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diff --git a/old/10268-8.txt b/old/10268-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..45aa518 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10268-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6854 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Patty at Home, by Carolyn Wells + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Patty at Home + +Author: Carolyn Wells + +Release Date: November 25, 2003 [EBook #10268] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PATTY AT HOME *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan, and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + + Patty At Home + + BY CAROLYN WELLS + + AUTHOR OF TWO LITTLE WOMEN SERIES, THE MARJORIE SERIES, ETC. + + 1904 + + + + +_To My very good friend, Ruth Pilling_ + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + + I. THE DEBATE + + II. THE DECISION + + III. THE TEA CLUB + + IV. BOXLEY HALL + + V. SHOPPING + + VI. SERVANTS + + VII. DIFFERING TASTES + + VIII. AN UNATTAINED AMBITION + + IX. A CALLER + + X. A PLEASANT EVENING + + XI. PREPARATIONS + + XII. A TEA CLUB TEA + + XIII. A NEW FRIEND + + XIV. THE NEIGHBOUR AGAIN + + XV. BILLS + + XVI. A SUCCESSFUL PLAY + + XVII. ENTERTAINING RELATIVES + + XVIII. A SAILING PARTY + + XIX. MORE COUSINS + + XX. A FAIR EXCHANGE + + XXI. A GOOD SUGGESTION + + XXII. AT THE SEASHORE + + XXIII. AMBITIONS + + XXIV. AN AFTERNOON DRIVE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE DEBATE + + +In Mrs. Elliott's library at Vernondale a great discussion was going on. +It was an evening in early December, and the room was bright with +firelight and electric light, and merry with the laughter and talk of +people who were trying to decide a great and momentous question. + +For the benefit of those who are not acquainted with Patty Fairfield and +her relatives, it may be well to say that Mrs. Elliott was Patty's Aunt +Alice, at whose home Patty and her father were now visiting. Of the other +members of the Elliott family, Uncle Charley, grandma, Marian, and Frank +were present, and these with Mr. Fairfield and Patty were debating a no +less important subject than the location of Patty's future home. + +"You know, papa," said Patty, "you said that if I wanted to live in +Vernondale you'd buy a house here, and I do want to live here,--at least, +I am almost sure I do." + +"Oh, Patty," said Marian, "why aren't you quite sure? You're president of +the club, and the girls are all so fond of you, and you're getting along +so well in school. I don't see where else you could want to live." + +"I know," said Frank. "Patty wants to live in New York. Her soul yearns +for the gay and giddy throng, and the halls of dazzling lights. 'Ah, +Patricia, beware! the rapids are below you!' as it says in that thrilling +tale in the Third Reader." + +"I think papa would rather live in New York," said Patty, looking very +undecided. + +"I'll tell you what we'll do," exclaimed Frank, "let's debate the +question. A regular, honest debate, I mean, and we'll have all the +arguments for and against clearly stated and ably discussed. Uncle Fred +shall be the judge, and his decision must be final." + +"No," said Mr. Fairfield, "we'll have the debate, but Patty must be the +judge. She is the one most interested, and I am ready to give her a home +wherever she wants it; in Greenland's icy mountains, or India's coral +strand, if she chooses." + +"You certainly are a disinterested member," said Uncle Charley, laughing, +"but that won't do in debate. Here, I'll organise this thing, and for the +present we won't consider either Greenland or India. The question, as I +understand it, is between Vernondale and New York. Now, to bring this +mighty matter properly before the house, I will put it in the form of a +resolution, thus: + +"RESOLVED, That Miss Patty Fairfield shall take up her permanent abode in +New York City." + +Patty gave a little cry of dismay, and Marian exclaimed, "Oh, father, +that isn't fair!" + +"Of course it's fair," said Mr. Elliott, with a twinkle in his eye. "It +doesn't really mean she's going, but it's the only way to find out what +she is going to do. Now, Fred shall be captain on the affirmative side, +and I will take the negative. We will each choose our colleagues. Fred, +you may begin." + +"All right," said Mr. Fairfield "As a matter of social etiquette, I think +it right to compliment my hostess, so I choose Mrs. Elliott on my side." + +"Oh, you choose me, father," cried Marian, "do choose me." + +"Owing to certain insidious wire-pulling I'm forced to choose Miss Marian +Elliott," said Uncle Charley, pinching his daughter's ear. + +"If one Mrs. Elliott is a good thing," said Mr. Fairfield, "I am sure two +would be better, and so I choose Grandma Elliott to add to my collection +of great minds." + +"Frank, my son," said Uncle Charley, "don't think for a moment that I am +choosing you merely because you are the Last of the Mohicans. Far from +it. I have wanted you from the beginning, and I'm proud to impress your +noble intellect in my cause." + +"Thank you, sir," said Frank, "and if our side can't induce Patty to stay +in Vernondale, it won't be for lack of good strong arguments forcibly +presented." + +"Modest boy!" said his mother, "You seem quite to forget your wise and +clever opponents." + +In great glee the debaters took their places on either side of the +library table, while Patty, being judge, was escorted with much ceremony +to a seat at the head. An old parlour-croquet mallet was found for her, +with which she rapped on the table after the manner of a grave and +dignified chairman. + +"The meeting will please come to order," she said, "and the secretary +will please read the minutes of the last meeting." + +"The secretary regrets to report," said Frank, rising, "that the minutes +of the last meeting fell down the well. Although rescued, they were +afterward chewed up by the puppy, and are at present somewhat illegible. +If the honourable judge will excuse the reading of the minutes, the +secretary will be greatly obliged." + +"The minutes are excused," said Patty, "and we will proceed at once to +more important business. Mr. Frederick Fairfield, we shall be glad to +hear from you." + +Mr. Fairfield rose and said, "Your honour, ladies, and gentlemen: I would +be glad to speak definitely on this burning question, but the truth is, I +don't know myself which way I want it to be decided. For, you see, my +only desire in the matter is that the wise and honourable judge, whom we +see before us, should have a home of such a character and in such a place +as best pleases her; but, before she makes her decision, I hope she will +allow herself to be thoroughly convinced as to what will please her. And +as, by force of circumstance, I am obliged to uphold the New York side of +this argument, I will now set forth some of its advantages, feeling sure +that my worthy opponents are quite able to uphold the Vernondale side." + +"Hear, hear!" exclaimed Frank, but Patty rapped with her mallet and +commanded silence. + +Then Mr. Fairfield went on: + +"For one thing, Patty has always lived in a city, and, like myself, is +accustomed to city life. It is more congenial to both of us, and I +sometimes fear we should miss certain city privileges which may not be +found in a suburban town." + +"But we have other things that you can't get in the city," broke +in Marian. + +"And I am very sure that they will be enthusiastically enumerated when it +is your turn to speak," said Mr. Fairfield, smiling. + +"The gentleman has the floor," remarked Patty, "the others will please +keep their seats. Proceed, Mr. Fairfield." + +So Mr. Fairfield proceeded: + +"Other advantages, perhaps, will be found in the superior schools which +the city is said to contain. I am making no allusion to the school that +our honourable judge is at present attending, but I am speaking merely on +general principles. And not only schools, but masters of the various +arts. I have been led to believe by the assertions of some people, who, +however, may be prejudiced, that Miss Fairfield has a voice which +requires only training and practise to rival the voice of Adelina Patti, +when that lady was Miss Fairfield's age." + +"Quite true," said the judge, nodding gravely at the speaker. + +"This phenomenal voice, then, might--mind; I say might--be cultivated to +better purpose by metropolitan teachers." + +"We have a fine singing-master here," exclaimed Frank, but Patty rapped +him to silence. + +"What's one singing-master among a voice like Miss Fairfield's?" demanded +the speaker, "and another thing," he continued, "that ought to affect you +Vernondale people very strongly, is the fact that you would have a +delightful place to visit in New York City. Now, don't deny it. You know +you'd be glad to come and visit Patty and me in our brown-stone mansion, +and we would take you around to see all the sights, from Grant's tomb to +the Aquarium." + +"We've seen those," murmured Frank. + +"They're still there," said Mr. Fairfield, "and there will probably be +some other and newer entertainments that you haven't yet seen." + +"It does sound nice," said Frank. + +"And finally," went on Mr. Fairfield, "though I do not wish this +argument to have undue weight, it certainly would be more convenient +for me to live in the city. I am about to start in business there, and +though I could go in and out every day, as the honourable gentleman on +the other side of the table does, yet he is accustomed to it, and, as I +am not, it seems to me an uninteresting performance. However, I dare say +I could get used to a commutation ticket, and I am certainly willing to +try. All of which is respectfully submitted," and with a bow the speaker +resumed his seat. + +"That was a very nice speech," said the judge approvingly, "and now we +would be pleased to hear from the captain gentleman on the other side." + +Uncle Charley rose. + +"Without wishing to be discourteous," he said, "I must say that I think +the arguments just set forth are exceedingly flimsy. There can be no +question but that Vernondale would be a far better and more appropriate +home for the young lady in question than any other spot on the globe. +Here we have wide streets, green lawns, fresh air, and bright sunshine; +all conducive to that blooming state of health which our honourable +judge now, apparently, enjoys. City life would doubtless soon reduce her +to a thin, pale, peaked specimen of humanity, unrecognisable by her +friends. The rose-colour in her cheeks would turn to ashen grey; her +starry eyes would become dim and lustreless. Her robust flesh would +dwindle to skin and bone, and probably her hair would all fall out, and +she'd have to wear a wig." + +Even Patty's mallet was not able to check the burst of laughter caused by +the horrible picture which Uncle Charley drew, but after it had subsided, +he continued: "As to the wonderful masters and teachers in the city, far +be it from me to deny their greatness and power. But the beautiful +village of Vernondale is less than an hour from New York; no mosquitoes, +no malaria; boating, bathing, and fishing. Miss Fairfield could, +therefore, go to New York for her instructions in the various arts and +sciences, and return again to her Vernondale home on a local train. Add +to this the fact that here she has relatives, friends, and acquaintances, +who already know and love her, while, in New York, she would have to +acquire a whole new set, probably have to advertise for them. As to the +commuting gentleman: before his first ticket was all punched up, he would +be ready to vow that the commuter's life is the only ideal existence. +Having thus offered unattackable arguments, I deem a decision in our +favour a foregone conclusion, and I take pleasure in sitting down." + +"A very successful speech," said Patty, smiling at her uncle. "We will +now be pleased to hear from the next speaker on the affirmative side. +Mrs. Charles Elliott, will you kindly speak what is on your mind?" + +"I will," said Mrs. Elliott, with a nod of her head that betokened +Fairfield decision of character. "I will say exactly what is on my mind +without regard to which side I am on." + +"Oh, that isn't fair!" cried Patty. "A debate is a debate, you know, +and you must make up opinions for your own side, whether you think +them or not." + +"Very well," said Aunt Alice, smiling a little, "then it being +thoroughly understood that I am not speaking the truth, I will say that I +think it better for Patty to live in New York. As her father will be away +all day at his business, she will enjoy the loneliness of a big +brown-stone city house; she will enjoy the dark rooms and the entire +absence of grass and flowers and trees, which she hates anyway; instead +of picnics and boating parties, she can go to stiff and formal afternoon +teas; and, instead of attending her young people's club here, she can +become a member of the Society of Social Economics." + +With an air of having accomplished her intention, Aunt Alice sat down +amid great cheers and handclappings from the opposite side. + +Patty looked a little sober as she began to think the Vernondale home +would win; and, though for many reasons she wished it would be so, yet, +at the same time, she realised very strongly the attractions of life in +New York City. + +However, she only said: + +"The meeting will please come to order, in order to listen to the +opinions of Miss Elliott." + +Marian rose with great dignity, and addressed the chair and the ladies +and gentlemen with true parliamentary punctiliousness. + +"Though personally interested in this matter," she began, "it is not my +intention to allow my own wishes or prejudices to blind me to the best +interests of our young friend who is now under discussion. Far be it from +me to blight her career for the benefit of my own unworthy self, but I +will say that if Patty Fairfield goes to live in New York, or anywhere +except Vernondale, I think she's just the horridest, meanest old thing on +the face of the earth! Why, I wouldn't _let_ her go! I'd lock her in her +room, and poke bread and water to her through the keyhole, if she dared +to think of such a thing! Go to New York, indeed! A nice time she'd have, +hanging on straps in the trolley-cars, and getting run over by +automobiles! The whole thing is so perfectly absurd that there's no +earthly chance of its ever coming to pass. Why, she _wouldn't_ go, she +couldn't be _hired_ to go; she wouldn't be happy there a minute; but if +she _does_ go, I'll go, too!" + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE DECISION + + +"Hooray for our side!" cried Frank, as Marian dropped into a chair after +her outburst of enthusiasm. + +"Oh, I haven't finished yet," said Marian, jumping up again. "I want to +remark further that not only is Patty going to live in Vernondale, but +she's going to have a house very near this one. I've picked it out," and +Marian wagged her head with the air of a mysterious sibyl. "I won't tell +you where it is just yet, but it's a lovely house, and big enough to +accommodate Uncle Fred and Patty, and a guest or two besides. I've +selected the room that I prefer, and I hope you will furnish it in blue." + +"The speaker is a bit hasty," said Patty as Marian sat down again; "we +can't furnish any rooms before this debate is concluded; and, though we +deeply regret it, Miss Elliott will be obliged to wait for her blue room +until the other speakers have had their speak." + +But Patty smiled at Marian understandingly, and began to have a very +attractive mental picture of her cousin's blue room next her own. + +"The next speaker," announced the judge, "will be Mrs. Elliott, +Senior,--the Dowager Duchess. Your Grace, we would be pleased to hear +from you." + +"I don't know," said Grandma Elliott, looking rather seriously into the +smiling faces before her, "that I am entirely in favour of the country +home. I think our Patty would greatly enjoy the city atmosphere. She is a +schoolgirl now, but in a year or two she will be a young woman, and one +well deserving of the best that can be given to her. I am city-bred +myself, and though at my age I prefer the quiet of the country, yet for a +young girl I well know the charm of a city life. Of course, we would all +regret the loss of our Patty, who has grown to be a part of our daily +life, but, nevertheless, were I to vote on this matter, I should +unhesitatingly cast my ballot in favour of New York." + +"Bravo for grandma!" cried Frank. "Give me a lady who fearlessly speaks +her mind even in the face of overwhelming opposition. All the same, I +haven't spoken my piece yet, and I believe it is now my turn." + +"It is," said Patty, "and we eagerly await your sapient and +authoritative remarks." + +"Ahem!" said Frank pompously, as he arose. "My remarks shall be brief, +but very much to the point. Patty's home must be in Vernondale because we +live here. If ever we go to live in New York, or Oshkosh, or Kalamazoo, +Patty can pick up her things and go along. Just get that idea firmly +fixed in your heads, my friends. Where we live, Patty lives; whither she +goeth, we goeth. Therefore, if Patty should go to New York, the Elliotts +will take up bag and baggage, sell the farm, and go likewise to New York. +Now I'm sure our Patty, being of proper common-sense and sound judgment, +wouldn't put the Elliott family to such inconvenience,--for moving is a +large and fearsome proposition. Thus we see that as the Mountain insists +on following Mahomet whithersoever she goest, the only decently polite +thing for Mahomet to do is to settle in Vernondale. I regret exceedingly +that I am forced to express an opinion so diametrically opposed to the +advices of Her Grace, the Dowager Duchess, but I'm quite sure she didn't +realise what a bother it would be for the Elliotts to move. And now, +having convinced you all to my way of thinking, I will leave the case in +the hands of our wise and competent judge." + +"Wait," said Uncle Charley; "I believe the captains are usually allowed a +sort of summing-up speech, are they not?" + +"They are in this case, anyway," said Patty. "Mr. Elliott will please go +ahead with his summing-up." + +"Well," said Uncle Charley, "the sum of the whole matter seems to be that +we all want Fred and Patty to live here because we want them to; but, of +course, it's only fair that they consult their own wishes in the matter, +and if they conclude that they prefer New York, why,--we'll have another +debate, that's all." + +Uncle Charley sat down, and Mr. Fairfield rose. "I have listened with +great interest to the somewhat flattering remarks of my esteemed fellow +members, and have come to the conclusion that, if agreeable to Her +Judgeship, a compromise might be effected. It would seem to me that if a +decision should be arrived at for the Vernondale home, the Fairfields +could manage to reap some few of those mysterious advantages said to be +found in city life, by going to New York and staying a few months every +winter. This, too, would give them an opportunity to receive visits from +the Elliott family, which would, I'm sure, be a pleasure and profit to +all concerned. With this suggestion I am quite ready to hear a positive +and final decision from Her Honour, the Judge." + +"And it won't take her long to make up her mind, either," cried Patty. "I +knew you'd fix it somehow, papa; you are the best and wisest man! Solomon +wasn't in it with you, nor Solon, nor Socrates, nor anybody! That +arrangement is exactly what I choose, and suits me perfectly, I do want +to stay in New York sometimes, but I would much rather live in +Vernondale; so the judge hereby announces that, on the merits of the +case, the question is decided in the negative. The Fairfields will buy a +house in Vernondale, and the judge hopes that they will buy it quick." + +"Three cheers for Patty and Uncle Fred," cried Frank, and while they were +being given with a will, Marian flew to the telephone, and, when the +cheers subsided, she was engaged in a conversation of which the debating +club heard only one side. + +"Is this you, Elsie?" + +"What do you think? Patty's going to stay in Vernondale!" + +"Yes, indeed, perfectly gorgeous." + +"Just this evening; just now." + +"I guess I am! I'm so glad I don't know what to do!" + +"Oh, yes, of course she'll keep on being president." + +"No, they haven't decided yet, but I want them to take the Bigelow +house." + +"Yes; wouldn't it be fine!" + +"Oh, it isn't very late." + +"Well, come over early to-morrow morning, then." + +"Good-by." + +"Elsie Morris is delighted," said Marian, as she hung up the receiver, +"and Polly Stevens will just dance jigs of joy when she hears about it. +I'd call her up now, only I'm afraid she'd break the telephone trying to +express her enthusiasm; she flutters so." + +"You can tell her about it to-morrow," said Frank, "and now let's +talk about where the house shall be. Would you rather buy or build, +Uncle Fred?" + +"Perhaps it would be better to rent," said Mr. Fairfield. "Suppose my +fickle daughter should change her mind, and after a visit in the city +decide that she prefers it for her home." + +"I'm not fickle, papa," said Patty, "and it's all arranged all right just +as it is; but I don't want a rented house, they won't let you drive tacks +in the walls, or anything like that. Let's buy a house, and then, if you +turn fickle and want to move away, we can sell it again." + +"All right," said Mr. Fairfield obligingly, "what house shall we buy?" + +"I know just the one," cried Marian; "guess where it is." + +"Would you, by any chance, refer to the Bigelow house?" inquired +Frank politely. + +"How did you know?" exclaimed Marian. "I only heard to-day that it is for +sale, and I wanted to surprise you." + +"Well, next time you have a surprise in store for us," said Frank, "don't +announce it to Elsie Morris over the telephone." + +"Oh, did you hear that?" + +"As a rule, sister dear, unless you are the matron of a deaf and dumb +asylum, you must expect those present to hear your end of a telephone +conversation." + +"Of course," said Marian; "I didn't think. But, really, wouldn't the +Bigelow house be fine? Only a few blocks away from here, and such a +lovely house, with a barn and a conservatory, and a little arbour in +the garden." + +Patty began to look frightened. + +"Goodness, gracious me!" she exclaimed; "I don't believe I realise what +I'm coming to. I could take care of the little arbour in the garden; but +I wonder if I could manage a house, and a barn, and a conservatory!" + +"And go to school every day, besides," said her father, laughing. "I +think, my child, that at least until your school days are over, we will +engage the services of a responsible housekeeper." + +"Oh, papa!" cried Patty, in dismay, "you said I could keep house for +you; and Aunt Alice has taught me lots about it; and she'll teach me +lots more; and you know I can make good pumpkin pies; and, of course, +I can dust and fly 'round; and that's about all there is to +housekeeping, anyway." + +"Oh, Patty," said Aunt Alice, "my lessons must have fallen on stony +ground if you think that's all there is to housekeeping." + +"That's merely a figure of speech, Aunt Alice," replied Patty. "You well +know I am a thoroughly capable and experienced housekeeper; honest, +steady, good-tempered, and with a fine reference from my last place." + +"You're certainly a clever little housekeeper for your age," said her +aunt, "but I'm not sure you could keep house successfully, and go to +school, and practice your music, and attend to your club all at the +same time." + +"But I wouldn't do them all at the same time, Aunt Alice. I'd have a time +for everything, and everything in it place. I would go to school, and +practise, and housekeep, and club; all in their proper proportions--" +Here Patty glanced at her father. "You see, if I had the proportions +right, all would go well." + +"Well, perhaps," said Mr. Fairfield, "if we had a competent cook and a +tidy little waitress, we could get along without a professional +housekeeper. I admit I had hoped to have Patty keep house for me and +preside at my table, and at any rate, it would do no harm to try it as an +experiment; then, if it failed, we could make some other arrangement." + +"I guess I do want to sit at the head of our table, papa," said Patty; +"I'd just like to see a housekeeper there! A prim, sour-faced old lady +with a black silk dress and dangling ear-rings! No, I thank you. If I +have my way I will keep that house myself, and when I get into any +trouble, I will fly to Aunt Alice for rest and refreshment." + +"We'll all help," said Marian; "I'll make lovely sofa-pillows for you, +and I'm sure grandma will knit you an afghan." + +"That isn't much towards housekeeping," said Frank. "I'll come over next +summer and swing your hammock for you, and put up your tennis-net." + +"And meantime," said Uncle Charley, "until the house is bought and +furnished, the Fairfield family will be the welcome guests of the +Elliotts. It's almost the middle of December now, and I don't think, Miss +Patty Fairfield, that you'll get your home settled in time to make a +visit in New York _this_ winter; and now, you rattle-pated youngsters, +run to bed, while I discuss some plans sensibly with my brother-in-law +and fellow townsman." