their
home-coming so pleasant, she stopped her with a word.

"Do not thank me, I beg of you, Mrs. Sherwood," she said, with a smile. "I
have only done for you what I wish someone had done for me when I first
came to Halifax. I know by experience," she added, as a smile lit up her
motherly face, "what it is to come into a strange place, among strange
people, with a hundred things needing to be done at once, and a family of
children to attend to besides. I felt sure you would like the place better
if you found it a bit home-like and settled, but I have come in to explain.
I was afraid you might think I was making myself too busy in your affairs.
Now, I do hope, Mrs. Sherwood, that you will not make strangers of us after
this." Her face beamed with kindness as she spoke, and after a short and
friendly conversation she withdrew.

The next day was a busy one in the Sherwood household, but in the afternoon
the twin girls were invited to go for a walk with the young ladies next
door, while Louie was persuaded to go up to the nursery with the Gurney
children.

Louie felt very shy when she found herself among so many little strangers,
but the kind, good-natured nurse, in white cap and apron, who presided
over this restless brood, soon set her at e