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE TEA CLUB + + +"Well I should think you'd better stay in Vernondale, Patty Fairfield, if +you know what's good for yourself! Why, if you had attempted to leave +this town, we would have mobbed you with tar and feathers, or whatever +those dreadful things are that they do to the most awful criminals." + +"Oh, if I had gone, Polly, I should have taken this club with me, of +course. I'm so used to it now, I'm sure I couldn't live a day, and +know that we should meet no more, as the Arab remarked to his +beautiful horse." + +"It would be rather fun to be transported bodily to New York as a club, +but I'd want to be transported home again after the meeting," said +Helen Preston. + +"Why shouldn't we do that?" cried Florence Douglass. "It would be lots of +fun for the whole club to go to New York some day together." + +"I'm so glad Patty is going to stay with us, I don't care what we do," +said Ethel Holmes, who was drawing pictures on Patty's white shirt-waist +cuffs as a mark of affection. + +"I'm glad, too," said Patty; "and, Ethel, your kittens are perfectly +lovely, but this is my last clean shirt-waist, and those pencil-marks are +awfully hard to wash out." + +"I don't mean them to be washed out," said Ethel, calmly going on with +her art work; "they're not wash drawings, they're permanent decorations +for your cuffs, and are offered as a token of deep regard and esteem." + +The Tea Club was holding a Saturday afternoon meeting at Polly Stevens's +house, and the conversation, as yet, had not strayed far from the +all-engrossing subject of Patty's future plans. + +The Tea Club had begun its existence with lofty and noble aims in a +literary direction, to be supplemented and assisted by an occasional +social cup of tea. But if you have had any experience with merry, healthy +young girls of about sixteen, you will not be surprised to learn that +the literary element had softly and suddenly vanished away, much after +the manner of a Boojum. Then, somehow, the social interest grew stronger, +and the tea element held its own, and the result was a most satisfactory +club, if not an instructive one. + +"But," as Polly Stevens had said, "we are instructed all day long in +school, and a good deal out of school, too, for that matter; and what we +need most is absolutely foolish recreation; the foolisher the better." + +And so the Saturday afternoon meetings had developed into merely merry +frolics, with a cup of tea, which was often a figure of speech for +chocolate or lemonade, at the close. + +There were no rules, and the girls took pleasure in calling themselves +unruly members. There were no dues, and consequently no occasion for a +secretary or treasures. Patty continued to be called the president, but +the title meant nothing more than the fact that she was really a chief +favourite among the girls. No one was bound, or even expected to attend +the meetings unless she chose; but, as a rule, a large majority of the +club was present. + +And so to-day, in the library at Polly Stevens's house, nine members of +the Tea Club were chattering like nine large and enthusiastic magpies. + +"Now we can go on with the entertainment," said Lillian Desmond, as she +sat on the arm of Patty's chair, curling wisps of the presidential hair +over her fingers. "If Patty had gone away, I should have resigned my part +in the show and gone into a convent. Where are you going to live, Patty?" + +"I don't know, I am sure; we haven't selected a house yet; and if we +don't find one we like, papa may build one, though I believe Marian has +one all picked out for us." + +"Yes, I have," said Marian. "It's the Bigelow house on our street. I do +want to keep Patty near us." + +"The Bigelow house? Why, that's too large for two people. Patty and Mr. +Fairfield would get lost in it. Now, I know a much nicer one. There's a +little house next-door to us, a lovely, little cottage that would suit +you a lot better. Tell your father about it, Patty. It's for sale or +rent, and it's just the dearest place." + +"Why, Laura Russell," cried Marian, "that little snip of a house! It +wouldn't hold Patty, let alone Uncle Fred. You only proposed it because +you want Patty to live next-door to you." + +"Yes; that's it," said Laura, quite unabashed; "I know it's too little, +but you could add ells and bay-windows and wings and things, and then it +would be big enough." + +"Would it hold the Tea Club?" said Patty. "I must have room for them, +you know." + +"Oh, won't it be fun to have the Tea Club at Patty's house!" cried +Elsie. "I hadn't thought of that." + +"What's a home without a Tea Club?" said Patty. "I shall select the house +with an eye single to the glory and comfort of you girls." + +"Then I know of a lovely house," said Christine Converse. "It's awfully +big, and it's pretty old, but I guess it could be fixed up. I mean the +old Warner place." + +"Good gracious!" cried Ethel; "'way out there! and it's nothing but a +tumble-down old barn, anyhow." + +"Oh, I think it's lovely; and it's Colonial, or Revolutionary, or +something historic; and they're going to put the trolley out there this +spring,--my father said so." + +"It is a nice old house," said Patty; "and it could be made awfully +pretty and quaint. I can see it, now, in my mind's eye, with dimity +curtains at the windows, and roses growing over the porch." + +"I hope you will never see those dimity curtains anywhere but in your +mind's eye," said Marian. "It's a heathenish old place, and, anyway, it's +too far away from our house." + +"Papa says I can have a pony and cart," said Patty; "and I could drive +over every day." + +"A pony and cart!" exclaimed Helen Preston. "Won't that be perfectly +lovely! I've always wanted one of my own. And shall you have +man-servants, and maid-servants? Oh, Patty, you never could run a big +establishment like that. You'll have to have a housekeeper." + +"I'm going to try it," said Patty, laughing. "It will be an +experiment, and, of course, I shall make lots of blunders at first; but +I think it's a pity if a girl nearly sixteen years old can't keep house +for her own father." + +"So do I," said Laura. "And, anyhow, if you get into any dilemmas we'll +all come over and help you out." + +The girls laughed at this; for Laura Russell was a giddy little +feather-head, and couldn't have kept house for ten minutes to save her +life. + +"Much good it would do Patty to have the Tea Club help her keep house," +said Florence Douglass. "But we'll all make her lovely things to go to +housekeeping with. I shall be real sensible, and make her sweeping-caps +and ironing-holders." + +"Oh, I can beat that for sensibleness," cried Ethel Holmes. "I read about +it the other day, and it's a broom-bag. I haven't an idea what it's for; +but I'll find out, and I'll make one." + +"One's no good," said Marian sagely. "Make her a dozen while you're +about it." + +"Oh, do they come by dozens?" said Ethel, in an awestruck voice. "Well, +I guess I won't make them then. I'll make her something pretty. A +pincushion all over lace and pin ribbons, or something like that." + +"That will be lovely," said Laura. "I shall embroider her a tablecloth." + +"You'll never finish it," said Patty, who well knew how soon Laura's +bursts of enthusiasm spent themselves. "You'd better decide on a doily. +Better a doily done than a tablecloth but begun." + +"Oh, I'll tell you-what we can do, girls," said Polly Stevens. "Let's +make Patty a tea-cloth, and we'll each write our name on it, and then +embroider it, you know." + +"Lovely!" cried Christine. "Just the thing. Who'll hemstitch it? I won't. +I'll embroider my name all right, but I hate to hemstitch." + +"I'll hemstitch it," said Elsie Morris. "I do beautiful hemstitching." + +"So do I," said Helen Preston. "Let me do half." + +"Ethel and I hemstitch like birds," said Lillian Desmond. "Let's each do +a side,--there'll be four sides, I suppose." + +"Well, the tea-cloth seems in a fair way to get hemstitched," said +Patty. "You can put a double row around it, if you like, and I'll be +awfully glad to have it. I'll use it the first Saturday afternoon after +I get settled." + +"I wish I knew where you're going to live," said Ethel. "I'd like to have +a correct mental picture of that first Saturday afternoon." + +"It's a beautiful day for walking," said Polly Stevens. "Let's all go +out, and take a look at the Warner place. Something tells me that you'll +decide to live there." + +"I hope something else will tell you differently, soon," said Marian, +"for I'll never give my consent to that arrangement. However, I'd just +as lieve walk out there, if only to convince you what a forlorn old +place it is." + +"Come on; let's go, then. We can be back in an hour, and have tea +afterwards. I'll get the key from Mr. Martin, as we go by." + +Like a bombarding army the Tea Club stormed the old Warner house, and +once inside its Colonial portal, they made the old walls ring with their +laughter. The wide hall was dark and gloomy until Elsie Morris flung open +the door at the other end, and let in the December sunshine. + +"Seek no farther," she cried dramatically. "We have crossed the Rubicon +and found the Golden Fleece! This is the place of all others for our Tea +Club meeting, and it doesn't matter what the rest of the house may be +like. Patty, you will kindly consider the matter settled." + +"I'll consider anything you like," said Patty; "and before breakfast, +too, if you'll only hurry up and get out of this damp, musty old place. +I'm shivering myself to pieces." + +"Oh, it isn't cold," said Laura Russell; "and while we're here, let's go +through the house." + +"Yes," said Marian; "examine it carefully, lest some of its numerous +advantages should escape your notice. Observe the hardwood floors, the +magnificent mahogany stair-rail, and the lofty ceilings!" + +The old floors were creaky, worm-eaten, and dusty; the stair-rail was in +a most dilapidated condition, and the ceilings were low and smoky; so +Marian scored her points. + +"But it is antique," said Ethel Holmes, with the air of an auctioneer. +"Ah, ladies, what would you have? It is a fine specimen of the Colonial +Empire period, picked out here and there with Queen Anne. The mantels, +ah,--the mantels are dreams in marble." + +"Nightmares in painted wood, you mean," said Lillian. + +"But so roomy and expansive," went on Ethel. "And the wall-papers! +Note the fine stage of complete dilapidation left by the moving +finger of Time." + +"The wall-papers are all right," said Patty. "They look as if they'd peel +off easily. Come on upstairs." + +The chambers were large, low, and rambling; and the house, in its best +days, must have been an interesting specimen of its type. But after a +short investigation, Patty was as firmly convinced as Marian that its +charms could not offset its drawbacks. + +"I've seen enough of this moated grange," cried Patty. "Come on, girls, +we're going back to tea, right, straight, smack off." + +"There's no pleasing some folks," grumbled Ethel. "Here's an ancestral +pile only waiting for somebody to ancestralise it. You could make it one +of the Historic Homes of Vernondale, and you won't even consider it for +a minute." + +"I'll consider it for a minute," said Patty, "if that will do you +any good, but not a bit longer; and as the minute is nearly up, I +move we start." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +BOXLEY HALL + + +After consultation with various real estate agents, and after due +consideration of the desirable houses they had to offer, Mr. Fairfield +came to the conclusion that the Bigelow house, which Marian had +suggested, was perhaps the most attractive of any. + +And so, one afternoon, a party of very interested people went over to +look at it. + +The procession was headed by Patty and Marian, followed by Mr. Fairfield +and Aunt Alice, while Frank and his father brought up the rear. But as +they were going out of the Elliotts' front gate, Laura Russell came +flying across the street. + +"Where are all you people going?" she cried. "I know you're going to look +at a house. Which one?" + +"The Bigelow house," said Marian, "and I'm almost sure Uncle Fred will +decide to take it. Come on with us; we're going all through it." + +"No," said Laura, looking disappointed, "I don't want to go; and I don't +want the Fairfields to live in that house anyway. If they would only look +at that little cottage next-door to us, I know they'd like it ever so +much better. Oh, please, Mr. Fairfield, won't you come over and look at +it now? It's so pretty and cunning, and it has the loveliest garden and +chicken-coop and everything." + +"I don't want a chicken-coop," said Patty, laughing; "I've no chickens, +and I don't want any." + +"Our chickens are over there most of the time," said Laura. + +"Then, of course, we ought to have a coop to keep our neighbours' +chickens in," said Mr. Fairfield; "and if this cottage is as delightful +as Miss Russell makes it out, I think it's our duty at least to go and +look at it. If the rest of you are willing, suppose we go over there +first, and then if we _should_ decide not to take it, we'll have time to +investigate the Bigelow afterward" + +Marian looked so woe-begone that Patty laughed. + +"Cheer up, girl," she said; "there isn't one chance in a million of our +taking that doll's house, but Laura will never give us a minute's peace +until we go and look at it; so we may as well go now, and get it over." + +"All right," said Marian; and Patty, with her two girl friends on either +side of her, started in the direction of the cottage. + +But when they reached it, Mr. Fairfield exclaimed in amazement. "That +little house?" he said. "Oh, I see; that's the chicken-coop you spoke of. +Well, where is the house?" + +"This is the house," said Laura; "but, somehow, it does look smaller than +usual; still, it's a great deal bigger inside." + +"No doubt," said Frank. "I've often noticed that the inside of a house is +much larger than the outside. Of course, we can't all go in at once, but +I'm willing to wait my turn. Who will go first?" + +"Very well, you may stay outside," said Laura. "I think the rest of us +can all squeeze in at once, if we try." + +But Frank followed the rest of the party, and, passing through the narrow +hall, they entered the tiny parlour. + +"I never was in such a crowded room," said Marian. "I can scarcely get my +breath. I had no idea there were so many of us." + +"Well, you're not going to live here," said Laura. "There's room enough +for just Patty and her father." + +"There is, if we each take a room to ourself," said Mr. Fairfield. "You +may have this parlour, my daughter, and I'll take the library. Where is +the library, Miss Russell?" + +"I think it has just stepped out," said Frank; "at any rate, it isn't on +this floor; there's only this room, and the dining-room, and a kitchen +cupboard." + +"Very likely the library is on the third floor," said Marian; "that would +be convenient." + +"There isn't any third floor," explained Laura. "This is what they call +a story-and-a-half house." + +"It would have to be expanded into a serial story, then, before it would +do for us," said Mr. Fairfield. "We may not be such big people, but Patty +and I have a pretty large estimate of ourselves, and I am sure we never +could live in such a short-story-and-a-half as this seems to be." + +"Indeed, we couldn't, papa," said Patty. "Just look at this dining-room. +I'm sure it's only big enough for one. We would have to have our meals +alternately; you could have breakfast, and I would have dinner one day, +and the next day we'd reverse the order." + +"Come, look at the kitchen, Patty," called out Frank; "or at least stick +your head in; there isn't room for all of you. See the stationary tubs. +Two of them, you see; each just the size of a good comfortable +coffee-cup." + +"Just exactly," said Patty, laughing; "why, I never saw such a house. +Laura Russell, what were you thinking of?" + +"Oh, of course, you could add to it," said Laura. "You could build on +as many more rooms as you wanted, and you could run it up another story +and a half, and that would make three stories; and I do want you to +live near me." + +"We're sorry not to live near you, Miss Laura," said Mr. Fairfield; "but +I can't see my way clear to do it unless you would move into this +bandbox, and let us have your roomy and comfortable mansion next door." + +"Oh, there wouldn't be room for our family here," said Laura. + +"But you could build on a whole lot of rooms," said Frank, "and add +enough stories to make it a sky-scraper; and put in an elevator, and it +would be perfectly lovely." + +Laura laughed with the rest, and then, at Mrs. Elliott's suggestion, they +all started back to the Bigelow house. + +"Now, this is something like," said Marian, as they went in at the gate +and up the broad front walk. + +"Like what?" said Frank. + +"Like a home for the Fairfields. What shall you call it--Fairfield Hall, +Fairfield Place, or what?" + +"I don't know," cried Patty, dashing up the veranda steps. "But isn't it +a dear house! I feel at home here already. This big piazza will be lovely +in warm weather. There's room for hammocks, and big chairs, and little +tables, and everything." + +Inside, the house proved very attractive. The large square hall opened +into a parlour on one side and a library on the other. Back of the +library was a little conservatory, and beyond that a large, light +dining-room with an open fireplace. + +"Here's a kitchen worth having," said Aunt Alice, who was investigating +ahead of the rest; "and such convenient pantries and cupboards." + +"And this back veranda is great," said Frank, opening the door from a +little hall. + +"Oh, yes," said Patty; "see the dead vines. In the summer it must have +honeysuckles all over it. And there's the little arbour at the foot of +the garden. I'm going down to see it." + +Marian started to follow her, but Laura called her back to show her some +new attraction, and Patty ran alone down the veranda steps, and through +the box-bordered paths to the little rustic arbour. + +"Goodness!" she exclaimed, as she reached it. "Who in the world are you?" + +For inside the arbour sat a strange-looking girl of about Patty's own +age. She was a tall, thin child, with a pale face, large black eyes, and +straight black hair, which hung in wisps about her ears. + +"I'm Pansy," she said, clasping her hands in front of her, and looking +straight into Patty's face. + +"You're Pansy, are you?" said Patty, looking puzzled. "And what are you +doing here, Pansy?" + +"Well, miss, you see it's this way. I want to go out to service; and when +I heard you was going to have a house of your own, I thought maybe you'd +take me to work for you." + +"Oh, you did! Well, why didn't you come and apply to me, then, in proper +fashion, and not sit out here waiting for me to come to you? Suppose I +hadn't come?" + +"I was sure you'd come, miss. Everybody who looks at this house comes out +to look at the arbour; but there hasn't been anybody before that I wanted +to work for. Please take me, miss; I'll be faithful and true." + +"What can you do?" asked Patty, half laughing, and half pitying the +strange-looking girl. "Can you cook?" + +"No, ma'am, I can't cook; but I might learn it. But I didn't mean that. I +thought you'd have a cook, and you'd take me for a table girl, you know; +and to tidy up after you." + +"I do want a waitress; but have you had any experience?" + +"No, ma'am," said the girl very earnestly, "I haven't, but I'm just sure +I could learn. If you just tell me a thing once, you needn't ever tell it +to me again. That's something, isn't it?" + +"Indeed it is," said Patty, remembering a certain careless waitress at +Mrs. Elliott's. "Have you any references?" + +"No," said the girl, smiling; "you see, I've never lived anywhere except +home, and I suppose mother's reference wouldn't count." + +"It would with me," said Patty decidedly. "I think your mother ought +to know more about you than anybody else. What would she say if I +asked her?" + +"She'd say I was careless and heedless and thoughtless, and didn't know +anything," replied the girl cheerfully; "and I am that way at home, but I +wouldn't be if I worked for you, because I want to be a waitress, and a +good one; and you'd see how quick I'd learn. Oh, do take me, miss. You'll +never be sorry, and that's sure!" + +This statement was accompanied by such decided gestures of head and hands +that Patty was very nearly convinced to the contrary, but she only said, +"I'm sorry, Pansy,--you said your name was Pansy, didn't you?" + +"Yes, miss,--Pansy Potts." + +"What an extraordinary name!" + +"Is it, miss? Well, you see, my father's name was Potts; and mother named +me Pansy, because she's so fond of the flower. You don't think the name +will interfere with my being a waitress, do you?" + +"Not so far as I'm concerned," said Patty, laughing; "but, you see, I +shall be a very inexperienced housekeeper, and if I have an inexperienced +waitress also, I don't know what might happen." + +"Why, now, miss; it seems to me that that would work out just right. +You're a young housekeeper, but I expect you know just about what a +waitress ought to do, and you could teach me; and I know a lot about +housekeeping, and I could teach you." + +The sincerity in Pansy's voice and manner impressed Patty, and she looked +at her closely, as she said: + +"It does seem good proportion." + +"It is," said Pansy; "and you've no idea how quickly I can learn." + +"Can you?" said Patty. "Well, then, learn first to call me Miss Patty. It +would suit me much better than to hear you say 'miss' so often." + +"Yes, Miss Patty." + +"And don't wring your hands in that absurd fashion, and don't stand +first on one foot and then on the other, as if you were scared out of +your wits." + +"No, Miss Patty." + +Pansy ceased shuffling, dropped her hands naturally to her sides, and +stood in the quiet, respectful attitude that Patty had unconsciously +assumed while speaking. + +Delighted at this quick-witted mimicry, Patty exclaimed: + +"I believe you will do. I believe you are just the one; but I can't +decide positively, now. You go home, Pansy, and come to-morrow afternoon +to see me at Mrs. Elliott's. Do you know where I live?" + +"Yes, Miss Patty," and, with a respectful little bob of her head, Pansy +Potts disappeared, and Patty ran back to the house. + +"Well, chickadee," said Mr. Fairfield, "I have about decided that +you and I can make ourselves comfortable within these four walls, +and, if it suits your ladyship, I think we'll consider that we have +taken the house." + +"It does suit me," said Patty. "I'm perfectly satisfied; and _I_ have +taken a house-maid." + +"Where did you get her?" exclaimed Frank. "Do they grow on trees in the +garden? I saw you out in the arbour with one." + +"Yes," said Patty; "I picked her off a tree. She isn't quite ripe, but +she's not so very green; and I think she'll do. Never mind about her now. +I can't decide until I've had a talk with Aunt Alice. I'm so glad you +decided on this house, papa. Oh, isn't it lovely to have a home! It looks +rather bare, to be sure, but, be it ever so empty, there's no place like +home. Now, what shall we name it? I do like a nice name for a place." + +"It has so many of those little boxwood Hedges," said Aunt Alice, looking +out of the window, "that you might call it The Boxwood House." + +"Oh, don't call it a wood-house," said Uncle Charley. + +"Call it the wood-box, and be done with it," Frank. + +"I like 'Hall,'" said Patty. "How is Boxwood Hall?" + +"Sounds like Locksley Hall," said Marian. + +"More like Boxley Hall," said Frank. + +"Boxley Hall!" cried Patty. "That's just the thing! I like that." + +"Rather a pretentious name to live up to," said Mr. Fairfield. + +"Never mind," said Patty. "With Pansy Potts for a waitress, we can live +up to any name." + +And so Patty's new home was chosen, and its name was Boxley Hall. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +SHOPPING + + +As Boxley Hall was a sort of experiment, Mr. Fairfield concluded to rent +the place for a year, with the privilege of buying. + +By this time Patty was sure that she wished to remain in Vernondale all +her life; but her father said that women, even very young ones, were +fickle in their tastes, and he thought it wiser to be on the safe side. + +"And it doesn't matter," as Patty said to Marian; "for, when the year is +up, papa will just buy the house, and then it will be all right." + +Having found a home, the next thing was to furnish it; and about this Mr. +Fairfield was very decided and methodical. + +"To-morrow," he said, as they were talking it over at the Elliotts' one +evening, "to-morrow I shall take Patty to New York to select the most +important pieces of furniture. We shall go alone, because it is a very +special occasion, and we can't allow ourselves to be hampered by outside +advices. Another day we shall go to buy prosaic things like tablecloths +and carpet-sweepers; and then, as we know little about such things, we +shall be glad to take with us some experienced advisers." + +And so the next day Patty and her father started for the city to buy +furniture for Boxley Hall. + +"You see, Patty," said her father after they were seated in the train, +"there is a certain proportion to be observed in furnishing a house, +about which, I imagine, you know very little." + +"Very little, indeed," returned Patty; "but, then, how should I know such +things when I've never furnished a house?" + +"I understand that," said Mr. Fairfield; "and so, with my advantages +of age and experience, and your own natural good taste, I think we +shall accomplish this thing successfully. Now, first, as to what we +have on hand." + +"Why, we haven't anything on hand," said Patty; "at least, I have a +few pictures and books, and the afghan grandma's knitting for me; but +that's all." + +"You reckon without your host," said her father, smiling. "I possess some +few objects of value, and during the past year I have added to my +collection in anticipation of the time when we should have our own home." + +"Oh, papa!" cried Patty; "have you a whole lot of new furniture that I +don't know about?" + +"Yes," said Mr. Fairfield; "except, that, instead of being new, it is +mostly old. I had opportunities in the South to pick up bits of fine old +mahogany, and I have a number of really good pieces that will help to +make Boxley Hall attractive." + +"What are they, papa? Tell me all about them. I can't wait another +minute!" + +"To begin with, child, I have several heirlooms; the old sideboard that +was your grandfather Fairfield's, and several old bureaus and tables that +came from the Fairfield estate. Then I have, also, two or three beautiful +book-cases, and an old desk for our library; and to-day we will hunt up +some sort of a big roomy table that will do to go with them." + +"Let's make the library the nicest room in the house, papa." + +"It will make itself that, if you give it half a chance, though we'll do +all we can to help. But I'm so prosaic I would like to have special +attention paid to the comforts of the dining-room; and as to your own +bedroom, Patty, I want you to see to it that it fulfills exactly your +ideal of what a girl's room ought to be." + +"Oh, I know just how I want that; almost exactly like my room at Aunt +Alice's, but with a few more of the sort of things I had in my room at +Aunt Isabel's. I do like pretty things, papa." + +"That's right, my child, I'm glad you do; and I think your idea of pretty +things is not merely a taste for highfalutin gimcracks." + +"No, I don't think it is," said Patty slowly; "but, all the same, you'd +better keep pretty close to me when I pick out the traps for my room. Do +you know, papa, I think Aunt Isabel wants to help us furnish our house. +She wrote that she would meet us in New York some time." + +"That's kind of her," said Mr. Fairfield; "but, do _you_ know, it just +seems to me that we'll be able to manage it by ourselves. Our house is +not of the era of Queen Isabella, but of the Princess Patricia." + +"That sounds like Aunt Isabel. They always called me Patricia there. +Don't you think, papa, now that I'm getting so grown up, I ought to be +called Patricia? Patty is such a baby name." + +"Patty is good enough for me," said Mr. Fairfield. "If you want to be +called Patricia, you must get somebody else to do it. I dare say you +could hire somebody for a small sum per week to call you Patricia for a +given number of times every day." + +"Now, you're making fun of me, papa; but I do want to grow up dignified, +and not be a silly schoolgirl all my life." + +"Take care of your common sense, and your dignity will take care +of itself." + +After they crossed the ferry, and reached the New York side, Mr. +Fairfield took a cab, and they made a round of the various shops, buying +such beautiful things that Patty grew fairly ecstatic with delight. + +"I do think you're wonderful, papa," she exclaimed, after they had +selected the dining-room furnishings. "You know exactly what you want, +and when you describe it, it seems to be the only possible thing that +anybody could want for that particular place." + +"That is a result of decision of character, my child. It is a Fairfield +trait, and I hope you possess it; though I cannot say I have seen any +marked development of it, as yet. But you must have noticed it in your +Aunt Alice." + +"Yes, I have," said Patty; "she is so decided that, with all her +sweetness, I have sometimes been tempted to call her stubborn." + +"Stubbornness and decision of character are very closely allied; but +now, we're going to select the furniture for your own bedroom, and if +you have any decision of character, you will have ample opportunity to +exercise it." + +"Oh, I'll have plenty of decision of character when it comes to that," +said Patty; "you will find me a true Fairfield." + +Aided by her father's judgment and advice, Patty selected the furnishings +for her own room. She had chosen green as the predominant colour, and the +couch and easy-chairs were upholstered in a lovely design of green and +white. The rug was green and white, and for the brass bedstead with its +white fittings, a down comfortable with a pale green cover was found. The +dainty dressing-table was of bird's-eye maple; and for this Mr. Fairfield +ordered a bewildering array of fittings, all in ivory, with Patty's +monogram on them. + +"And I want a little book-case, papa," she said; "a little one, you know, +just for my favouritest books; for, of course, the most of my books will +be down in the library." + +So a dear little book-case was bought, also of bird's-eye maple, and a +pretty little work-table, with a low chair to match. + +"That's very nice," said Patty, with an air of satisfaction, "for, though +I hate to sew, yet sometimes it must be done; and with that little +work-table, I think I could sew even in an Indian wigwam!" + +Patty hadn't much to say regarding the furniture of her father's +bedroom, for Mr. Fairfield attended to that himself, and selected the +things with such rapidity and certainty that it was all done almost +before Patty knew it. + +"Now," said Mr. Fairfield, "there are two guest-chambers to be furnished; +the one you call Marian's room, and the other for the general stranger +within our gates." + +Marian's room was done up in blue, as she had requested, and the other +guest-room was furnished in yellow. + +It was great fun to pick out the furniture, rugs, and curtains for +these rooms; and Patty tried very hard to select such things as her +father would approve of, for she dearly loved to have him commend her +taste and judgment. + +As they were sitting at luncheon, Mr. Fairfield said: "This afternoon, I +think, we will devote to pictures. I'm not sure we will buy any, but we +will look at them, and I will learn what is your taste in art, and you +will leant what is mine." + +"I haven't any," said Patty cheerfully. "I don't know anything about art +and never did." + +"You still have some time, I hope, in which to learn." + +"I've time enough, but I don't believe I could learn. The only pictures I +like are pretty ones." + +"You _are_ hopeless, and that's a fact," said Mr. Fairfield. "Of all +discouraging people, the worst are those who like pretty pictures!" + +"But I'm sure I can learn," said Patty, "if you will teach me." + +"You are more flattering than convincing," said Mr. Fairfield, "but I +will try." + +And so after luncheon they visited several picture shops, and Mr. +Fairfield imported to his daughter what was at least a foundation for an +education in art. + +Back in Vernondale, Patty confided to Marian that she had had a perfectly +lovely time all the morning, but the afternoon wasn't so much fun. "In +fact," she said, "it was very much like that little book we had to study +in school called 'How to Judge a Picture.'" + +The following Saturday another shopping tour was undertaken. This time +Aunt Alice and Marian accompanied the Fairfields, and there was more fun +and less responsibility for Patty. + +Her father insisted upon her undivided attention while Mrs. Elliott +selected table-linen, bed-linen, towels, and other household fittings; +but, as these things were chosen with Fairfield promptness and decision, +Patty had nothing to do but admire and acquiesce. + +"And now," she remarked, after they had chosen two sets of china and a +quantity of glass for the dining-room; "now, if you please, we will buy +me some tea-things to entertain the Tea Club." + +"We will, indeed," said Mr. Fairfield, and both he and Aunt Alice entered +into the selection of the tea-table fittings with as much zest as they +had shown in the other china. + +Dainty Dresden cups were found, lovely plates, and a tea-pot, and +cracker-jar, which made Marian and Patty fairly shriek with delight. + +A three-storied wicker tea-table was found, to hold these treasures, and +Mr. Fairfield added the most fascinating little silver tea-caddy and +tea-ball and strainer. + +"Oh," exclaimed Marian, made quite breathless by the glory of it +all, "the Tea Club will never want to meet anywhere except at your +house, Patty." + +"They'll have to," said Patty. "I don't propose to have them every time." + +"Well, you'll have to have them every other time, anyway," said Marian. + +After the fun of picking out the tea-things, it was hard to come down to +the plainer claims of the kitchen, but Aunt Alice grew so interested in +the selection of granite saucepans and patent coffee-mills that Patty, +too, became enthusiastic. + +"And we must get a rolling-pin," she cried, "for I shall make pumpkin +pies every day. Oh, and I want a farina-kettle and a colander, and a +_bain-marie,_ and a larding-needle, and a syllabub-churn." + +"Why, Patty, child!" exclaimed her father; "what are all those things +for? Are you going to have a French _chef_?" + +"No, papa, but I expect to do a great deal of fancy cooking myself." + +"Oh, you do! Well, then, buy all the contraptions that are necessary, but +don't omit the plain gridirons and frying-pans." + +Then Aunt Alice and Patty put their heads together in a most sensible +fashion, and ordered a kitchen outfit that would have delighted the heart +of any well-organised housekeeper. Not only kitchen utensils, but laundry +fittings, and household furnishings generally; including patent +labour-saving devices, and newly invented contrivances which were +supposed to be of great aid to any housewife. + +"If I can only live up to it all," sighed Patty, as she looked at the +enormous collection of iron, tin, wood, and granite. + +"Or down to it," said Marian. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +SERVANTS + + +"I did think," said Patty, in a disgusted tone, "that we could get +settled in the house in time to eat our Christmas dinner there, but it +doesn't look a bit like it. I was over there this afternoon, and such a +hopeless-looking mess of papering and painting and plumbing I never saw +in my life. I don't believe it will _ever_ be done!" + +"I don't either," said Marian; "those men work as slow as mud-turtles." + +The conversation was taking place at the Elliotts' dinner-table, and +Uncle Charley looked up from his carving to say: + +"It's an ill wind that blows nobody good, and the slower the mud-turtles +are, the longer we shall have our guests with us. For my part, I shall be +very sorry to see pretty Patty go out of this house." + +Patty smiled gaily at her uncle, for they were great friends, and said: + +"Then I shall expect you to visit me very often in my new home,--that is, +if I ever get there." + +"I can't see our way clear to a Christmas dinner in Boxley Hall," said +Mr. Fairfield; "but I think I can promise you, chick, that you can +invite your revered uncle and his family to dine with you there on New +Year's day." + +There were general exclamations of delight at this from all except Patty, +who looked a little bewildered. + +"What's the matter, Patsie?" said her uncle. "Don't you want to entertain +your admiring relatives?" + +"Yes," said Patty, "of course I do; but it scares me to death to think of +it! How can I have a dinner party, when I don't know anything about +anything?" + +"Aunt Alice will tell you something about something," said her father; +"and I'll tell you the rest about the rest." + +"Oh, I know it will be all right," said Patty, quickly regaining +confidence, as she looked at her father. "If papa says the house will be +ready, I know it will be, and if he says we'll have a dinner party on New +Year's day, I know we will; and so I now invite you all, and I expect you +all to accept; and I hope Aunt Alice will come early." + +"I shall come the night before," said Marian, "so as to be sure to be +there in time." + +"I'm not sure that any of us will be there the night before," said Mr. +Fairfield, laughing. "I've guaranteed the house for the dinner, but I +didn't say we would be living there at the time." + +"That's a good idea," said Aunt Alice; "let Patty entertain her first +company there, and then come back here for the reaction." + +"Well, we'll see," said Patty; "but I'd like to go there the first day of +January, and stay there." + +By some unknown methods, Mr. Fairfield managed to stir up the mud-turtle +workmen to greater activity, and the work went rapidly on. The +wall-papers seemed to get themselves into place, and the floors took on +a beautiful polish; bustling men came out from the city and put up +window-shades, and curtains, and draperies; and, under Mr. Fairfield's +supervision, laid rugs and hung pictures. + +The ladies of the Elliott household organised themselves into a most +active sewing-society. + +Grandma, Aunt Alice, Marian, and Patty hemmed tablecloths and napkins +with great diligence, and even little Edith was allowed to help with the +kitchen towels. + +Everybody was so kind that Patty began to feel weighed down with +gratitude. The girls of the Tea Club made the tea-cloth that they had +proposed, and they also brought offerings of pin-cushions, and doilies +and centre-pieces, until Patty's room began to look like a booth at a +fancy bazaar. + +One Saturday morning, as the sewing-circle was hard at work, little +Gilbert came in carrying a paper bag, which evidently contained +something valuable. + +"It's for you, Patty," he said. "I brought it for you, to help keep +house; and its name is Pudgy." + +Depositing the bag in his cousin's lap, little Gilbert knelt beside her. +"You needn't open it," he cried; "it will open itself!" + +And, sure enough, the mouth of the bag untwisted, and a little grey head +came poking out. + +"A kitten!" exclaimed Patty; "a Maltese kitten. Why, that's just the very +thing I wanted! Where did you get it, Gilbert, dear?" + +"From the milkman," said Gilbert proudly. "We always get kitties +from him, and I telled him to pick out a nice pretty one for you. Do +you like it?" + +"I love it," said Patty, cuddling the little bunch of grey fur; "and +Pudgy is just the right name for it. It's the fattest little cat I +ever saw." + +"Yes," said Gilbert gravely; "don't let it get thin, will you?" + +"No, indeed," said Patty; "I'll feed it on strawberries and cream all the +year round!" + +That same afternoon Patty and Aunt Alice started out on a cook-hunting +expedition. A Cook's Tour, Frank called it; and the tourists took it very +seriously. + +"Much of the success of your home, Patty," said Aunt Alice, as they were +going to the Intelligence Office, "depends upon your cook; for she will +be not only a cook, but, in part, housekeeper, and overseer of the whole +place. And while you must, of course, exercise your authority and demand +respect, yet at the same time you will find it necessary to defer to her +judgment and experience on many occasions." + +"I know it, Aunt Alice," said Patty very earnestly; "and I do want to do +what is right. I want to be the head of papa's home, and yet there are a +great many things that my servants will know more about than I do. I +shall have to be very careful about my proportion; but if you and papa +will help me, I think I'll come out all right." + +"I think you will," said Aunt Alice, but she smiled a little at the +assured toss of her niece's head. + +The Intelligence Office proved to be as much misnamed as those +institutions usually are, and varying degrees of unintelligence were +shown in the candidates offered for the position of cook at Boxley Hall; +though, if the applicants seemed unsatisfactory to Patty, in many cases +she was no less so to them. + +One tall, rawboned Irishwoman seemed hopefully good-tempered and capable, +but when she discovered that Patty was to be her mistress, instead of +Mrs. Elliott, as she had supposed, she exclaimed: + +"Go 'way wid yez! Wud I be workin' for the likes of a child like that? +No, mum, I ain't no nurse; I'm a cook, and I want a mistress as has got +past playing wid dolls." + +"I hope you'll find one," said Patty politely; "and I'm afraid we +wouldn't suit each other." + +Another Irish girl, with a merry rosy face and frizzled blonde hair, was +very anxious to go to work for Patty. + +"Sure, it will be fun!" she said. "I'd like to work for such a pretty +little lady; and, sure, we'd have the good times. Could I have all me +afternoons out, miss?" + +"Not if you lived with me," said Patty, laughing. "My house is large, +and there's a great deal of work to be done by somebody. I think my cook +couldn't do her share if she went out every afternoon." + +Many others were interviewed, but each seemed to have more or less +objectionable traits. One would not come unless she were the only +servant; another would not come unless Patty kept five. Most of them +showed such a decided lack of respect to so young a mistress that Aunt +Alice began to despair of finding the kind, capable woman she had +imagined. They went home feeling rather discouraged, but when Patty told +her troubles to her father, he only laughed. + +"Bless your heart, child," he said; "you couldn't expect to engage a +whole cook in one afternoon! It's a long and serious process." + +"But, papa, you said we'd be all settled and ready by the first of +January." + +"Yes, I know, but I didn't say which January." + +"Now, you're teasing," said Patty; but she ran away with a light heart, +feeling sure that somehow a cook would be provided. + +That evening, according to appointment, Pansy Potts appeared for +inspection. The whole Elliott family was present, and observed with much +interest the strange-looking girl. + +But, though ignorant and awkward, Pansy was not embarrassed, and, seeming +to realise that her fate lay in the hands of Mrs. Elliott, Mr. Fairfield, +and Patty, she addressed herself to them. + +Her manner, though untrained, showed respectful deference, and her +expressive black eyes showed quick perception and clever adaptability. + +"She is all right at heart," thought Mr. Fairfield to himself, "but she +knows next to nothing. I wonder if it would be a good plan to let the two +girls help each other out." + +"Have you ever waited at table, Pansy?" he asked, so pleasantly that +Pansy Potts felt encouragement rather than alarm. + +"No, sir; but I could learn, and I would do exactly as I was told." + +"That's the right spirit," said Mr. Fairfield "I think perhaps we'll +have to give you a trial." + +"But don't you know anything of a housemaid's duties?" inquired Aunt +Alice, who was a little dubious in the face of such absolute ignorance. +"For instance, if the door-bell should ring, what would you do?" + +"I would have asked Miss Patty beforehand, ma'am, and I would do whatever +she had told me to." + +"Good enough!" exclaimed Mr. Fairfield. "I think you'll do, Pansy; at any +rate, you'll have nothing to unlearn, and that's a great deal." + +So the waitress was engaged, and it was not long after this that a cook +"dropped from the skies," as Patty expressed it. + +One afternoon a large and amiable-looking coloured woman appeared at Mrs. +Elliott's house, with a note from Mrs. Stevens recommending her as a cook +for Patty. As soon as Patty saw her she liked her, but, remembering +previous experiences, she said: + +"Do you understand that you are to work for me? I'm a very young +housekeeper, you know." + +"Laws, missy, dat's all right. Til do de housekeepin' and you can do de +bossin'. I reckon we'll get along mos' beautiful." + +"That sounds attractive, I'm sure," said Patty, laughing. "What is +your name?" + +"Emancipation Proclamation Jackson," announced the owner of the +name proudly. + +"That's a big name," said Patty; "I couldn't call you all that at once." + +"Co'se I shouldn't expect it. Mancy, mos' folks calls me, and dat's good +enough for me; but I likes my name, my whole name, and it does look +beautiful, wrote." + +"I should think it might," said Aunt Alice. "Can you cook, Mancy?" + +"Oh, yas'm, I kin cook everything what there is to cook, and I can make +things besides. Oh, they won't be no trouble about my cookin'. I know +dat much!" + +"Are you a good laundress?" asked Aunt Alice. + +"Yas'm, I am! Ef I do say it dat shouldn't, you jes' ought to see de +clothes I sends up! Dey's jes' like druvven snow. Oh, dey won't be no +trouble about de laundry work!" + +"And can you sweep?" said Patty. + +"Can I sweep? Law, chile, co'se I kin sweep! What yo' s'pose I want to +hire out for, ef I can't do all dem things? Oh, dey won't be no trouble +about sweepin'!" + +"Well, where _will_ the trouble be, Mancy?" said Patty. + +"Dey moughtn't be any trouble, miss," said the black woman earnestly; +"but if dey is, it'll be 'count o' my bein' spoke cross to. I jes' +nachelly can't stand bein' spoke cross to. It riles me all up." + +"I don't believe there will be any trouble on that score," said Patty, +laughing. "My father and I are the best-natured people in the world." + +"I believe yo', missy; an' dat's why I wants to come." + +"There will be another servant, Mancy," said Aunt Alice; "a young girl +who will be a waitress. She is ignorant and inexperienced, but Very +willing to learn. Do you think you could get along with her?" + +"Is she good-natured?" asked Mancy. + +"I don't know her very well," said Patty; "but I think she is. I'm sure +she will be, if we are." + +"Den dat's all right," said Mancy. "I kin look after you two chilluns, I +'spect, and get my work done, too. When shall I come?" + +"The house isn't quite ready yet," said Patty; "but I hope to go there +to live on New Year's day." + +"I think we'd be glad of Mancy's help a few days before that," said +Aunt Alice. + +And so, subject to Mr. Fairfield's final sanction, Mancy was engaged. And +now Patty's whole establishment, including Pudgy the cat, was made up. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +DIFFERING TASTES + + +A few days before the close of the old year, Patty sat at her desk in the +library of Boxley Hall. + +She was making lists of good things to be ordered for the feast on +New Year's day; and, as it was her first unaided experience with +such memoranda, she wore an air of great importance and a deeply +puckered brow. + +Mancy, with her arms comfortably akimbo, stood before her young mistress +ready to suggest, but tactfully chary of advice. + +They were not yet living in the new home, but all the furniture was in +place, the furnace fire had been started, and the palms arranged in the +little conservatory. + +So Patty spent most of her time there, and some of the Elliotts were +usually there with her. + +But this morning she was alone with Mancy, struggling with the +all-important lists. + +"I'll make the salad myself," she remarked, as she wrote "olive oil" on +her slip of paper. + +"Yas'm," answered Mancy, rolling her eyes with an expression of dubious +approval. "Does yo' know how, missy?" + +"Oh, yes," said Patty confidently; "I can make most beautiful salad +dressing. Only it does take quite a long time, and I shall have a lot to +do Thursday morning. Perhaps I'd better leave it to you this time, Mancy. +Can you make it?" + +"Laws, yes, honey; and yo'd better leave it to me. Yo'll have enough to +do with yo' flowers and fixin's, and dressin' yourself up pretty. I'll +'tend to the food." + +"Well, all right, Mancy; I wish you would. And, now, just help me with +this list. I'll read it to you, and see if you think of anything that +I've forgotten." + +"Yas'm," said Mancy, who was most anxious to help, but who had already +learned that Patty was a little inclined to resent unasked advice. + +They were deep in the fascinating bewilderments of grocers' and +greengrocers' wares, when Pansy Potts appeared in the doorway. + +"Miss Patty," she said, "I've done all the things you told me to do; and +I watered the palms, and I've poked around that bunchy rosebush, but I'm +'most sure it's going to die; and now, if you please, when can I be let +to fix up my own room?" + +"Sure enough, Pansy," said Patty; "we must get at that room of yours, and +we'll fix it up as pretty as we can." + +"Mine, too," said Mancy; "I wants my room fixed up nice. I fetched a lot +of pictures to liven it up some, but I reckon I ain't got no time to put +'em up to-day." + +"Oh, yes, you have, Mancy," said Patty, rising; "and, anyway, we'll go +right up and look at those rooms; then I can tell what we need to get +for them." + +"Mine won't need anything," said Pansy, "except what's in it already, +and what I've got to put in it myself. I brought my decorations over +this morning." + +"Oh, you did?" said Patty. "Well, bring them along, and we'll all go +upstairs together." + +"I'll get mine, too," said Mancy, shuffling toward the kitchen. + +The servants' rooms were in the third story. They had been freshly +papered and neatly and appropriately furnished, though Patty had not, as +yet, added any pictures or ornaments. + +And, apparently, she would have no occasion to do so; for, as she went up +to these rooms, she was immediately followed by their future occupants, +each of whom came with her arms full of what looked like the most +worthless rubbish. + +"What _is_ all that stuff, Pansy?" exclaimed Patty, as she beheld her +young waitress fairly staggering under her load. + +"They're lovely things, Miss Patty, and I hope you don't mind. This is a +hornet's nest, and this is a branch of an apple tree, with a swing-bird's +nest on it." + +"A branch! It's a big limb,--a bough, I should call it. What _are_ you +going to do with it?" + +"I thought I'd put it on the wall, Miss Patty. It makes the room look +outdoorsy." + +"It does, indeed! Put it up, if you like; but will you have room then to +get in yourself?" + +"Oh, yes," said Pansy cheerfully; "and I've got a big tub over home that +I want to bring; it has an orange tree planted in it." + +"With oranges on?" + +"Oh, no, not oranges; indeed, it hasn't any leaves on, but I think maybe +they'll come." + +"It must be beautiful!" said Patty. "But if it hasn't any leaves on, it's +probably dead." + +"Oh, no, Miss Patty, it isn't dead; and it had leaves a-plenty, but my +little brother he picked the leaves all off. That's one reason I wanted +to come here, so's to get my orange tree away from Jack." + +"Well, bring it along," said Patty good-naturedly. "What else are you +going to have? A grape-vine, I suppose, trained over the headboard of +your bed." + +"No, Miss Patty, I haven't got no grapevine, but I've got a +wandering-jew-vine in a pot, that I want to set on the mantel." + +"All right," said Patty, "bring your wandering-jew, and let him wander +wherever he likes. You'll have to keep your door shut, or he'll wander +out and run downstairs. What's in that bag?" + +"Rocks, Miss Patty." + +"Rocks? What in the world are you going to do with those?" + +"I'm going to make a rockery, ma'am, by the window. They're just +beautiful. Miss Powers has one in her parlour, and I always wanted one, +but mother wouldn't let me have it, 'cause she says it clutters." + +"But, what is it?" said Patty. "How do you make it?" + +"Oh, you just pile the stones up in a heap, and you stick dried grasses, +and autumn leaves and things, in them; and, if ever you have any flowers, +you know, you stick them in, too." + +"I see; it must be very effective; and sometimes I can give you flowers +for it, I'm sure." + +"Thank you, Miss Patty; I hope you will. Oh, I'll be so glad to have it; +I've been saving these stones for it for years. You see, they're +beautiful stones." + +Pansy Potts was on her knees arranging the stones, many of which were +jagged pieces of quartz shining here and there with mica scales, into a +symmetrical pile, which somehow had the effect of a Pagan altar. + +"Well," said Patty, as she watched her, "I don't think you'll need any of +the decorations I expected to give you." + +"Oh, Miss Patty," said Pansy earnestly, "please don't make me have +pictures, and pincushions, and vases, and all those things; I like my own +things so much better." + +"You shall fix your room just as you choose," said Patty kindly; "and if +I can help you in any way, I'll be glad to do so. How are _you_ +progressing, Mancy?" + +Patty stepped across the hall to her cook's room, and found its stout +occupant rather precariously perched on a chair, tacking up a picture. +She had evidently improved her time, for many other pictures were already +in place, and, what is unusual in either a public or private art-gallery, +the pictures were all exactly alike. They were large, very highly +coloured, unframed, and, in fact, were nothing more or less than +advertisements of a popular soap. The subject was a broadly-grinning old +coloured woman, washing clothes, that were already snow-white, in a sea +of soapsuds. + +"For goodness' sake, Mancy!" exclaimed Patty. "Who said you might drive +tacks all over these new walls, and where did you get all those pictures +of yourself?" + +"They does favour me, don't they, missy?" exclaimed Mancy, beaming with +delight, as she took another tack from her mouth, and pounded it into +place. "I got 'em from de grocer man, and co'se I has to tack 'em, else +how would dey stay up?" + +"But you have so many of them." + +"Laws, chile, only a dozen; youse got mo'n that on the libr'y wall." + +"But ours are different; these are all alike." + +"Co'se dey's all alike! I des nachelly gets tired of lookin' at different +pitchers. It 'stracts my head." + +"I should think these would distract your head. I feel as if I were in a +kinetoscope." + +"Does that mean art-gal'ry?" + +"Not exactly; but tell me, Mancy, did you get all these pictures because +they looked like you? And was the grocer willing to give you so many?" + +"Yas'm. But I 'spects I'll hab to confess a little about dat, Miss Patty. +You see, I dun tole him I was gwine t' work for yo', and dat's huccome he +guv 'em to me." + +"That's all right, Mancy. After he gets that long order we made out this +morning, I'm sure he'll feel he was justified in favouring us; but get +down out of that chair. In the first place, you'll fall and break your +neck, and if you don't, you'll break the chair. Get down, and I'll tack +up the rest of your pictures." + +"Thank you, missy, do; and I'll hand you the tacks. There's only six +more, anyhow. I 'llowed to have three over the mantel, and two over that +window, and one behind the door." + +"But you can't see it; that door is usually open." + +"No'm; but I'll know it's there jes' the same." + +"All right; here goes, then," and soon Patty had the rest of the gaudy +lithographs tacked into their designated places. + +"Now, Mancy," she said, as she jumped down from the chair for the last +time, "you don't want any other pictures, do you? It would interfere with +the artistic unities to introduce any other school." + +"Laws 'a' massy, chile; I don't want to go to school! Miss Patty, +sometimes you does cert'nly talk like a Choctaw Injun. Leastways, _I_ +can't understand you." + +"It doesn't really matter," said Patty, "and we're even, anyway; for I +can't understand why _you_ want those fearful posters in your room, +instead of the nice little pictures I had planned to give you." + +"Oh, yes; I knows yo' nice little pictures! with a narrow black ban', +jes' about the size ob a sheet of mo'nin' paper! No, thank you, missy, +no black-bordered envelopes hanging on my wall! Give me good reds and +yallers and blues; the kind you can hear with yo' eyes shut. That is, +ef yo' don't mind, missy. Ef yo' does, I'll take 'em all right +slam-bang down." + +"No, no, Mancy; it's all right. In your own room I want you to have just +exactly what you want, and nothing else. Now, let's go and see how +Pansy's getting along." + +The rockery was completed, and was a most imposing structure. Wheat ears +and dried oats were sticking out from between the stones, and pressed +autumn leaves added a touch of colour. At the base of the rockery were a +large pink-lined conch-shell and several smaller shells. On the walls +were various branches of different species of vegetation; among others a +tangle of twigs of the cotton plant, from which depended numerous bolls. + +Pansy was struggling with a lot of evergreen boughs, which she was trying +to crowd into a strange-looking receptacle. + +"How do you like it, Miss Patty?" she asked, as Patty stood in the +doorway and gazed in. + +"I like it very much, for you, Pansy," replied Patty. "If this is the +kind of room you want, I'm very glad for you to have it; only, I don't +know whether to call it 'First Course in Mineralogy,' or 'How to Tell the +Wild Flowers,'" + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +AN UNATTAINED AMBITION + + +To say that Boxley Hall was in readiness for the party would be stating +it very mildly. It was overflowing,--yes, fairly bursting with readiness. + +New Year's day was on Thursday, and Patty had decreed that on that day +none of the Elliotts should go to Boxley Hall until they came as guests. + +Dinner was to be at two o'clock, and in the morning Patty and her father +went over to their new home together. + +"Just think, papa," said Patty, squeezing his hand as they went along, +"how many times we have walked--and run, too, for that matter--from Aunt +Alice's over to our house; but this time it's different. We're going to +stay, to live, really to _reside_ in our own home; and whenever we go to +Aunt Alice's again, it will be to visit or to call. Oh, isn't it +perfectly lovely! If I can only live up to it, and do things just as you +want me to." + +"Don't take it too seriously, Pattikins; I don't expect you to become an +old and experienced housewife all at once. And I don't want you to wear +yourself out trying to become such a personage. Indeed, I shall be +terribly disappointed if you don't make ridiculous mistakes, and give me +some opportunity to laugh at you." + +"You are the dearest thing, papa; that's just the way I want you to feel +about it; and I think I can safely promise to make enough blunders to +keep you giggling a good portion of the time." + +"Oh, don't go out of your way to furnish me with amusement. And now, how +about your party to-day? Is everything in tip-top order?" + +"Yes, except a few thousand things that I have to do this morning, and a +few hundred that I want you to do." + +"I shall see to it, first, that the carving-knife is well sharpened. It's +the first time that I have carved at my own table for a great many years, +and I want the performance to be marked by grace and skill." + +"It will be, if you do it, papa; I'm sure of that," and by this time they +had reached the gate, and Patty was skipping along the path and up the +steps, and into the door of her own home. + +Mancy and Pansy Potts were already there, and, to a casual observer, it +looked as if there was nothing more to do except to admit the guests. + +Patty had set the table the day before, and, to the awestruck admiration +of Pansy Potts, had arranged the beautiful new glass and china with most +satisfactory effects. Pansy had watched the proceedings with intelligent +scrutiny and, when it was finished, had told Patty that the next time she +would be able to do it herself. + +"You'll have a chance to try," Patty had answered, "for in the evening +we'll have supper, and you may set the table all by yourself; and I'll +come out and look it over to make sure it's all right." + +But, as Patty had said, there was yet much to be done on Thursday +morning, even though there were eight hands to make the work light. + +Boxes of flowers had arrived from the florist's, and these had to be +arranged in the various rooms; also, a few potted plants in full bloom +had come for the conservatory, and these so delighted the soul of Pansy +Potts that Patty feared the girl would spend the whole day nursing them. + +"Come, Pansy," she called; "let them grow by themselves for a while; I +want your help in the kitchen." + +"But, oh, Miss Patty, they're daisies! Real white daisies, with +yellow centres!" + +"Well, they'll still be daisies to-morrow, and you'll have more time to +admire them then." + +Patty's ambitions in the culinary line ran to the fanciful and elaborate +confections which were pictured in the cook-books and in the household +periodicals; especially did she incline toward marvellous desserts which +called for spun sugar, and syllabubs, and rare sweetmeats, and patent +freezing processes. + +For her New Year's dinner party she had decided to try the most +complicated recipe of all, and, moreover, intended to surprise +everybody with it. + +Warning her father to keep out of the kitchen on pain of excommunication, +she rolled up her sleeves and tied on a white apron; and with her open +book on the table before her, began her proceedings. + +Pansy Potts was set to whipping cream with a new-fangled syllabub-churn, +and Mancy was requested to blanch some almonds and pound them to a paste +in a very new and very large mortar. + +Though the good-natured Mancy was more than willing to help her young +mistress through what threatened to be somewhat troubled waters, yet she +had the more substantial portions of the dinner to prepare, and there was +none too much time. + +As Patty went on with her work, difficulties of all sorts presented +themselves. The cream wouldn't whip, but remained exasperatingly fluid; +the sugar refused to "spin a thread," and obstinately crystallised +itself into a hard crust; the almonds persisted in becoming a lumpy mass, +instead of a smooth paste; and the gelatine, as Patty despairingly +remarked, "acted like all possessed!" + +But, having attempted the thing, she was bound to carry it through, +though it was with some misgivings that she finally poured a queer and +sticky-looking substance into the patent freezer. + +Pansy Potts had declared herself quite able to accomplish the freezing +process; but, as she was about to begin, she announced in tragic tones +that the extra ice hadn't come. + +"Oh!" exclaimed Patty, in desperation, "everything seems to go wrong +about that dessert! Well, Pansy, you use what ice there is, and I'll +telephone for some more, right away." + +But when Patty called up the ice company she found that their office was +closed for the day, and, hanging up the receiver with an angry little +jerk, she turned to find her father smiling at her. + +"I see you have begun to amuse me," he said; "but never mind about my +entertainment now, Puss; run away and get dressed, or you won't be ready +to receive your guests. It's half-past one now." + +"Oh, papa, is it so late? And I have to get into that new frock!" + +"Well, scuttle along, then, and make all the haste you can." + +Patty scuttled, but during the process of making all the haste she could, +she very nearly lost her temper. + +The new white frock was complicated; the broad white hair-ribbons were +difficult to tie; and, as it was the first time that she had made a +toilette in her new home, it is not at all surprising that many useful or +indispensable little articles were missing. + +"Pansy," she called, as she heard the girl in the dining-room, "do, for +mercy's sake, come up and help me. I can't find my shoe-buttoner, and I +can't button the yoke of this crazy dress without it." + +Pansy came to the rescue, and just as the Elliott family came in at the +front gate, Patty completely attired, but very flushed and breathless +from her rapid exertions--flew downstairs and tucked her arm through her +father's, as he stood in the hall. + +"I'm here," she said demurely, and trying to speak calmly. + +"Oh, so you are," he said. "I thought a white cashmere whirlwind had +struck me. I _hope_ you didn't hurry yourself." + +"Oh, no!" said Patty, meeting his merry smile with another. "I just +dawdled through my dressing to kill time." + +"Yes, you look so," said her father, and just then the doorbell rang. + +"Oh, papa," cried Patty, her eyes dancing with excitement, "_isn't_ it +just grand! That's the first ring at our own doorbell, our _own_ +doorbell, you know; and hasn't it a musical ring? And now it will be +answered by our own Pansy." + +Without a trace of the hurry and fluster that had so affected her young +mistress, Pansy Potts, in neat white cap and apron, opened the door to +the guests. + +Patty nudged her father's arm in glee, as they noted the correct +demeanour of their own waitress, and then all such considerations were +drowned in the outburst of enthusiasm that accompanied the entrance of +the Elliotts. The younger members of the family announced themselves with +wild war-whoops of delight, and the older ones, though less noisy, were +no less enthusiastic. + +"I like Cousin Patty's house," announced Gilbert, sitting down in the +middle of the floor. "I will stay here always. Where is the Pudgy +kitty-cat?" + +"I'll get her for you, right away," said Patty. "She is fatter than ever; +but, first, let me make grandma comfortable." + +Taking Mrs. Elliott's bonnet and wraps, Patty led the old lady to a large +easy-chair, and announced that she must sit there for a few moments and +rest, before she made a tour of inspection around the house. + +Grandma Elliott had not been allowed in the new house while it was being +arranged, lest she should take cold, and so to-day it burst upon her in +all its glory. By this time Frank and Marian were investigating the +conservatory, and little Edith was announcing that Cousin Patty had a +"Crimson Gambler." + +"She means Crimson Rambler!" exclaimed Patty; "or, as Pansy calls it, +'that bunchy rosebush.'" + +Although the guests had been invited to a two-o'clock dinner, yet when +the clock hands pointed to nearly three, the meal had not been announced. + +There was so much to be talked about that the time did not drag, but Aunt +Alice looked at Patty a little curiously. + +Patty caught the glance, and excusing herself, went out into the kitchen. + +"Mancy!" she exclaimed; "it's almost three o'clock. Why don't you +have dinner?" + +"Well, honey, yo' took so much of my time mashin' your old nuts dat my +work got put behind. Dinner'll come on after a while; it's mos' ready." + +Patty went back to the parlour, laughing. + +"If anybody can hurry up Mancy," she said, "they're welcome to try it. I +didn't realise it was so late, and I'm awfully sorry; but I guess we'll +have dinner pretty soon, now." + +"Don't be sorry we're going to have it soon," said Frank; "none of the +rest of us are, I assure you." + +Although served about an hour late, the dinner was a great success. +It had been carefully planned; Mancy's cooking was beyond reproach, +and Pansy Potts proved a neat-handed and quick-witted, if +inexperienced, Phyllis. + +Encouraged by the general excellence of the courses, as they succeeded +one another, Patty began to hope that her gorgeous dessert would turn out +all right after all. + +Seated at the head of her own table, she made a charming little hostess, +and many a glance of happy understanding passed between her and the +gentleman who presided at the other end. + +"I say, Patty, it's right down jolly, you having a house of your own," +said Frank. + +"Except that we miss you awfully over home," added Uncle Charley. + +"I don't see how you can," said Patty, smiling; "as I took breakfast +there this morning, you haven't yet gathered round your lonely board +without me." + +"No, but we shall have to," said Uncle Charley, "and it is that which is +breaking my young heart." + +"Well, _this_ is what's breaking _my_ young heart," said Patty, as she +watched Pansy Potts, who was just entering the room with a dish +containing a most unattractive-looking failure. + +"I may as well own up," she said bravely, as the dessert was placed in +front of her. "My ambition was greater than my ability." + +"Don't say another word," said Aunt Alice. "_I_ understand; those +spun-sugar things are monuments of total depravity." + +Patty gave her aunt a grateful glance, and said, "They certainly are, +Aunt Alice; and I'll never attempt one again until I've made myself +perfect by long practice." + +"Good for you, my Irish Pat," said Frank; "but, do you know, I like them +better this way. There's an attraction about that general conglomeration +that appeals to me more strongly than those over-neat concoctions that +look as if they had sat in a caterer's window for weeks." + +But, notwithstanding Frank's complimentary impulses, the dessert proved +uneatable, and had to be replaced with crackers and cheese and fruit +and bonbons. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A CALLER + + +It was quite late in the evening before the Elliotts left Boxley Hall; +but after they had gone, Patty and her father still lingered in the +library for a bit of cosey chat. + +"Isn't it lovely," said Patty, with a little sigh of extreme content, "to +sit down in our own library, and talk over our own party? And, by the +way, papa, how do you like our library; is it all your fancy painted it?" + +"Yes," said Mr. Fairfield, looking around critically, "the library is all +right; but, of course, as yet it is young and inexperienced. It remains +for us to train it up in the way it should go; and I feel sure, under our +ministrations and loving care, it will grow better as it grows older." + +"We've certainly got good material to work on," said Patty, giving a +satisfied glance around the pretty room. "And now, Mr. Man, tell me what +you think of our first effort at hospitality? How did the dinner party go +off today?" + +"It went off with flying colours, and you certainly deserve a great deal +of credit for your very successful first appearance as a hostess. Of +course, if one were disposed to be critical--" + +"One would say that one's elaborate dessert--" + +"Was a very successful imitation of a complete failure," interrupted Mr. +Fairfield, laughing. "And this is where I shall take an opportunity to +point a moral. It is not good proportion to undertake a difficult and +complicated recipe for the first time, when you are expecting guests." + +"No, I know it," said Patty; "and yet, papa, you wouldn't expect me to +have that gorgeous French mess for dinner when we're all alone, would +you? And so, when could we have it?" + +"Your implication does seem to bar the beautiful confection from our +table entirely; and yet, do you know, it wouldn't alarm me a bit to have +that dessert attack us some night when you and I are at dinner quite +alone and unprotected." + +"All right, papa, we'll have it, and I'm sure, after another trial, I can +make it just as it should be made." + +"Don't be too sure, my child. Self-confidence is a good thing in its +place, but self-assurance is a quality not nearly so attractive. I think, +Patty, girl," and here Mr. Fairfield put his arm around his daughter and +looked very kindly into her eyes; "I think every New Year's day I shall +give you a bit of good advice by way of correcting whatever seems to me, +at the time, to be your besetting sin." + +Patty smiled back at her father with loving confidence. + +"But if you only reform me at the rate of one sin per year, it will be a +long while before I become a good girl," she said. + +"You're a good girl, now," said her father, patting her head. "You're +really a very good girl for your age, and if I correct your faults at the +rate of one a year, I don't think I can keep up with the performance for +very many years. But, seriously, Pattikins, what I want to speak to you +about now is your apparent inclination toward a certain kind of filigree +elaborateness, which is out of proportion to our simple mode of living. I +have noticed that you have a decided admiration for appointments and +services that are only appropriate in houses run on a really magnificent +scale; where the corps of servants includes a butler and other trained +functionaries. Now, you know, my child, that with your present retinue +you cannot achieve startling effects in the way of household glories. Am +I making myself clear?" + +"Well, you're not so awfully clear; but I gather that you thought that +ridiculous pudding I tried to make was out of proportion to Pansy Potts +as waitress." + +"You have grasped my meaning wonderfully well," said her father; "but it +was not only the pudding I had in mind, but several ambitious attempts at +an over-display of grandeur and elegance." + +"Well, but, papa, I like to have things nice." + +"Yes, but be careful not to have them more nice than wise. However, +there is no necessity for dwelling on this subject. I see you understand +what I mean; and I know, now that I have called your attention to it, +your own sense of proportion will guide you right, if you remember to +follow its dictates." + +"But do you imagine," said Patty roguishly, "that such a mild scolding as +that is going to do a hardened reprobate like me any good?" + +"Yes," said her father decidedly, "I think it will." + +"So do I," said Patty. + +Next morning at breakfast Patty could scarcely eat, so enthusiastic was +she over the delightful sensation of breakfasting alone with her father +in their own dining-room. + +Very carefully she poured his coffee for him, and very carefully Pansy +Potts carried the cup to its destination. + +"I didn't ask Marian to stay last night," slid Patty, "because I wanted +our first night and our first breakfast all alone by ourselves." + +"You're a sentimental little puss," said her father. + +"Yes, I think I am," said Patty. "Do you mind?" + +"Not at all; if you keep your sentiment in its proper place, and don't +let it interfere with the somewhat prosaic duties that have of late come +into your life." + +"Gracious goodness' sakes!" said Patty; "that reminds me. What shall I +order from the butcher this morning?" + +"Don't ask me," said Mr. Fairfield. "I object to being implicated in +matters so entirely outside my own domain." + +"Oh, certainly," said Patty; "that's all right. I beg your pardon, +I'm sure. And don't feel alarmed; I'll promise you shall have a +tip-top dinner." + +"I've no doubt of it, and now good-bye, Baby, I must be off to catch my +train. Don't get lonesome; have a good time; and forget that your father +scolded you." + +"As if I minded that little feathery scolding! Come home early, and bring +me something nice from the city. Good-bye." + +Left to herself, Patty began to keep house with great diligence. She +planned the meals for the day, made out orders for market, gave the +flowers in the vases fresh water, and looking in at the conservatory, she +found Pansy Potts digging around the potted daisies with a hairpin. + +"Pansy," she said kindly, "I'm glad to have you take care of the flowers; +but you mustn't spend all your time in here. Have you straightened up in +the dining-room yet?" + +"No, ma'am," said Pansy; "but these little daisies cried so loud to be +looked after that I just couldn't neglect them another minute. See how +they laugh when I tickle up the dirt around their toes." + +"That's all very well, Pansy," said Patty, laughing herself; "but I want +you to do your work properly and at the right time; now leave the daisies +until the dining-room and bedrooms are all in order." + +"Yes, Miss Patty," said Pansy, and, though she cast a lingering farewell +glance at the beloved posies, she went cheerfully about her duties. + +"Now," thought Pansy, "I'll telephone to Marian to come over this +afternoon and stay to dinner, and stay all night; then we can arrange +about having the Tea Club to-morrow. Why, there's the doorbell; perhaps +that's Marian now. I don't know who else it could be, I'm sure." + +In a few moments Pansy Potts appeared, and offered Patty a card on a very +new and very shiny tray. + +"For goodness' sake, who is it, Pansy?" asked Patty, reading the card, +which only said, "Miss Rachel Daggett." + +"I don't know, Miss Patty, I'm sure. She asked for you, and I said you'd +go right down." + +"Very well; I will," said Patty. + +A glance in the mirror showed a crisp fresh shirt-waist, and neatly +brushed hair, so Patty ran down to the library to welcome her guest. + +The guest proved to be a large, tall, and altogether impressive-looking +lady, who spoke with a great deal of firmness and decision. + +"I am Miss Daggett," she said, "and I am your neighbour." + +"Are you?" said Patty pleasantly. "I am very glad to meet you, and I +hope you will like me for a neighbour." + +"I don't know whether I shall or not," said Miss Daggett; "it depends +entirely on how you behave." + +Although Patty was extremely good-natured, she couldn't help feeling a +little inclined to resent the tone taken by her guest, and she returned +rather crisply: + +"I shall try to behave as a lady and a neighbour." + +"Humph!" said Miss Daggett. "You're promising a good deal. If you +accomplish what you've mentioned, I shall consider you the best neighbour +I've ever experienced in my life." + +Patty began to think her strange guest was eccentric rather than +impolite, and began to take a fancy to the somewhat brusque visitor. + +"I live next-door," said Miss Daggett, "and I am by no means social in my +habits. Indeed, I prefer to let my neighbours alone; and I am not in the +habit of asking them to call upon me." + +"I will do just as you like," said Patty politely; "call upon you or +not. It is not my habit to call on people who do not care to see me. But, +on the other hand, I shall be happy to call upon such of my neighbours as +ask me to do so." + +"Oh, people don't have to call upon each other merely because they are +neighbours," said Miss Daggett; "and that's why I came in here to-day, to +let you understand my ideas on this matter. I have lived next-door to +this house for many years, and I have never cared to associate with the +people who have lived in it. I have no reason to think that you will +prove of any more interest to me that any of the others who have lived +here. Indeed, I have reason to believe that you will prove of less +interest to me, because you are so young and inexperienced that I feel +sure you will be a regular nuisance. And I would like you to understand +once for all, that you are not to come to me for advice or assistance +when you make absurd and ridiculous mistakes, as you're bound to do." + +At first Patty had grown indignant at Miss Daggett's conversation, but +soon she felt rather amused at what was doubtless the idiosyncrasy of an +eccentric mind, and she answered: + +"I will promise not to come to you for advice or warning, no matter how +much I may need assistance." + +"That's right," said Miss Daggett very earnestly; "and remember, please, +that your cook is not to come over to my house to borrow anything; not +even eggs, butter, or lemons." + +"I'll promise that, too," said Patty, trying not to laugh; though she +couldn't help thinking that her first caller was an extraordinary one. + +"Well, you really behave quite well," said Miss Daggett; "I am very much +surprised at you. I came over here partly to warn you against interfering +with myself and my household, but also because I wanted to see what +you're like. I had heard that you were going to live in this house, and +that you were going to keep house yourself; and, though I was much +surprised that your father would let you do such a thing, yet I can't +help thinking that you're really quite sensible. Yet, I want you to +understand that you are not to borrow things from my kitchen." + +"I am glad that you think I'm sensible," said Patty, looking earnestly at +her visitor, toward whom she felt somehow drawn in despite of her queer +manners. "And I'll promise not to borrow anything from you under any +circumstances." + +"That is all right," said Miss Daggett, rising; "and that is all I came +to say to you. I will now go home, and if I ever feel that I want you to +return this call, I will let you know. Otherwise, please remember that I +do not care to have it returned." + +Patty showed her guest to the door, and dismissed her with a polite +"Good-bye." + +"Well!" she exclaimed to herself, as Miss Daggett walked out of the front +gate with an air of stalwart dignity. "That's a delightful specimen of a +caller, but I hope I won't have many more like that. She's a queer kind +of a neighbour, but somehow I rather think if I saw her more I should +like her better." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +A PLEASANT EVENING + + +Marian came to dinner, and Frank came with her. As he announced when he +entered, he had had no invitation, but he said he did not hesitate on +that account. + +"I should think not," said Patty. "I expect all the Elliott family to +live at my house, and only go home occasionally to visit." + +So Frank proceeded to make himself at home, and when Mr. Fairfield +arrived a little later and dinner was served, it was a very merry party +of four that sat down to the table. + +As Patty had promised her father, the dinner was excellent, and it +was with a pardonable pride that she dispensed the hospitality of her +own table. + +"What's the dessert going to be, Patty?" asked Frank. "Nightingales' +tongues, I suppose, served on rose-leaves." + +"Don't be rude, Frank," said his sister. "You're probably causing your +hostess great embarrassment." + +"Not at all," said Patty; "I am now such an old, experienced housekeeper, +that I'm not disturbed by such insinuations. I'm sorry to disappoint you, +Frank, but the dessert is a very simple one. However, you are now about +to have a most marvellous concoction called 'Russian Salad.' I was a +little uncertain as to how it would turn out, so I thought I'd try it +tonight, as I knew my guests would be both good-natured and hungry." + +"That's a combination of virtues that don't always go together," said Mr. +Fairfield. "I hope the young people appreciate the compliment. To be +good-natured and hungry at the same time implies a disposition little +short of angelic." + +"So you see," said Marian, "you're not entertaining these angels +unawares." + +"Bravo! pretty good for Mally," said Frank, applauding his sister's +speech. "And if I may be allowed to remark on such a delicate subject, +your salad is also pretty good, Patty." + +"It's more than pretty good," said Marian. "It's a howling, screaming, +shouting success. I am endeavouring to find out what it's made of." + +"You can't do it," said Mr. Fairfield. "I have tried, too; and it seems +to include everything that ever grew on the earth beneath, or in the +waters under the earth." + +"Your guesses are not far out of the way," said Patty composedly. "I will +not attempt to deny that that complicated and exceedingly Frenchified +salad is concocted from certain remainders that were set away in the +refrigerator after yesterday's dinner." + +"Who would have believed it?" exclaimed Frank, looking at his plate with +mock awe and reverence. + +"Materials count for very little in a salad," said Marian, with a wise +and didactic air. "Its whole success depends on the way it is put +together." + +"Now, that's a true compliment," said Patty; "and it is mine, for I made +this salad all myself." + +After dinner they adjourned to the library, and the girls fell to making +plans for the Tea Club, which was to meet there next day. + +"I do think," said Marian, "it's awfully mean of Helen Preston to insist +on having a bazaar. They're so old-fashioned and silly; and we could get +up some novel entertainment that would make just as much money, and be a +lot more fun besides." + +"I know it," said Patty. "I just hate bazaars; with their everlasting +Rebeccas at the Well, and flower-girls, and fish-ponds, and gipsy-tents. +But, then, what could we have?" + +"Why, there are two or three of those little acting shows that Elsie +Morris told us about. I think they would be a great deal nicer." + +"What sort of acting shows are you talking about, my children; and what +is it all to be?" asked Mr. Fairfield, who was always interested in +Patty's plans. + +"Why, papa, it's the Tea Club, you know; and we're going to have an +entertainment to make money for the Day Nursery--oh, you just ought to +see those cunning little babies! And they haven't room enough, or nurses +enough, or anything. And you know the Tea Club never has done any good in +the world; we've never done a thing but sit around and giggle; and so we +thought, if we could make a hundred dollars, wouldn't it be nice?" + +"The hundred dollars would be very nice, indeed; but just how are you +going to make it? What's this about an acting play?" + +"Oh, not a regular play,--just a sort of dialogue thing, you know; and +we'd have it in Library Hall, and Aunt Alice and a lot of her friends +would be patronesses." + +"It would seem to me," said Frank, "that Miss Patty Fairfield, now +being an old and experienced housekeeper, could qualify as a +patroness herself." + +"No, thank you," said Patty. "I'm housekeeper for my father, and in my +father's house, but to the great outside world I'm still a shy and +bashful young miss." + +"You don't look the part," said Frank; "you ought to go around with your +finger in your mouth." + +"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" said Patty. "I shall begin to cultivate +the habit at once." + +"Do," said Marian; "I'm sure it would be becoming to you, but perhaps +hard on your gloves." + +"Well, there's one thing certain," said Patty: + +"I would really rather put my finger in my mouth than to crook out my +little finger in that absurd way that so many people do. Why, Florence +Douglass never lifts a cup of tea that she doesn't crook out her little +finger, and then think she's a very pattern of all that's elegant." + +"I know it," said Marian. "I think it's horrid, too; it's nothing but +airs. I know lots of people who do it when they're all dressed up, but +who never think of such a thing when they are alone at home." + +"I wonder what the real reason is?" said Patty thoughtfully. + +"It is an announcement of refinement," said Mr. Fairfield, falling in +with his daughter's train of thought; "and, as we all know, the +refinement that needs to be announced is no refinement at all. We +therefore see that the conspicuously curved little finger is but an +advertisement of a specious and flimsy imitation of aristocracy." + +"Papa, you certainly do know it all," said Patty. "I haven't any words by +me just now, long enough to answer you with, but I quite agree with you +in spirit." + +"That's all very well," said Frank, "for a modern, twentieth-century +explanation, but the real root of the matter goes far back into the +obscure ages of antiquity. The whole habit is a relic of barbarism. +Probably, in the early ages, only the great had cups to drink from. These +few, to protect themselves from their envious and covetous brethren, +stuck out their little fingers to ward off possible assaults upon their +porcelain property. This ingrained impulse the ages have been unable to +eradicate. Hence we find the Little Finger Crooks upon the earth to-day." + +"What an ingenious boy you are," said Patty, looking at her cousin with +mock admiration. "How did you ever think of all that?" + +"That isn't ingenuity, miss, it's historic research, and you'll probably +find that Florence Douglass can trace her ancestry right back to the +aforesaid barbarians." + +"I suppose most of us are descended from primitive people," said Marian. + +And then the entrance of Elsie Morris and her brother Guy put an end to +the discussion of little fingers. + +"I'm so glad to see you," said Patty, welcoming her callers. "Come right +into the library, you are our first real guests." + +"Then I think we ought to have the Prize for Promptness," said Elsie, as +she took off her wraps. "But don't you count Frank and Marian?" + +"Not as guests," replied Patty; "they're relatives, and you know your +relatives--" + +"Are like the poor," interrupted Frank, "because they're always +with you." + +"Then, we are really your first callers?" said Guy Morris. + +"No, not quite," said Patty, laughing. "I spoke too hastily when I said +that, and forgot entirely a very distinguished personage who visited me +this morning." + +"Who was it?" + +"My next-door neighbour, Miss Daggett." + +"What! Not Locky Ann Daggett!" exclaimed Elsie, laughing merrily. + +"It was Miss Rachel Daggett. I don't know why you call her by that queer +name," said Patty. + +"Oh, I've known her ever since I was a baby, and mother always calls her +Locky Ann Daggett, and grandmother did before her. You know Locky is a +nickname for Rachel." + +"I didn't know it," said Patty. "What an absurd nickname." + +"Yes, isn't it? How did you like her?" + +"It isn't a question of liking," answered Patty. "She doesn't want me to +like her. All she seemed to care about was to have me promise not to +interfere with her." + +"Oh, she's afraid of you," said Guy. "You don't seem so very terrifying, +now, but I suppose when you're engaged in the housekeeping of your house +you're an imposing and awe-inspiring sight." + +"I dare say I am," said Patty; "but my neighbour, Miss Daggett, I'm sure, +would be imposing at any hour of the day or night." + +"She's a queer character," said Elsie. "Have you never seen her before?" + +"No; I never even heard of her until she sent up her card." + +"Why, how funny," said Marian; "I've always heard of Locky Ann Daggett, +but I never knew anything about her, except that she's very old and +very queer." + +"She's a sort of humourous character," said Guy Morris; "strong-minded, +you know, and eccentric, but not half bad. I quite like the old lady, +though I almost never see her." + +"No; she doesn't seem to care to see people," said Patty. "She seems to +have no taste for society. Why, I don't suppose she'd care to take part +in our play, even if we invited her." + +"Oh, what about the play?" said Elsie. "Have you really decided to have +a play, instead of that stupid old fair?" + +"We haven't decided anything," said Patty, "we can't until the club meets +to-morrow." + +"Oh, do have a play," said Frank, "and then us fellows can take part. We +couldn't do anything at a bazaar, except stand around and buy things." + +"And we're chuck-full of histrionic talent," put in Guy. "You ought to +see me do Hamlet." + +"Yes," said Frank, "Guy's Hamlet is quite the funniest thing on the face +of the earth. I do love comedy." + +"So do I," said Guy, "I just love to play a side-splitting part +like Hamlet." + +"Then you may have a chance," said Marian, "for one of the plays we're +thinking about--and it isn't exactly a play either--brings in a whole lot +of tragic characters in a humourous way. It's a general mix-up, you know: +Hamlet, and Sairy Gamp, and Rip Van Winkle, and Old Mother Hubbard, and +everybody." + +"Yes, that's a good one," said Marian; "it's called 'Shakespeare at the +Seashore.'" + +"The name is enough to condemn that piece," said Mr. Fairfield; "not one +of you can say it straight." + +And sure enough, though numerous attempts were made, and much laughter +ensued, none entirely successful. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +PREPARATIONS + + +With the instincts of a true hostess, Patty had slipped from the room +unobserved, and had held a short Confab with her two trusty servitors in +the kitchen. + +"But, Miss Patty," expostulated Mancy, "dey ain't nuffin' fit to set +befo' dem fren's ob yo's. Dey ain't nuffin' skacely in de house, ceptin' +some bits ob candies an' cakaroons le' from yo' las' night's supper." + +"Well, that's all right," said Patty; "let Pansy arrange those nicely on +the dining-room table. Use the silver dishes, Pansy, and fix them just as +I told you." + +"Yes, Miss Patty," said Pansy, "but there aren't very many left." + +"Well, then, Mancy, I'll tell you what: you make us a nice pot of +chocolate, and fix us some thin bread and butter, and cut up some of the +fruit cake to put with those little fancy cakes; won't that do?" + +"Yas'm, I spec' so; but it's a mighty slim layout, 'specially for dem +hearty young chaps. But you go 'long, honey, I'll fix it somehow." + +And, sure enough, she did fix it somehow; for when, a little later, Patty +invited her young friends out into the dining-room, the thin bread and +butter had doubled itself up into most attractive and satisfying +chicken-sandwiches, and there was also a plate of delicious toasted +crackers and cheese. + +Mr. Fairfield added a box of candy which he had brought home from New +York, and the unpretentious little feast proved most enjoyable to all +concerned. + +"I should think you would feel all the time as if you were acting a play +yourself, Patty," said Elsie Morris, taking her seat at the prettily +laid table. + +"I do," said Patty as she took her own place at the head; "it's awfully +hard to realise that I am monarch of all I survey." + +"But you have someone to dispute your right," said her father. + +"And I'm glad of it," said Patty. "Whatever should I do living here all +alone just with my rights?" + +"By her rights, she means her cousins," put in Frank. + +"Yes," said Patty; "they're about as right as anything I know." + +And so the evening passed in merry chaff and good-natured fun; and at its +close the young guests all went away except Marian, who was going to +spend the night at Boxley Hall. + +After her cousin had gone upstairs to her pretty blue bedroom, Patty +lingered a moment in the library for a word with her father. + +"How am I getting along, papa?" she said. "How about the proportion +to-night?" + +"The market seems pretty strong on proportion to-day, Patty, dear; your +housekeeping is beginning wonderfully well. That little dinner you gave +us was first-class in every respect, and the simple refreshments you had +this evening were very pretty and graceful." + +"Don't praise me too much, papa, or I'll grow conceited." + +"You'll get praise from me, my lady, just when you deserve it, and at no +other time. Now, skip along to bed, or you'll have too great a proportion +of late hours." + +With a good-night kiss Patty went singing upstairs, feeling sure that she +was the happiest and most fortunate little girl in the world. + +So impressed was she with her realisation of this fact that she announced +it to Marian. + +Marian looked at her curiously. + +"You _are_ fortunate in some ways," she said; "but the real reason +you're always so happy, I think, is because of your happy disposition. A +great many girls with no mother or brother or sister, who had all the +care and responsibility of a big house, and whose father was away all +day, would think they had a pretty miserable life. But that never seems +to occur to you." + +"No," said Patty contentedly; "and I don't believe it ever will." + +The next morning Patty devoted all her energy to getting ready for the +Tea Club. She declined Marian's offers of help, saying: + +"No, I really don't need any help. If I can keep Pansy out of the +conservatory, we three can accomplish all there is to be done; so you go +and sit by the library fire, and toast your toes and read, or play with +the cat, or do whatever you please. Remember, whenever you come here, +you're one of the family." + +So Marian went off by herself and played on the piano, and read, and had +various kinds of good times, scrupulously keeping out of the way of her +busy and preoccupied cousin. + +"Now, Pansy," said Patty, as she captured that culprit in the +conservatory, and led her off to the kitchen, "I want you to try +especially hard to-day to do just as I want you to, and to help me in +every possible way." + +"Can I fix the flowers, Miss Patty?" said Pansy Potts, her eyes sparkling +with delight. + +"Where are there any flowers to fix? You've fussed over those in the +conservatory until you've nearly worn them all out." + +"Oh, Miss Patty, they're thriving beautifully. But I mean that big box +of flowers that just came up from the flower man's. He said Mr. +Fairfield sent it." + +"Oh!" exclaimed Patty, "did papa really send me up flowers for the Tea +Club? How perfectly lovely! I meant to order some myself, but I know his +will be nicer." + +By this time Patty was diving into the big box and scattering tissue +paper all about. + +"They're beautiful," she exclaimed, "and what lots of them! Yes, Pansy, +you may arrange them; you really do it better than I do. Keep all the +pink ones for the dining-room, and put the others wherever you like. Now, +Mancy," she went on, "we'll discuss what to eat." + +"Yas'm, and I s'pose it'll be some ob dem highfalutin fandangoes ob yo's, +what nobody can't eat." + +"You guessed right the very first time," said Patty, smiling back at +the good-natured old cook, whose bark was so much worse than her bite. +"You see, Mancy, this is my own party, and so I can have just what I +like at it. Not even papa can object to the things that I have for my +own Tea Club." + +"Dat's so, chile, but co'se yo' knows you'se mighty likely to spoil dem +good t'ings befo' yo' get 'em made." + +"Oh, I don't think I will this time," said Patty, with that assured +little toss of her head which always meant perfect confidence in her +own ability. + +Mancy said nothing, but grunted somewhat doubtfully as Patty went on to +describe the beautiful things she intended to have. + +"I want rissoles," she said, as she turned over the cookery-book, and +looked in the index for R. "They're awfully good." + +"What's dem, missy? I never heard tell of 'em." + +"I forget what they are," said Patty, "but we had them at Delmonico's one +day, when papa and I were there at lunch, and I remember thinking then +they'd be nice for the Tea Club. They were either some little kind of a +cake, or else a sort of croquette. Either would be nice, you know. Why, +they're not here. What a silly book not to have them in! Oh, well, never +mind, here's 'Richmond Maids of Honour.' We used to have those at Aunt +Isabel's, and they're the loveliest things. I'll make those, Mancy; and +while I'm doing it you make me some wine jelly and some Bavarian cream, +and then I can put them together with _marrons_ and candied cherries and +whipped cream and things, and make a Royal Diplomatic Pudding." + +"'Pears like yo's makin' things fine enough for a weddin'," +growled Mancy. + +"Well, now, look here, last night you thought the things I had for my +evening company were too plain, and now you're grumbling because they're +too fancy." + +"Laws, honey, can't you see no diffunce 'tween plain bread and butter and +a lot of pernicketty gimcracks that never turns out right nohow?" + +A haunting doubt regarding the proportion between her elaborate plans and +the simple Tea Club hovered round Patty's mind, but she resolutely put it +aside, thinking to herself, "I don't care, it's my first function, and +I'm going to have it just as nice as I can." + +Patty always felt particularly grand and grown up when she used the word +_function_, and now that she had mentally applied it to the Tea Club +meeting, that simple affair seemed to take on a gigantic amplitude and +fairly seemed to cry out for elaborate devices of all sorts. + +"Never you mind, Mancy," she said, "you just go ahead and do as I tell +you. Get the jelly and cream ready, and I'll do the rest." + +"But ain't yo' gwine to have no solidstantial kind o' food?" + +"Oh, yes, of course. I want a _croustade_ of chicken and +club-sandwiches." + +"Humph," said Mancy, her patience giving out at this, "ef yo' does, yo'll +hab to talk English." + +Patty laughed. "You must get used to these names, Mancy, because these +are the kind of things I like. Well, you just boil a couple of chickens, +and cut them up small, and see that there are two loaves of bread ready, +those long round, crimply ones, you know, and then I'll put it all +together and all you'll have to do is to brown it. And I'll show you how +to make the club-sandwiches after lunch. You might as well learn once for +all, you know. There's bacon in the house, isn't there?" + +"No, dey ain't; is yo' fren's gwine stay ter breakfus'?" + +"Oh, no, I'd want the bacon for the club-sandwiches. Don't worry, Mancy, +they'll all come out right." + +"Dey mought and den again dey moughtn't," grumbled the old woman, but +undaunted Patty went on measuring and weighing with a surety of success +that is found only in the young and inexperienced. + +At one o'clock Marian walked out into the kitchen. + +"Good gracious, Patty Fairfield," she exclaimed, "what are you doing? And +what are all those things? Do you expect the Democratic Convention to be +entertained here, or are you going to give the Sunday-school a picnic? +And are we never to have lunch? I'm simply starving!" + +Patty turned a flushed face to her cousin, and looked dazed and +bewildered. + +"Two and five-eighths ounces of sugar," she said, "spun to a thread; add +chopped nuts and the well-beaten whites of six eggs; brown with a +salamander. Marian, I haven't any salamander!" + +The tragic tone of Patty's awful avowal was too much for Marian, and she +dropped into a kitchen chair and went off into peals of laughter. + +"Patty," she cried, "you goose! What are you doing? Just making up the +whole recipe-book, page by page? I believe you're crazy!" + +"It's for the Tea Club," exclaimed Patty, "and I want things to be nice." + +"H'm," said Marian, "and _are_ they nice?" + +She glanced at some of the completed delicacies on the table, and Patty, +seeing the look, turned red again, but this time it was not the effect of +the kitchen range. + +"Well," she said, "some of them aren't quite right, but I think the +others will be." + +"And I think you're working too hard," said Marian kindly. "You come +away with me now, and rest a little bit; and, Mancy, you put a little +lunch for us on the dining-room table, won't you? Just anything will do, +you know." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +A TEA CLUB TEA + + +Patty rebelled at being overruled in this manner, but Marian had some +Fairfield firmness of her own, and taking her cousin's arm led her to the +library and plumped her down upon the couch in a reclining position, +while she vigorously jammed pillows under her head. + +"There, miss," she announced, "you will please stay there until luncheon +is announced." + +"But, Marian," pleaded Patty, seeing that resistance was useless, "I've +such a lot of things to do, and the girls will be here before I get them +all done." + +"Let them come," said the hard-hearted Marian, "it won't hurt them a bit, +and you've got enough things done now to feed the Russian army." + +"But they're not finished," said Patty, "and they'll spoil standing." + +"You'll more likely spoil them by finishing them. Now you stay right +where you are." + +So Patty rested, until Pansy came and called them to a most appetising +little lunch spread very simply on the dining-table. + +The two hungry girls did full justice to it, and then Patty said: + +"Now, Marian, you're a duck, and you mean well, I know; but this is my +house and my tea-party, and now you must clear out and leave me to fix it +up pretty in my own way." + +"All right," said Marian, "I rescued you once, now this time I'll +leave you to your fate; but I'll give you fair warning that those Tea +Club girls would rather have a few nice little things like we had at +lunch, than all those ridiculous contraptions that you've got out +there half baked." + +"Oh me, oh me!" sighed Patty, in mock despair. "Nobody appreciates me; +nobody realises or cares for my one great talent. I believe I'll go and +drown myself." + +"Do," said Marian, "drown yourself in that tub of wine-jelly, for it +will never stiffen. I can tell that by looking at it." + +"Bye, bye," said Patty, pushing Marian out of the dining-room, "run along +now, and take a little nap like a good little girl. Cousin Patty must set +the table all nice for the pretty ladies." + +"Goose!" was the only comment Marian vouchsafed as she walked away. + +Then Patty, with the assistance of Pansy Potts, proceeded to lay the +table. Elaborate decoration was her keynote and she kept well in tune. +Along the centre of the table over the damask cloth, she spread a rich +lace "runner" and over this, crossed bands of wide, pink, satin ribbon +ran the entire diagonal length of the table. In the centre was a large +cut-glass bowl of pink roses, and at each corner slender vases of a +single rose in each. Also single roses with long stems and leaves were +laid at intervals on the cloth. Asparagus fern was lavishly used, and +pink-shaded candles in silver candlesticks adorned the table. Small +silver dishes of almonds, olives, and confectionery were dotted about, +and finger-bowls with plates were set out on the side-table. + +Certainly it was all very beautiful, and Patty surveyed it with feelings +of absolute satisfaction. + +"We will have tea at five o'clock, Pansy," she said, "and just before +that, you light the candles and fill the glasses and see that everything +is ready." + +"Yes, Miss Patty," said Pansy, who adored her young mistress, and who was +especially quick in learning to do exactly what was expected of her. + +The afternoon was slipping away, and Patty suddenly discovered that she +had only time to get dressed before the girls would arrive. + +So she announced to Mancy that she must finish up such things as were not +finished, and without waiting to hear the old woman's remarks of +disapproval, Patty ran up to her room. + +There she found that Marian had kindly laid out her dress and ribbons for +her, and was ready to help do her hair. + +"You're a good old thing, Marian," she said, as she dropped into a chair +in front of her toilet mirror, "I'm as tired as a bicycle wheel, and +besides, I do love to have somebody do my hair. Sometimes Pansy does it, +but to-day she's too busy." + +"Taking days as they go," said Marian in an impersonal manner, "I don't +think I ever saw a more busy one than to-day has seemed to be. The Tea +Club does seem to make a most awful amount of fluster in a new house." + +"Yes, it _is_ exacting, isn't it?" said Patty, who caught her cousin's +eye in the mirror and looked very demure, though she refused to smile. + +"There are some of the girls coming in at the front gate now," said +Marian as she tied the big white bow on Patty's pretty, fluffy hair. +"Didn't I time this performance just right?" + +"You did indeed," said Patty, and kissing her cousin, she ran gaily +downstairs. + +How the Tea Club girls did chatter that afternoon! there was so much to +see and talk about in Patty's new home, and there were also other weighty +matters to be discussed. + +The proposed entertainment was an engrossing subject, and as various +opinions were held, the arguments were lively and outspoken. + +"You can talk all you like," said Helen Preston, "but you'll find that a +bazaar will be the most sensible thing after all. You're sure to make a +lot of money, and the boys will help, and we all know exactly what to do +and how to go about it." + +"It may be sensible," said Laura Russell, "but it won't be a bit of fun. +Stupid, poky, old chestnut; nobody wants to come to buy things, they only +come because they think they have to. Now if we had a play--" + +"Yes," said Elsie Morris, "a play would be the very nicest thing. I've +brought two books for us to look over. One's that Shakespeare thing, and +the other is called 'A Reunion at Mother Goose's.' It's awfully funny; I +think it's better than the Shakespeare." + +"I think Mother Goose things are silly," said Ethel Holmes. "Who wants to +go around dressed up like Little Bo-peep, and say 'Ba, ba, black sheep,' +all the time?" + +"Yes, or who wants to be Red Riding Hood's wolf and eat up Mary's +little lamb?" + +"Oh, it isn't like that; it's a reunion, you know, and all the Mother +Goose children are grown up, and they talk about old times." + +"It does sound nice," said Patty, "let's read it." + +They read both the plays, and so interested were they in the reading and +discussing them that before they knew it the afternoon slipped away, and +Pansy Potts came in to announce that the tea was ready. + +"Goodness," cried Patty, "I forgot all about it! Come on, girls, we can +discuss the play just as well at the table." + +"Yes, and better," said Elsie. + +Such a shout of exclamation as went up from the Tea Club girls when they +saw Patty's table. + +"Why didn't you tell us there was to be a wedding?" said Ethel, "and we +would have brought presents." + +"Is it an African jungle?" said Laura, "or is it only Smith's flower +store moved up here bodily?" + +"I think it looks like a page out of the _Misses' Home Guide_" said +Polly Stevens. "You ought to have this table photographed, it would take +the first prize! But where are we going to eat? Surely you don't expect +us to sit down at this Louis XlV. gimcrack?" + +"Nonsense," said Patty. "I fixed it up pretty because I thought it would +please you. If you don't like it--" + +"Oh, we like it," cried Christine Converse, "we love it! We want to take +it home with us and put it under a glass case." + +"Stop your nonsense, girls," said Marian, who had noticed Patty's rising +colour, "and take your places. It's a beautiful party, and a lot too good +for such ungrateful wretches! If you can read writing, you'll find your +names on your cards." + +"I can read writing," said Lillian Desmond, "but not such elegant gold +curlycues as these. Won't you please spell it out for me, Miss +Fairfield?" + +"Oh, take any place you choose," said Patty, laughing good-naturedly. She +didn't really mind their chaff, but she began to think herself that she +had been a little absurd. + +Then Pansy brought in the various dishes that Patty had worked so hard +over, and perhaps you will not be surprised to learn that they were +almost uneatable, or, at least, very far from the dainty perfection they +ought to have shown. + +On discovering this, the girls, who were really well-bred, in spite of +their love of chaffing, quite changed their manner and, ignoring the +situation, began merrily to discuss the play. + +But as the various viands proved a continuous succession of failures, +Patty became really embarrassed and began to make apologies. + +"Don't say a word," said Marian; "it was all my fault. I insisted on +spending the day here, and I nearly bothered the life out of my poor +cousin. Indeed, I carried her off bodily from the kitchen just at a dozen +critical moments." + +"No, it wasn't that," said honest Patty, "but I did just what I'm always +doing, trying to make a lot of things I don't know anything about" + +"Well," said Elsie, "if you couldn't try them on us girls, I don't know +who you could try them on; I'm more than willing to be a martyr to the +cause, and I say three cheers for our noble President!" + +The cheers were given with a will, and Patty's equanimity being restored, +she was her own merry self again, and they all laughed and chatted as +only a lot of happy girls can. + +And that's how it happened that when Mr. Fairfield reached home at about +six o'clock he heard what sounded like a general pandemonium in the +dining-room. As he appeared in the doorway he was greeted by a merry +ovation, for most of the Tea Club members knew and liked Patty's pleasant +and genial father. + +Then the girls, realising how late it was, began to take their leave. +Marian went with them, and Patty, after the last one had gone, returned +to the dining-room, to find her father regarding the table with a look of +comical dismay. + +It was indeed a magnificent ruin. Besides the dishes of almost untasted +delicacies, the flowers had been pushed into disarray, one small vase had +been upset and broken; owing to improper adjustment the candles had +dripped pink wax on the table-cloth; and the ice cream, which Pansy had +mistakenly served on open-work plates, had melted and run through. + +Patty didn't say a word, indeed there was nothing to say. She went and +stood very close to her father, as if expecting him to put his arm around +her, which he promptly did. + +"You see, Pitty-Pat," he said, "it wouldn't have made any difference at +all--not _any_ difference at all, _except_ that I have brought my friend +Mr. Hepworth, the artist, home to dinner; and you see, misled by the +experiences of last night, I promised him we would find a tidy little +dinner awaiting us." + +"Oh, papa," cried Patty, "I _am_ sorry. If I had only known! I wouldn't +have failed you for worlds." + +"I know it, my girl, and though this Lucullus feast does seem out of +proportion to a young misses' Tea Club, yet we won't say a word about +that now. We'll just get snow shovels and set to work and clear this +table and let Mancy get a simple little dinner as quickly as she can." + +"But, papa," and here Patty met what was, perhaps, so far, the hardest +experience of her life, "I forgot to order anything for dinner at all!" + +"Why, Patty Fairfield! consider yourself discharged, and I shall suit +myself at once with another housekeeperess!" + +"You are the dearest, best, sweetest father!" she exclaimed. "How can you +be so good-natured and gay when my heart is breaking?" + +"Oh, don't let your heart break over such prosaic things as dinners! +We'll crawl out of this hole somehow." + +"But what can we do, papa? It's after six o'clock, and all the markets +are shut up, and there isn't a thing in the house except those horrible +things I tried to make." + +"Patty," said her father, struck by a sudden thought, "to-morrow is +Sunday. Do you mean to say you haven't ordered for over Sunday?" + +"No, I haven't," said Patty, aghast at the enormity of her offence. + +Mr. Fairfield laughed at the horror-stricken look on his daughter's face. + +"I always thought you couldn't keep house," he said, with an air of +resignation. "On Monday I shall advertise for a housekeeper." + +"Oh, please don't," pleaded Patty. "Give me one more trial. I've had a +good lesson, and truly I'll profit by it. Let me try again." + +"But you can't try again before Monday, and by that time we'll all be +dead of starvation." + +"Of course we will," said Patty despairingly. "I wish we were Robinson +Crusoes and could eat bark or something." + +"Well, baby, I think you _have_ had a pretty good lesson, and we can't +put old heads on young shoulders all at once, so I'll help you out this +time, and then, the next time you go back on me in this heartless +fashion, I'll discharge you." + +"Papa, you're a _dear_! But what can we do?" + +"Well, the first thing for you to do is to go and brush your hair and +make yourself tidy, then come down and meet Mr. Hepworth; and then we'll +all go over to the hotel for dinner. Meanwhile I'll call in the Street +Cleaning Department to attend to this dining-room." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A NEW FRIEND + + +"Patty," said her father, a week or two later, "Mr. Hepworth has invited +us to a tea in his studio in New York tomorrow afternoon, and if you care +to go, I'll take you." + +"Yes, I'd love to go; I've always wanted to go to a studio tea. It's very +kind of Mr. Hepworth to ask us after the way he was treated here." + +Mr. Fairfield laughed, but Patty looked decidedly sober. She still felt +very much crestfallen to think that the first guest her father brought +home should be obliged to dine at the hotel, or at a neighbour's. Aunt +Alice had invited them to dinner on that memorable Sunday, and though she +said she had expected to ask the Fairfields anyway, still Patty felt +that, as a housekeeper, she had been weighed in the balances and found +sadly wanting. + +According to arrangement, she met her father in New York the day of the +tea, and together they went to Mr. Hepworth's studio. + +It gave Patty a very grown-up feeling to find herself amongst such +strange and unaccustomed surroundings. + +The studio was a large room, on the top floor of a high building. It was +finished in dark wood and decorated with many unframed pictures and dusty +casts. Bits of drapery were flung here and there, quaint old-fashioned +chairs and couches were all about, and at one side of the room was a +raised platform. A group of ladies and gentlemen sat in one corner, +another group surrounded a punch bowl, and many wise and learned-looking +people were discussing the pictures and drawings. + +Patty was enchanted. She had never been in a scene like this before, and +the whole atmosphere appealed to her very strongly. + +The guests, though kind and polite to her, treated her as a child, and +Patty was glad of this, for she felt sure she never could talk or +understand the artistic jargon in which they were conversing. But she +enjoyed the pictures in her own way, and was standing in delighted +admiration before a large marine, which was nothing but the varying +blues of the sea and sky, when she heard a pleasant, frank young voice +beside her say: + +"You seem to like that picture." + +"Oh, I do!" she exclaimed, and turning, saw a pleasant-faced boy of about +nineteen smiling at her. + +"It is so real," she said. "I never saw a realer scene, not even down at +Sandy Hook; why, you can fairly feel the dampness from it." + +"Yes, I know just what you mean," said the boy; "it's a jolly picture, +isn't it? They say it's one of Hepworth's best." + +"I don't know anything about pictures," said Patty frankly, "and so I +don't like to express definite opinions." + +"It's always wiser not to," said the boy, still smiling. + +"That's true," said Patty, "I only did express an opinion once this +afternoon, and then that lady over there, in a greenish-blue gown, looked +at me through her lorgnette and said: + +"Oh, I thought you were temperamental, but you're only an +imaginative realist." + +"Now, what could she have meant by that?" said the boy, laughing. "But +you're very imprudent. How do you know that lady isn't my--my sister, or +cousin, or something?" + +"Well, even if she is," said Patty, "I haven't said anything +unkind, have I?" + +"No more you haven't; but as I don't see anyone just now at leisure to +introduce us, suppose we introduce ourselves? They say the roof is an +introduction, but I notice it never pronounces names very distinctly. +Mine is Kenneth Harper." + +"And mine is Patricia Fairfield, but I'm usually called Patty." + +"I should think you would be, it suits you to a dot. Of course the boys +call me Ken. I'm a Columbia student." + +"Oh, are you?" said Patty. "I've never known a college boy, and I've +always wanted to meet one." + +"Well, you see in me a noble specimen of my kind," said young Harper, +straightening up his broad shoulders and looking distinctly athletic. + +"You must be," said Patty; "you look just like all the pictures of +college boys I've ever seen." + +"And I flattered myself that my beauty was something especial and +individual." + +"You ought to be thankful that you're beautiful," said Patty, "and not be +so particular about what kind of beauty it is." + +"But some kinds of beauty are not worth having," went on young Harper; +"look at that man over there with a lean pale face and long lank hair. +That's beauty, but I must say I prefer a strong, brave, manly type, like +this good-looking chap just coming toward us." + +"Oh, you do?" said Patty. "Well, as that good-looking chap happens to be +my father, I'll take pleasure in introducing you." + +"I am glad to see you, sir," said Kenneth Harper, as Patty presented him +to her father, "and I may as well own up that I was just making remarks +on your personal appearance, which accounts for my blushing +embarrassment." + +"I won't inquire what they were," said Mr. Fairfield, "lest I, too, +should become embarrassed. But, Patty, my girl, if we're going back to +Vernondale on the six-o'clock train, it's time we were starting." + +"Oh, do you live in Vernondale?" inquired Kenneth. "I have an +aunt there. I wonder if you know her. Her name is Daggett--Miss +Rachel Daggett." + +"Indeed I do know her," said Patty. "She is my next-door neighbour." + +"Is she really? How jolly! And don't you think she's an old dear? I'm +awfully fond of her. I run out to see her every chance I can get, though +I haven't been much this winter, I've been digging so hard." + +"She _is_ a dear," said Patty. "I've only seen her once, but I know I +shall like her as a neighbour." + +"Yes, I'm sure you will, but let me give you a bit of confidential +advice. Don't take the initiative, let her do that; and the game will be +far more successful than if _you_ make the overtures." + +Patty smiled. "Miss Daggett told me that herself," she said; "in fact, +she was quite emphatic on the subject." + +"I can well believe it," said Kenneth, "but I'm sure you'll win her +heart yet." + +"I'm sure she will too," said Mr. Fairfield, with an approving glance at +his pretty daughter; "and whenever you are in Vernondale, Mr. Harper, I +hope you will come to see us." + +"I shall be very glad to," answered the young man, "and I hope to run out +there soon." + +"Come out when we have our play," said Patty; "it's going to be +beautiful." + +"What play is that?" + +"We don't know yet, we haven't decided on it." + +"I know an awfully good play. One of the fellows up at college wrote it, +and so it isn't hackneyed yet." + +"Oh, tell me about it," said Patty. "Papa, can't we take the next later +train home?" + +"Yes, chick, I don't mind if you don't; or, better still, if Mr. Harper +can go with us, I'll take both of you children out to dinner in some +great, glittering, noisy hotel." + +"Oh, gorgeous!" cried Patty. "Can you go, Mr. Harper?" + +"Indeed I can, and I shall be only too glad. College boys are not +overcrowded with invitations, and I am glad to say I have no other for +to-night." + +"You'll have to telephone to Emancipation Proclamation, papa," +said Patty, "or she'll get out all the bell-ringers, and drag the +river for us." + +"So she will," said Mr. Fairfield. "I'll set her mind at rest the +first thing." + +"That's our cook," explained Patty. + +"It's a lovely name," observed Kenneth, "but just a bit lengthy for +every-day use." + +"Oh, it's only for Sundays and holidays," said Patty; "other days we +contract it to Mancy." + +Seated at table in a bright and beautiful restaurant, Patty and her new +friend began to chatter like magpies while Mr. Fairfield ordered dinner. + +"Now tell me all about your friend's play," said Patty, "for I feel sure +it's going to be just what we want" + +"Well, the scene," said Kenneth, "is on Mount Olympus, and the characters +are all the gods and goddesses, you know, but they're brought up to date. +In fact, that's the name of the play, 'Mount Olympus Up to Date.' Aurora, +you know, has an automobile instead of her old-fashioned car." + +"But you don't have the automobile on the stage?" + +"Oh, no! Aurora just comes in in her automobile rig and talks about her +'bubble.' Mercury has a bicycle; he's a trick rider, and does all sorts +of stunts. And Venus is a summer girl, dressed up in a stunning gown and +a Paris hat. And Hercules has a punching-bag--to make himself stronger, +you know. And Niobe has quantities of handkerchiefs, dozens and dozens of +them; she's an awfully funny character." + +"Oh, I think it would be lovely!" said Patty. "Where can we get +the book?" + +"I'll send you one to-morrow, and you can see if you like it; and then if +you do, you can get more." + +"Oh, I'm sure the girls will all like it; and will you come out to see +it?" + +"Yes, I'd be glad to. I was in it last winter. I was Mercury." + +"Oh, can you do trick work on bicycles?" + +"Yes, a little," said Kenneth modestly. + +"I wish you'd come out and be Mercury in our play." + +"Aren't you going ahead rather fast, Patty, child?" said her father. +"Your club hasn't decided to use this play yet." + +"I know it, papa, and of course I mean if we _do_ use it; but anyway, I'm +president of the club, and somehow, if I want a thing, the rest of the +girls generally seem to want it too." + +"That's a fine condition of affairs that any president might be glad to +bring about. You ought to be a college president." + +"Perhaps I shall be some day," said Patty. + +The dinner hour flew by all too quickly. Patty greatly enjoyed the +sights and sounds of the brilliant, crowded room. She loved the lights +and the music, the flowers and the palms, and the throngs of gaily +dressed people. + +Kenneth Harper enjoyed it too, and thought he had rarely met such +attractive people as the Fairfields. + +When he took his leave he thanked Mr. Fairfield courteously for his +pleasant evening, and promised soon to call upon them at Boxley Hall. + +They reached home by a late train, and Patty went up to her pretty +bedroom, with her usual happy conviction that she was a very fortunate +little girl and had the best father in the world. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE NEIGHBOUR AGAIN + + +Kenneth Harper did send the book, and, as Patty confidently expected, the +girls of the club quite agreed with her that it was the best play for +them to use. + +At a meeting at Marian's, plans were made and parts were chosen. The +goddesses were allotted to the members of the club, and the gods were +distributed among their brothers and friends. + +Guy Morris, being of gigantic mould, was cast for Hercules, and Frank +Elliott for Ajax. When Patty told the girls that Kenneth Harper could do +trick riding on a bicycle, they unanimously voted to invite him to take +part in their entertainment. + +It was decided to have the play about the middle of February, and the +whole Tea Club grew enthusiastic over the plans for the wonderful +performance. + +One morning Patty sat in the library studying her part. She was very +happy. Of course, Patty always was happy, but this morning she was +unusually so. Her housekeeping was going on smoothly; the night before +her father had expressed himself as being greatly pleased with the system +and order which seemed everywhere noticeable in the house. It was +Saturday morning, and she didn't have to go to school. + +Moreover, she was very much interested in the play and in her own part in +it, and had already planned a most beautiful gown, which the dressmaker, +Madame LaFayette, was to make for her. + +Patty's part in the play was that of Diana, and her costume was to be a +beautiful one of hunter's green cloth with russet leather leggings and a +jaunty cap. Being up-to-date, instead of being a huntress she was to +represent an agent of the S.P.C.A. + +This suited Patty exactly, for she had a horror of killing live things, +and very much preferred doing all she could to prevent such slaughter. +Moreover, the humour of the thing appealed to her, and the funny effect +of the huntress Diana going around distributing S.P.C.A. leaflets, and +begging her fellow-Olympians not to shoot, seemed to Patty very humourous +and attractive. + +This Saturday, then, she had settled down in the library to study her +lines all through the long cosey morning, when, to her annoyance, the +doorbell rang. + +"I hope it's none of the girls," she thought. "I did want this morning +to myself." + +It wasn't any of the girls, but Pansy announced that a messenger had come +from Miss Daggett's, and that Miss Daggett wished Miss Fairfield to +return her call at once. + +Patty smiled at the unusual message, but groaned at the thought of her +interrupted holiday. + +However, Miss Daggett was not one to be ignored or lightly set aside, so +Patty put on her things and started. + +Although Miss Daggett's house was next door to Boxley Hall, yet it was +set in the middle of such a large lot, and was so far back from the +street, and so surrounded by tall, thick trees, that Patty had never had +a really good view of it. + +She was surprised, therefore, to find it a very large, old-fashioned +stone house, with broad veranda and steps guarded by two stone lions. + +Patty rang the bell, and the door was opened very slightly. A small, +quaint-looking old coloured man peeped out. + +"Go 'way," he said, "go 'way at once! We don't want no tickets." + +"I'm not selling tickets," said Patty, half angry and half amused. + +"Well, we don't want no shoelacers, nor lead pencils, nor nuffin! You +_must_ be selling something." + +"I am not selling anything," said Patty. "I came over because Miss +Daggett sent for me." + +"Laws 'a' massy, child, why didn't you say so before you spoke? Be you +Miss Fairfield?" + +"Yes," said Patty; "here's my card." + +"Oh, never mind the ticket; if so be you's Miss Fairfield, jes' come +right in, come right in." + +The door was flung open wide and Patty entered a dark, old-fashioned +hall. From that she was led into a parlour, so dark that she could +scarcely see the outline of a lady on the sofa. + +"How do you do, Miss Daggett?" she said, guessing that it was probably +her hostess who seemed to be sitting there. + +"How do you do?" said Miss Daggett, putting out her hand, without +rising. + +"I'm quite well, thank you," said Patty, and her eyes having grown a +little accustomed to the dark, she grasped the old lady's hand, although, +as she told her father afterwards, she was awfully afraid she would tweak +her nose by mistake. + +"And how are you, Miss Daggett?" + +"Not very well, child, not very well, but you won't stay long, will you? +I sent for you, yes, I sent for you on an impulse. I thought I'd like to +see you, but I'd no sooner sent than I wished I hadn't. But you won't +stay long, will you, dearie?" + +"No," said Patty, feeling really sorry for the queer old lady. "No, I +won't stay long, I'll go very soon; in fact, I'll go just as soon as you +tell me to. I'll go now, if you say so." + +"Oh, don't be silly. I wouldn't have sent for you if I'd wanted you to go +right away again. Sit down, turn your toes out, and answer my questions." + +"What are your questions?" said Patty, not wishing to make any +rash promises. + +"Well, first, are you really keeping that big house over there all alone +by yourself?" + +"I'm keeping house there, yes, but I'm not all alone by myself. My +father's there, and two servants." + +"Don't you keep a man?" + +"No; a man comes every day to do the hard work, but he doesn't +live with us." + +"Humph, I suppose you think you're pretty smart, don't you?" + +"I don't know," said Patty slowly, as if considering; "yes, I think I'm +pretty smart in some ways, and in other ways I'm as stupid as an owl." + +"Well, you must be pretty smart, because you haven't had to borrow +anything over here yet." + +"But I wouldn't borrow anything here, anyway, Miss Daggett; you +specially asked me not to." + +Miss Daggett's old wrinkled face broke into a smile. + +"And so you remember that. Well, well, you are a nice little girl; you +must have had a good mother, and a good bringing-up." + +"My mother died when I was three, and my father brought me up." + +"He did, hey? Well, he made a fairly good job of it. Now, I guess you can +go; I'm about tired of talking to you." + +"Then I will go. But, first, Miss Daggett, let me tell you that I met +your nephew the other day." + +"Kenneth! For the land's sake! Well, well, sit down again. I don't want +you to go yet; tell me all about him. Isn't he a nice boy? Hasn't he fine +eyes? And gentlemanly manners? And oh, the lovely ways with him!" + +"Yes, Miss Daggett, he is indeed a nice boy; my father and I both think +so. His eyes and his manners are fine. He says he wants to come out to +see you soon." + +"Bless his heart, I hope he'll come! I do hope he'll come." + +"Then you like to have him come to see you?" said Patty, a little +roguishly. + +"Yes, and I like to have you, too. Land, child! you mustn't mind my +quick ways." + +"I don't mind how quick you are," said Patty; "but when you tell me to be +sure and not come to see you, of course I don't come." + +"Oh, that's all right," said Miss Daggett, "that's all right; I'll always +send for you when I want you. + +"But perhaps I can't always come," said Patty. "I may be busy with my +housekeeping." + +"Now, wouldn't that be annoying!" said Miss Daggett. "I declare that +would be just my luck. I always do have bad luck." + +"Perhaps it's the way you look at it," said Patty. "Now, I have some +things that seem like bad luck, at least, other people think they do; but +if I look at them right--happy and cheerful, you know--why, they just +seem like good luck." + +"Really," said Miss Daggett, with a curious smile; "well now, you _are_ a +queer child, and I'm not at all sure but I'd like to have you come again. +Do you want to see around my house?" + +"I'd like to very much, but it's so dark a bat couldn't see things in +this room." + +"But I can't open the shades, the sun would fade all the furniture +coverings." + +"Well, then, you could buy new ones," said Patty; "that would be better +than living in the dark." + +"Dark can't hurt anybody," said Miss Daggett gloomily. + +"Oh, indeed it can," said Patty earnestly. "Why, darkness--I mean +darkness in the daytime--makes you all stewed up and fidgety and horrid; +and sunshine makes you all gay and cheerful and glad." + +"Like you," said Miss Daggett. + +"Yes, like me," said Patty; "I am cheerful and glad always. I like to +be." + +"I would like to be, too," said Miss Daggett. + +"Do you suppose if I opened the shutters I would be?" + +"Let's try it and see," said Patty, and running to the windows, she flung +open the inside blinds and flooded the room with sunshine. + +"Oh, what a beautiful room!" she exclaimed, as she turned around. "Why, +Miss Daggett, to think of keeping all these lovely things shut up in the +dark. I believe they cry about it when you aren't looking." + +Already the old lady's face seemed to show a gentler and sunnier +expression, and she said: + +"Yes, I have some beautiful things, child. Would you like to look through +this cabinet of East Indian curiosities?" + +"I would very much," said Patty, "but I fear I can't take the time this +morning; I have to study my part in a play we're going to give. It's a +play your nephew told us about," she added quickly, feeling sure that +this would rouse the old lady's interest in it. + +"One of Kenneth's college plays?" she said eagerly. + +"Yes, that's just what it is. A chum of his wrote it, and oh, Miss +Daggett, we're going to invite Mr. Harper to come to Vernondale the night +of the play, and take the same part that he took at college last year; +you see, he'll know it, and he can just step right in." + +"Good for you! I hope he'll come. I'll write at once and tell him how +much I want him. He can stay here, of course, and perhaps he can come +sooner, so as to be here for one or two rehearsals." + +"That would be a good help. I hope he will do that; he could coach the +rest of us." + +"I don't know just what coach means, but I'm sure Kenneth can do it, he's +a very clever boy; he says he can run an automobile, but I don't believe +it. Run away home now, child, I'm tired of having company; and besides I +want to compose my mind so I can write a letter to Kenneth." + +"And will you leave your blinds open till afternoon?" said Patty, who was +beginning to learn her queer old neighbour. + +"Yes, I will, if I don't forget it. Clear out, child, clear out now; run +away home and mind you're not to borrow anything and you're not to come +back till I send for you." + +"All right," said Patty. "Good-bye, and mind, you're to keep bright and +cheerful, and let the sunlight in all the time." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +BILLS + + +Patty's plans for systematic housekeeping included a number of small +Russia-leather account books, and she looked forward with some eagerness +to the time when the first month's bills should come in, and she could +present to her father a neat and accurate statement of the household +expenses for the month. + +The 1st of February was Sunday, but on Monday morning the postman brought +a sheaf of letters which were evidently bills. + +Patty had no time to look at these before she went to school, so she +placed them carefully in her desk, determined to hurry home that +afternoon and get her accounts into apple-pie order before her father +came home. After school she returned to find a supplementary lot of bills +had been left by the postman, and also Mancy presented her with a number +of bills which the tradesmen had left that morning. + +Patty took the whole lot to her desk, and with methodical exactness noted +the amounts on the pages of her little books. She and her father had +talked the matter over, more or less, and Patty knew just about what Mr. +Fairfield expected the bills to amount to. + +But to her consternation she discovered, as she went along, that each +bill was proving to be about twice as large as she had anticipated. + +"There must be some mistake," she said to herself, "we simply _can't_ +have eaten all those groceries. Anybody would think we ran a branch +store. And that butcher's bill is big enough for the Central Park +menagerie! They must have added it wrong." + +But a careful verification of the figures proved that they were added +right, and Patty's heart began to sink as she looked at the enormous +sum-totals. + +"To think of all that for flowers! Well, papa bought some of them, that's +a comfort; but I had no idea I had ordered so many myself. I think bills +are perfectly horrid! And here's my dressmaker's bill. Gracious, how +Madame LaFayette has gone up in her prices! I believe I'll make my own +clothes after this; but the market bills are the worst I don't see how we +_could_ have eaten all these things. Mancy must be a dreadful waster, but +it isn't fair to blame her; if that's where the trouble is, I ought to +have looked after it myself. Hello, Marian, is that you? I didn't hear +you come in. Do come here, I'm in the depths of despair!" + +"What's the matter, Patsie? and what a furious lot of bills! You look +like a clearinghouse." + +"Oh, Marian, it's perfectly fearful! Every bill is two or three times as +much as I thought it would be, and I'm so sorry, for I meant to be such a +thrifty housekeeper." + +"Jiminetty Christmas!" exclaimed Marian, looking at some of the papers, +"I should think these bills _were_ big! Why, that's more than we pay a +month for groceries, and look at the size of our family." + +"I know it," said Patty hopelessly. "I don't see how it happened." + +"You are an extravagant little wretch, Patty, there's no doubt about it." + +"I suppose I am; at least, I suppose I have been, but I'm not going to be +any more. I'm going to reform, suddenly and all at once and very +thoroughly! Now, you watch me. We're not going to have any more fancy +things, no more ice cream from Pacetti's. Why, that caterer's bill is +something fearful." + +"And so you're going to starve poor Uncle Fred?" + +"No, that wouldn't be fair, would it? The economy ought to fall entirely +on me. Well, I've decided to make my own clothes after this, anyway." + +"Oh, Patty, what a goose you are! You couldn't make them to save your +neck, and after you made them you couldn't wear them." + +"I could, too, Marian Elliott! Just you wait and see me make my summer +dresses. I'm going to sew all through vacation." + +"All right," said Marian, "I'll come over and help you, but you can't +make any dresses this afternoon, so put away those old bills and get +ready for a sleigh ride. It's lovely out, and father said he'd call for +us here at four o'clock." + +"All right, I will, if we can get back by six. I want to be here when +papa comes home." + +"Yes, we'll be back by six. I expect Uncle Fred will shut you up in a +dark room and keep you on bread and water for a week when he sees +those bills." + +"That's just the worst of it," said Patty forlornly. "He's so good and +kind, and spoils me so dreadfully that it makes me feel all the worse +when I don't do things right." + +A good long sleigh ride in the fresh, crisp winter air quite revived +Patty's despondent spirits. She sat in front with Uncle Charley, and he +let her drive part of the way, for it was Patty's great delight to drive +two horses, and she had already become a fairly accomplished little +horsewoman. + +"Fred tells me he's going to get horses for you this spring," said Uncle +Charley. "You'll enjoy them a lot, won't you, Patty?" + +"Yes, indeed--that is--I don't know whether we'll have them or not." + +For it just occurred to Patty that, having run her father into such +unexpected expense in the household, a good way to economise would be to +give up all hopes of horses. + +"Oh, yes, you'll have them all right," said Uncle Charley, in his gay, +cheery way, having no idea, of course, what was in Patty's mind. "And you +must have a little pony and cart of your own. It would give you a great +deal of pleasure to go out driving in the spring weather." + +"I just guess it would," said Patty, "and I'm sure I hope I'll have it." + +She began to wonder if she couldn't find some other way to economise +rather than on the horses, for she certainly did love to drive. + +Promptly at six o'clock Uncle Charley left her at Boxley Hall, and as she +entered the door Patty felt that strange sinking of the heart that always +accompanies the resuming of a half-forgotten mental burden. + +"I know just how thieves and defaulters and forgers feel," she said to +herself, as she took off her wraps. "I haven't exactly stolen, but I've +betrayed a trust, and that's just as bad. I wonder what papa will say?" + +At dinner Patty was subdued and a little nervous. + +Mr. Fairfield, quick to notice anything unusual in his daughter, surmised +that she was bothered, but felt sure that in her own time she would tell +him all about it, so he endeavoured to set her at her ease by chatting +pleasantly about the events of his day in the city, and sustaining the +burden of the conversation himself. + +But after dinner, when they had gone into the library, as they usually +did in the evening, Patty brought out her fearful array of paper bugbears +and laid them before her father. + +"What are these?" said Mr. Fairfield cheerily. "Ah, yes, I see. The 1st +of the month has brought its usual crop of bills." + +"I do hope it isn't the usual crop, papa; for if they always come in like +this, we'll have to give up Boxley Hall and go to live in the +poor-house." + +"Oh, I don't know. We haven't overdrawn our bank account yet Whew! +Pacetti's is a stunner, isn't it?" + +"Yes," said Patty, in a meek little voice. + +"And Fisher & Co. seem to have summed up quite a total; and Smith's +flower bill looks like a good old summer time." + +"Oh, papa, please scold me; I know I deserve it. I ought to have looked +after these things and kept the expenses down more." + +"Why ought you to have done so, Patty? We have to have food, don't we?" + +"Yes; but, papa, you know we estimated in the beginning, and these old +bills come up to about twice as much as our estimate." + +"That's a fact, baby, they do," said Mr. Fairfield, looking over the +statements with a more serious air. "These are pretty big figures to +represent a month's living for just you and me and our small retinue of +servants." + +"Yes; and, papa, I think Mancy is rather wasteful. I don't say this to +blame her. I know it is my place to see about it, and be careful that +she utilises all that is possible of the kitchen waste." + +Patty said this so exactly with the air of a _Young Housekeeper's Guide_ +or _Cooking School Manual_, that Mr. Fairfield laughed outright. + +"Chickadee," he said, "you'll come out all right. You have the true +elements of success. You see where you've fallen into error, you're +willing to admit it, and you're ready to use every means to improve in +the future. I'm not quite so surprised as you are at the size of these +bills; for, though we made our estimates rationally, yet we have been +buying a great many things and having a pretty good time generally. I +foresaw this experience at the end of the month, but I preferred to wait +and see how we came out rather than interfere with the proceedings; and +another thing, Patty, which may comfort you some, is the fact that I +quite believe that some of these tradespeople have taken advantage of +your youth and inexperience and padded their bills a little bit in +consequence." + +"But, papa, just look at Madame LaFayette's bill. I don't think she +ought to charge so much." + +"These do seem high prices for the simple little frocks you wear; but +they are always so daintily made, and in such good taste, that I think +we'll have to continue to employ her. Dressmakers, you know, are +acknowledged vampires." + +"I like the clothes she makes, too," said Patty, "but I had concluded +that that was the best way for me to economise, and I thought after this +I would make my own dresses." + +"I don't think you will, my child," said Mr. Fairfield decidedly. "You +couldn't make dresses fit to be seen, unless you took a course of +instruction in dressmaking, and I'm not sure that you could then; and you +have quite enough to do with your school work and your practising. When +did you propose to do this wonderful sewing?" + +"Oh, I mean in vacation--to make my summer dresses." + +"No; in vacation you're to run out of doors and play. Don't let me hear +any more about sewing." + +"All right," said Patty, with a sigh of relief. "I'm awfully glad not to, +but I wanted to help somehow. I thought I'd make my green cloth costume +for Diana in the play." + +"Yes, that would be a good thing to begin on," said Mr. Fairfield. +"Broadcloth is so tractable, so easy to fit; and that tailor-made effect +can, of course, be attained by any well-meaning beginner." + +Patty laughed. "I know it would look horrid, papa," she said, "but as I +am to blame for all this outrageous extravagance, I want to economise +somewhere to make up for it." + +"And do you call it good proportion to buy a great deal too much to eat +and then go around in botchy, home-made clothes to make up for it?" + +"No," said Patty, "I don't believe it is. What can I do? I want to do +something, and I don't--oh, papa, I _don't_ want to give up those horses +that you said you'd buy." + +"Well, we'll fix it up this way, Patty, girl; we'll just pay off all +these bills and start fresh. The extra expense we'll charge to experience +account--experience is an awfully high-priced commodity, you know--and +next month, while we won't exactly scrimp ourselves, we'll keep our eye +on the accounts and watch them as they progress. As I've told you before, +my darling, I don't expect you to become perfect, or even proficient, in +these things all at once. You will need years of experience before the +time can come when your domestic machinery will run without a flaw, if, +indeed, it ever does. Now, never think of these January bills again. They +are things of the past. Go and get your play-book, and let me hear you +speak your piece." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +A SUCCESSFUL PLAY + + +Mr. Hepworth came again to visit Boxley Hall, and while there heard about +the play, and became so interested in the preparations that he offered to +paint some scenery for it. + +Patty jumped for joy at this, for the scenery had been their greatest +stumbling-block. + +And so the Saturday morning before the performance the renowned New York +artist, Mr. Egerton Hepworth, walked over to Library Hall, escorted by a +dozen merry young people of both sexes. + +As a scenic artist Mr. Hepworth proved a great success and a rapid +workman beside, for by mid-afternoon he had completed the one scene +that was necessary--a view of Mount Olympus as supposed to be at the +present date. + +Though the actual work was sketchily done, yet the general effect was +that of a beautiful Grecian grove with marble temple and steps, and +surrounding trees and flowers, the whole of which seemed to be a sort of +an island set in a sea of blue sky and fleecy clouds. + +At least, that is the way Elsie Morris declared it looked, and though Mr. +Hepworth confessed that that was not the idea he had intended to convey, +yet if they were satisfied, he was. The young people declared themselves +more than satisfied, and urged Mr. Hepworth so heartily to attend the +performance--offering him the choicest seats in the house and as many as +he wanted--that he finally consented to come if he could persuade his +friends at Boxley Hall to put him up for the night. Patty demurely +promised to try her best to coax her father to agree to this arrangement, +and though she said she had little hope of succeeding, Mr. Hepworth +seemed willing to take his chances. + +At last the great day arrived, and Patty rose early that morning, for +there were many last things to be attended to; and being a capable little +manager, it somehow devolved on Patty to see that all the loose ends +were gathered up and all the minor matters looked after. + +Kenneth Harper had been down twice to rehearsals, and had already become +a favourite with the Vernondale young people. Indeed, the cheery, +willing, capable young man couldn't help getting himself liked wherever +he went. He stayed with his aunt, Miss Daggett, when in Vernondale, which +greatly delighted the heart of the old lady. + +The play was to be on Friday night, because then there would be no school +next day; and Friday morning Patty was as busy as a bee sorting tickets, +counting out programmes, making lists, and checking off memoranda, when +Pansy appeared at her door with the unwelcome announcement that Miss +Daggett had sent word she would like to have Patty call on her. +Unwelcome, only because Patty was so busy, otherwise she would have been +glad of a summons to the house next-door, for she had taken a decided +fancy to her erratic neighbour. + +Determining she would return quickly, and smiling to herself as she +thought that probably she would be asked to do so, she ran over to Miss +Daggett's. + +"Come in, child, come in," called the old lady from the upper hall, "come +right up here. I'm in a terrible quandary!" + +Patty went upstairs, and then followed Miss Daggett into her bedroom. + +"I've decided," said the old lady, with the air of one announcing a +decision the importance of which would shake at least two continents, +"I've decided to go to that ridiculous show of yours." + +"Oh, have you?" said Patty, "that's very nice, I'm sure." + +"I'm glad you're pleased," said the old lady grimly, "though I'm not +going for the sake of pleasing you." + +"Are you going to please your nephew, Mr. Harper?" said Patty, not being +exactly curious, but feeling that she was expected to inquire. + +"No, I'm not," said Miss Daggett curtly. "I'm going to please myself; and +I called you over here to advise me what to wear. Here are all my best +dresses, but there's none of them made in the fashions people wear +nowadays, and it's too late to have them fixed over. I wish you'd tell +me which one you think comes nearest to being right." + +Patty looked in amazement at the great heap of beautiful gowns that lay +upon the bed. They were made of the richest velvets and satins and +laces, but were all of such an antiquated mode that it seemed impossible +to advise anyone to wear them without remodeling. But, as Miss Daggett +was very much in earnest, Patty concluded that she must necessarily make +some choice. + +Accordingly, she picked out a lavender moiré silk, trimmed with soft +white lace at the throat and wrist. Although old-fashioned, it was plain +and very simply made, and would, Patty thought, be less conspicuous than +the more elaborate gowns. + +"That's just the one I had decided on myself," said Miss Daggett, "and I +should have worn that anyway, whatever you had said." + +"Then why did you call me over?" said Patty, moved to impatience by this +inconsistency. + +"Oh, because I wanted your opinion, and I wanted to ask you about some +other things. Kenneth is coming to-night, you know." + +"Yes, I know it," said Patty, "and I am very glad." + +This frank statement and the clear, unembarrassed light in Patty's eyes +seemed to please Miss Daggett, and she kissed the pretty face upturned to +hers, but she only said: "Run along now, child, go home, I don't want +company now." + +"I'm glad of it," Patty thought to herself, but she only said: "Good-bye, +then, Miss Daggett; I'll see you this evening." + +"Wait a minute, child; come back here, I'm not through with you yet." + +Patty groaned in spirit, but went back with a smiling face. + +Miss Daggett regarded her steadily. + +"You're pretty busy, I suppose, to-day," she said, "getting ready for +your play." + +"Yes, I am," said Patty frankly. + +"And you didn't want to take the time to come over here to see me, did +you?" + +"Oh, I shall have time enough to do all I want to do," said Patty. + +"Don't evade my question, child. You didn't want to come, did you?" + +"Well, Miss Daggett," said Patty, "you are often quite frank with me, so +now I'll be frank with you, and confess that when your message came I did +wish you had chosen some other day to send for me; for I certainly have a +lot of little things to do, but I shall get them all done, I know, and I +am very glad to learn that you are coming to the entertainment." + +"You are a good girl," said Miss Daggett; "you are a good girl, and I +like you very much. Good-bye." + +"Good-bye," said Patty, and she ran downstairs and over home, determined +to work fast enough to make up for the time she had lost. + +She succeeded in this, and when her father came home at night, bringing +Mr. Hepworth with him, they found a very charming little hostess awaiting +them and Boxley Hall imbued throughout with an air of comfortable +hospitality. + +After dinner Patty donned her Diana costume and came down to ask her +father's opinion of it. He declared it was most jaunty and becoming, +and Mr. Hepworth said it was especially well adapted to Patty's style, +and that he would like to paint her portrait in that garb. This seemed +to Mr. Fairfield a good idea, and they at once made arrangements for +future sittings. + +Patty was greatly pleased. + +"Won't it be fine, papa?" she said. "It will be an ancestral portrait to +hang in Boxley Hall and keep till I'm an old lady like Miss Daggett." + +When they reached Library Hall, where the play was to be given, Patty, +going in at the stage entrance, was met by a crowd of excited girls who +announced that Florence Douglass had gone all to pieces. + +"What do you mean?" cried Patty. "What's the matter with her?" + +"Oh, hysterics!" said Elsie Morris, in great disgust. "First she giggles +and then she bursts into tears, and nobody can do anything with her." + +"Well, she's going to be Niobe, anyway," said Patty, "so let her go on +the stage and cut up those tricks, and the audience will think it's +all right." + +"Oh, no, Patty, we can't let her go on the stage," said Frank Elliott; +"she'd queer the whole show." + +"Well, then, we'll have to leave that part out," said Patty. + +"Oh, dear!" wailed Elsie, "that's the funniest part of all. I hate to +leave that part out." + +"I know it," said Patty; "and Florence does it so well. I wish she'd +behave herself. Well, I can't think of anything else to do but omit it. I +might ask papa; he can think of things when nobody else can." + +"That's so," said Marian, "Uncle Fred has a positive genius for +suggestion." + +"I'll step down in the audience and ask him," said Frank. + +In five minutes Frank was back again, broadly smiling, and Mr. Hepworth +was with him. + +"It's all right," said Frank. "I knew Uncle Fred would fix it. All he +said was, 'Hepworth, you're a born actor, take the part yourself'; and +Mr. Hepworth, like the brick he is, said he'd do it." + +"I fairly jumped at the chance," said the young artist, smiling down into +Patty's bright face. "I was dying to be in this thing anyway. And they +tell me the costume is nothing but several hundred yards of Greek +draperies, so I think it will fit me all right." + +"But you don't know the lines," said Patty, delighted at this solution of +the dilemma, but unable to see how it could be accomplished. + +"Oh, that's all right," said Mr. Hepworth merrily. "I shall make up my +lines as I go along, and when I see that anyone else wants to talk, I +shall stop and give them a chance." + +It sounded a little precarious, but as there was nothing else to do, +and Florence Douglass begged them to put somebody--anybody--in her +place and let her go home, they all agreed to avail themselves of Mr. +Hepworth's services. + +And it was fortunate they did, for though the rest of the characters were +bright and clever representations, yet it was Mr. Hepworth's funny +impromptu jokes and humourous actions in the character of Niobe that +made the hit of the evening. Indeed, he and Kenneth Harper quite carried +off the laurels from the other amateurs; but so delighted were the +Vernondale young people at the success of the whole play that they were +more than willing to give the praise where it belonged. + +Perhaps the only one in the audience who failed to appreciate Mr. +Hepworth's clever work was Miss Rachel Daggett. She had eyes only for her +beloved nephew, with an occasional side glance for her pretty young +neighbour. + +After the entertainment there was a little dance for the young people; +and Patty, as president of the club, received so many compliments and so +much congratulation that it's a wonder her curly head was not turned. +But as she walked home between her father and Mr. Hepworth, she declared +that the success of the evening was in no way consequent upon her +efforts, but depended entirely on the talents of the two travelling +comedians from the city. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +ENTERTAINING RELATIVES + + +Spring and summer followed one another in their usual succession, and +as the months went by, Boxley Hall became more beautiful and more +attractively homelike, both inside and out. Mr. Fairfield bought a +pair of fine carriage horses and a pony and cart for Patty's own use. +A man was engaged to take care of these and also to look after the +lawn and garden. + +Patty, learning much from experience and also from Aunt Alice's +occasional visits, developed into a sensible and capable little +housekeeper. So determined was she to make the keeping of her father's +house a real success that she tried most diligently to correct all her +errors and improve her powers. + +Patty had a natural aptitude for domestic matters, and after some rough +places were made smooth and some sharp corners rounded off, things went +quite as smoothly as in many houses where the presiding genius numbered +twice Patty's years. + +With June came vacation, and Patty was more than glad, for she was +never fond of school, and now could have all her time to devote to her +beloved home. + +And, too, she wanted very much to invite her cousins to visit her, which +was only possible in vacation time. + +"I think, papa," she said, as they sat on the veranda one June evening +after dinner, "I think I shall have a house party. I shall invite all my +cousins from Elmbridge and Philadelphia and Boston and we'll have a grand +general reunion that will be most beautiful." + +"You'll invite your aunts and uncles, too?" said Mr. Fairfield. + +"Why, I don't see how we'd have room for so many," said Patty. + +"And, of course," went on her father, "you'd invite the whole Elliott +family. It wouldn't be fair to leave them out of your house-party just +because they happen to live in Vernondale." + +Then Patty saw that her father was laughing at her. + +"I know you're teasing me now, papa," she said, "but I don't see why. +Just because I want to ask my cousins to come here and return the visits +I made to them last year." + +"But you didn't visit them all at once, my child, and you certainly could +not expect to entertain them here all at once. Your list of cousins is a +very long one, and even if there were room for them in the house, the +care and responsibility of such a house party would be enough to land you +in a sanitarium when it was over, if not before." + +"There are an awful lot of them," said Patty. + +"And they're not altogether congenial," said her father. "Although I +haven't seen them as lately as you have, yet I can't help thinking, from +what you told me, that the Barlows and the St. Clairs would enjoy +themselves better if they visited here at different times, and I'm sure +the same is true of your Boston cousins." + +"You're right," said Patty, "as you always are, and I don't believe I'd +have much fun with all that company at once, either. So I think we'll +have them in detachments, and first I'll just invite Ethelyn and Reginald +down for a week or two. I don't really care much about having them, but +Ethelyn has written so often that she wants to come that I don't see how +I can very well get out of it." + +"If she wants to come, you certainly ought to ask her. You visited there +three months, you know." + +"Yes, I know it, and they were very kind to me. Aunt Isabel had parties, +and did things for my pleasure all the time. Well, I'll invite them right +away. Perhaps I ought to ask Aunt Isabel, too." + +"Yes, you might ask her," said Mr. Fairfield, "and she can bring the +children down, but she probably will not stay as long as they do." + +So Patty wrote for her aunt and cousins, and the first day of July +they arrived. + +Mrs. St. Clair, who was Patty's aunt only by marriage, was a very +fashionable woman of a pretty, but somewhat artificial, type. She liked +young people, and had spared no pains to make Patty's visit to her a +happy one. But it was quite evident that she expected Patty to return her +hospitality in kind, and she had been at Boxley Hall but a few hours +before she began to inquire what plans Patty had made for her +entertainment. + +Now, though Patty had thought out several little pleasures for her +cousins, it hadn't occurred to her that Aunt Isabel would expect parties +made for her. + +She evaded her aunt's questions, however, and waited for an opportunity +to speak alone with her father about it. + +"Why, papa," she exclaimed that evening after their guests had gone to +their rooms, "Aunt Isabel expects me to have a tea or reception or +something for her." + +"Nonsense, child, she can't think of such a thing." + +"Yes, she does, papa, and what's more, I want to do it. She was very +kind to me and I'd rather please her than Ethelyn. I don't care much for +Ethelyn anyway." + +"She isn't just your kind, is she, my girl?" + +"No, she isn't like Marian nor any of the club girls. She has her head +full of fashions, and beaux, and grown-up things of all sorts. She is +just my age, but you'd think she was about twenty, wouldn't you?" + +"Yes, she does look almost as old as that, and she acts quite as old. +Reginald is a nice boy." + +"Yes, but he's pompous and stuck-up. He always did put on grand airs. +Aunt Isabel does, too, but she's so kind-hearted and generous nobody can +help liking her." + +"Well, have a party for her if you want to, chicken. But don't take the +responsibility of it entirely on yourself. I should think you might make +it a pretty little afternoon tea. Get Aunt Alice to make out the +invitation list; she knows better than you what ladies to invite, and +then let Pacetti send up whatever you want for the feast. I've no doubt +Pansy will be willing to attend to the floral decoration of the house." + +"I've no doubt she will," said Patty, laughing. "The trouble will be to +stop her before she turns the whole place into a horticultural exhibit." + +"Well, go ahead with it, Patty. I think it will please your aunt very +much, but don't wear yourself out over it." + +Next morning at breakfast Patty announced her plan for an afternoon tea, +and Aunt Isabel was delighted. + +"You dear child," she exclaimed, "how sweet of you! I hate to have you go +to any trouble on my account, but I shall be so pleased to meet the +Vernondale ladies. I want to know what kind of people my niece is growing +up among." + +"I'm sure you'll like them, Aunt Isabel. Aunt Alice's friends are lovely. +And then I'll ask the mothers of the Tea Club girls, and my neighbour, +Miss Daggett, but I don't believe she'll come." + +"Is that the rich Miss Daggett?" asked Aunt Isabel curiously; "the +queer one?" + +"I don't know whether she's rich or not," said Patty. "I dare say she +is, though, because she has lovely things; but she certainly can be +called queer. I'm very fond of her, though; she's awfully nice to me, and +I like her in spite of her queerness." + +"But you'll ask some young ladies, too, won't you?" said Ethelyn. "I +don't care very much for queer old maids and middle-aged married ladies." + +"Oh, this isn't for you, Ethel," said Patty. "I'll have a children's +party for you and Reginald some other day." + +"Children's party, indeed," said Ethelyn, turning up her haughty little +nose. "You know very well, Patty, I haven't considered myself a child +for years." + +"Nor I," said Reginald. + +"Well, I consider myself one," said Patty. "I'm not in a bit of hurry to +be grown-up; but we're going to have a lovely sailing party, Ethelyn, on +Fourth of July, and I'm sure you'll enjoy that." + +"Are any young men going?" said Ethelyn. + +"There are a lot of boys going," said Patty. "But the only young men +will be my father and Uncle Charley and Mr. Hepworth." + +"Who is Mr. Hepworth?" + +"He's an artist friend of papa's, who comes out quite often, and who +always goes sailing with us when we have sailing parties." + +Aunt Alice was more than willing to help Patty with her project, and the +result was a very pretty little afternoon tea at Boxley Hall. + +"I'm so glad I brought my white crêpe-de-chine," said Aunt Isabel, as she +dressed for the occasion. + +"I'm glad, too," said Patty; "for it's a lovely gown and you look +sweet in it." + +"I've brought a lot of pretty dresses, too," said Ethelyn, "and I suppose +I may as well put on one of the prettiest to-day, as there's no use in +wasting them on those children's parties you're talking about." + +"Do just as you like, Ethelyn," said Patty, knowing that her cousin was +always overdressed on all occasions, and therefore it made little +difference what she wore. + +And, sure enough, Ethelyn arrayed herself in a most resplendent gown +which, though very beautiful, was made in a style more suited to a belle +of several seasons than a young miss of sixteen. + +Patty wore one of her pretty little white house dresses; and Aunt Alice, +in a lovely gray gown, assisted her to receive the guests, and to +introduce Mrs. St. Clair and her children. + +Among the late arrivals was Miss Daggett. Her coming created a sensation, +for, as was well known in Vernondale, she rarely attended social affairs +of any sort. But, for some unknown reason, she chose to accept Patty's +invitation, and, garbed in an old-fashioned brown velvet, she was +presented to Mrs. St. Clair. + +"I'm so glad to see you," said the latter, shaking hands effusively. + +"Humph!" said Miss Daggett. "Why should you be glad to see me, pray?" + +"Why, because--because--" Mrs. St. Clair floundered a little, and +seemed really unable to give any reason. + +"Because you've heard that I'm rich and old and queer?" said Miss +Daggett. + +This was exactly true, but Mrs. St. Clair did not care to admit it, so +she said: "Why, no, not that; but I've heard my niece speak of you so +often that I felt anxious to meet you." + +"Well, I'm not afraid of anything Patty Fairfield said about me; she's a +dear little girl; I'm very fond of her." + +"Why do you call her little girl?" said Mrs. St. Clair. "Patty is in her +seventeenth year; surely that is not quite a child." + +"But she is a child at heart," said Miss Daggett, "and I am glad of it. I +would far rather see her with her pretty, sunshiny childish ways than to +see her like that overdressed little minx standing over there beside her, +whoever she may be." + +"That's my daughter," said Mrs. St. Clair, without, however, looking as +deeply offended as she might have done. + +"Oh, is it?" said Miss Daggett, sniffing. "Well, I see no reason to +change my opinion of her, if she is." + +"No," said Mrs. St. Clair, "of course we are each entitled to our own +opinion. Now, I think my daughter more appropriately dressed than my +niece. And I think your nephew will agree with me," she added, smiling. + +"My nephew!" snapped Miss Daggett. "Do you know him?" + +"Oh, yes, indeed; we met Mr. Harper at a reception in New York not long +ago, and he was very much charmed with my daughter Ethelyn." + +"He may have seemed so," said Miss Daggett scornfully. "He is a very +polite young man. But let me tell you, he admires Patty Fairfield more +than any other girl he has ever seen. He told me so himself. And now, go +away, if you please, I'm tired of talking to you." + +Mrs. St. Clair was not very much surprised at this speech, for Patty had +told her of Miss Daggett's summary method of dismissing people; and so, +with a sweet smile and a bow, the fashionable matron left the eccentric +and indignant spinster. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A SAILING PARTY + + +After Aunt Isabel had gone home, Patty devoted herself to the +entertainment of her young cousins. And they seemed to require a great +deal of entertainment--both Ethelyn and Reginald wanted something done +for their pleasure all the time. They did not hesitate to express very +freely their opinions of the pleasures planned for them, and as they were +sophisticated young persons, they frequently scorned the simple gaieties +in which Patty and her Vernondale companions found pleasure. However, +they condescended to be pleased at the idea of a sailing party, for, as +there was no water near their own home, a yacht was a novelty to them. At +first Ethelyn thought to appear interesting by expressing timid doubts as +to the safety of the picnic party, but she soon found that the +Vernondale young people had no foolish fears of that sort. + +Fourth of July was a bright, clear day, warm, but very pleasant, with a +good stiff breeze blowing. Patty was up early, and when Ethelyn came +downstairs, she found her cousin, with the aid of Mancy and Pansy, +packing up what seemed to be luncheon enough for the whole party. + +"Doesn't anybody else take anything?" she inquired. + +"Oh, yes," said Patty, "they all do. I'm only taking cold chicken and +stuffed eggs. You've no idea what an appetite sailing gives you." + +Ethelyn looked very pretty in a yachting suit of white serge, while +Patty's sailor gown was of more prosaic blue flannel, trimmed with +white braid. + +"That's a sweet dress, Ethelyn," said Patty, "but I'm awfully afraid +you'll spoil it. You know we don't go in a beautiful yacht, all white +paint and polished brass; we go in a big old schooner that's roomy and +safe but not overly clean." + +"Oh, it doesn't matter," said Ethelyn; "I dare say I shall spoil it, but +I've nothing else that's just right to wear." + +"All aboard!" shouted a cheery voice, and Kenneth Harper's laughing face +appeared in the doorway. + +"Oh, good-morning!" cried Patty, smiling gaily back at him; "I'm so glad +to see you. This is my cousin, Miss St. Clair. Ethelyn, may I present +Mr. Harper?" + +Immediately Ethelyn assumed a coquettish and simpering demeanour. + +"I've met Mr. Harper before," she said; "though I dare say he doesn't +remember me." + +"Oh, yes, indeed I do," said Kenneth gallantly. "We met at a reception in +the city, and I am delighted to see you again, especially on such a jolly +occasion as I feel sure to-day is going to be." + +"Do you think it is quite safe?" said Ethelyn, with what she considered +a charming timidity. "I've never been sailing, you know, and I'm not +very brave." + +"Oh, pshaw! of course it's safe, barring accidents; but you're always +liable to those, even in an automobile. Hello! here comes Hepworth. Glad +to see you, old chap." + +Mr. Hepworth received a general storm of glad greetings, was presented to +the strangers, and announced himself as ready to carry baskets, boxes, +rugs, wraps, or whatever was to be transported. + +Mr. Fairfield, as general manager, portioned out the luggage, and then, +each picking up his individual charge, they started off. On the way they +met the Elliott family similarly equipped and equally enthusiastic, and +the whole crowd proceeded down to the wharf. There they found about +thirty young people awaiting them. All the girls of the Tea Club were +there; and all the boys, who insisted on calling themselves honorary +members of the club. + +"It's a beautiful day," said Guy Morris, "but no good at all for sailing. +The breeze has died down entirely, and I don't believe it will come up +again all day." + +"That's real cheerful, isn't it?" said Frank Elliott. "I should be +inclined to doubt it myself, but Guy is such a weatherwise genius, and he +almost never makes a mistake in his prognostications." + +"Well, it remains to be seen what the day will bring forth," said Uncle +Charley; "but in the meantime we'll get aboard." + +The laughing crowd piled themselves on board the big schooner, stowed +away all the baskets and bundles, and settled themselves comfortably in +various parts of the boat; some sat in the stern, others climbed to the +top of the cabin, while others preferred the bow, and one or two +adventurous spirits clambered out to the end of the long bowsprit and sat +with their feet dangling above the water. Ethelyn gave some affected +little cries of horror at this, but Frank Elliott reassured her by +telling her that it was always a part of the performance. + +"Why, I have seen your dignified cousin Patty do it; in fact, she +generally festoons herself along the edge of the boat in some precarious +position." + +"Don't do it to-day, will you, Patty?" besought Ethelyn, with a +ridiculous air of solicitude. + +"No, I won't," said Patty; "I'll be real good and do just as you +want me to." + +"Noble girl!" said Kenneth Harper. "I know how hard it is for you +to be good." + +"It is, indeed," said Patty, laughing; "and I insist upon having +due credit." + +As a rule the Vernondale parties were exciting affairs. The route was +down the river to the sound; from the sound to the bay; and, if the +day were very favourable, out into the ocean, and perhaps around +Staten Island. + +Patty had hoped for this most extended trip today, in order that Ethelyn +and Reginald might see a sailing party at its very best. + +But after they had been on board an hour they had covered only the few +miles of river, and found themselves well out into the sound, but with no +seeming prospect of going any farther. The breeze had died away entirely, +and as the sun rose higher the heat was becoming decidedly uncomfortable. + +Ethelyn began to fidget. Her pretty white serge frock had come in contact +with some muddy ropes and some oily screws, and several unsightly spots +were the result. This made her cross, for she hated to have her costume +spoiled so early in the day; and besides she was unpleasantly conscious +that her fair complexion was rapidly taking on a deep shade of red. She +knew this was unbecoming, but when Reginald, with brotherly frankness, +informed her that her nose looked like a poppy bud, she lost her temper +and relapsed into a sulky fit. + +"I don't see any fun in a sailing party, if this is one," she said. + +"Oh, this isn't one," said Guy Morris good-humoredly; "this is just a +first-class fizzle. We often have them, and though they're not as much +fun as a real good sailing party, yet we manage to get a good time out of +them some way." + +"I don't see how," said Ethelyn, who was growing very ill-tempered. + +"We'll show you," said Frank Elliott kindly; "there are lots of things to +do on board a boat besides sail." + +There did seem to be, and notwithstanding the heat and the sunburn--yes, +even the mosquitoes--those happy-go-lucky young people found ways to have +a real good time. They sang songs and told stories and jokes, and showed +each other clever little games and tricks. One of the boys had a camera +and he took pictures of the whole crowd, both singly and in groups. Mr. +Hepworth drew caricature portraits, and Kenneth Harper gave some of his +funny impersonations. + +Except for the responsibility of her cousin's entertainment, Patty +enjoyed herself exceedingly; but then she was always a happy little girl, +and never allowed herself to be discomfited by trifles. + +Everybody was surprised when Aunt Alice announced that it was time for +luncheon, and though all were disappointed at the failure of the sail, +everybody seemed to take it philosophically and even merrily. + +"What is the matter?" said Ethelyn. "Why don't we go?" + +"The matter is," said Mr. Fairfield, "we are becalmed. There is no +breeze and consequently nothing to make our bonny ship move, so she +stands still." + +"And are we going to stay right here all day?" asked Ethelyn. + +"It looks very much like it, unless an ocean steamer comes along and +gives us a tow." + +Aunt Alice and the girls of the party soon had the luncheon ready, and +the merry feast was made. As Frank remarked, it was a very different +thing to sit there in the broiling sun and eat sandwiches and devilled +eggs, or to consume the same viands with the yacht madly flying along in +rolling waves and dashing spray. + +The afternoon palled a little. Youthful enthusiasm and determined good +temper could make light of several hours of discomfort, but toward three +o'clock the sun's rays grew unbearably hot, the glare from the water was +very trying, and the mosquitoes were something awful. + +Guy Morris, who probably spent more of his time in a boat than any of the +others, declared that he had never seen such a day. + +Mr. Fairfield felt sorry for Ethelyn, who had never had such an +experience before, and so he exerted himself to entertain her, but she +resisted all his attempts, and even though Patty came to her father's +assistance, they found it impossible to make their guest happy. + +Reginald was no better. He growled and fretted about the heat and other +discomforts and he was so pompous and overbearing in his manner that it +is not surprising that the boys of Vernondale cordially disliked him. + +"As long as we can't go sailing," said Ethelyn, "I should think we +would go home." + +"We can't get home," said Patty patiently. She had already explained this +several times to her cousin. "There is no breeze to take us anywhere." + +"Well, what will happen to us, then? Shall we stay here forever?" + +"There ought to be a breeze in two or three days," said Kenneth Harper, +who could not resist the temptation to chaff this ill-tempered young +person. "Say by Tuesday or Wednesday, I should think a capful of wind +might puff up in some direction." + +"It is coming now," said Frank Elliott suddenly; "I certainly feel +a draught." + +"Put something around you, my boy," said his mother, "I don't want you +to take cold." + +"Let me get you a wrap," said Frank, smiling back at his mother, who was +fanning herself with a folded newspaper. + +"The wind is coming," said Guy Morris, and his serious face was a sharp +contrast to the merry ones about him, "and it's no joke this time. Within +ten minutes there'll be a stiff breeze, and within twenty a howling gale, +or I'm no sailor." + +As he spoke he was busily preparing to reef the mainsail, and he +consulted hurriedly with the sailors. + +At first no one could believe Guy's prophecies would come true, but in a +few moments the cool breeze was distinctly felt, the sun went under a +cloud, and the boat began to move. It was a sudden squall, and the clouds +thickened and massed themselves into great hills of blackness; the water +turned dark and began to rise in little threatening billows, the wind +grew stronger and stronger, and then without warning the rain came. +Thunder and lightning added to the excitement of the occasion, and in +less than fifteen minutes the smooth sunny glare of water was at the +mercy of a fearful storm. + +The occupants of the boat seemed to know exactly how to behave in these +circumstances. Mrs. Elliott and the girls of the party went down into the +little cabin, which held them all, but which was very crowded. + +Guy Morris took command, and the other boys, and men, too, for that +matter, did exactly as he told them. + +Ethelyn began to cry. This was really not surprising, as the girl had +never before had such an experience and was exceedingly nervous as well +as very much frightened. + +Mrs. Elliott appreciated this, and putting her arm around the sobbing +child, comforted her with great tact and patience. + +The storm passed as quickly as it came. There had been danger, both real +and plentiful, but no bad results attended, except that everybody was +more or less wet with the rain. + +The boys were more and the girls less, but to Ethelyn's surprise, they +all seemed to view the whole performance quite as a matter of course, and +accepted the situation with the same merry philosophy that they had shown +in the morning. + +The thermometer had fallen many degrees, and the cold wind against damp +clothing caused a most unpleasant sensation. + +"It's an ill wind that blows nobody good," said Guy. "This breeze will +take us home, spinning." + +"I'm glad of it," said Ethelyn snappishly; "I've had quite enough of the +sailing party." + +Frank confided to Patty afterward that he felt like responding that the +sailing party had had quite enough of her, but instead he said politely: + +"Oh, don't be so easily discouraged! Better luck next time." + +To which Ethelyn replied, still crossly, "There'll be no next time for +me." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +MORE COUSINS + + +Patty was not sorry when her Elmbridge cousins concluded their visit, and +the evening after their departure she sat on the veranda with her father, +talking about them. + +"It's a pity," she said, "that Ethelyn is so ill-tempered; for she's so +pretty and graceful, and she's really very bright and entertaining when +she is pleased. But so much of the time she is displeased, and then +there's no doing anything with her." + +"She's selfish, Patty," said her father; "and selfishness is just about +the worst fault in the catalogue. A selfish person cannot be happy. You +probably learned something to that effect from your early copybooks, but +it is none the less true." + +"I know it, papa, and I do think that selfish ness is the worst fault +there is; and though I fight against it, do you know I sometimes think +that living here alone with you, and having my own way in everything, is +making me rather a selfish individual myself." + +"I don't think you need worry about that," said a hearty voice, and +Kenneth Harper appeared at the veranda steps. "Pardon me, I wasn't +eavesdropping, but I couldn't help overhearing your last remark, and I +think it my duty to set your mind at rest on that score. Selfishness is +not your besetting sin, Miss Patty Fairfield, and I can't allow you to +libel yourself." + +"I quite agree with you, Ken," said Mr. Fairfield. "My small daughter may +not be absolutely perfect, but selfishness is not one of her faults. At +least, that's the conclusion I've come to, after observing her pretty +carefully through her long and checkered career." + +"Well, if I'm not selfish, I will certainly become vain if so many +compliments are heaped upon me," said Patty, laughing; "and I'm sure I +value very highly the opinions of two such wise men." + +"Oh, say a man and a boy," said young Harper modestly. + +"All right, I will," said Patty, "but I'm not sure which is which. +Sometimes I think papa more of a boy than you are, Ken." + +"Now you've succeeded in complimenting us both at once," said Mr. +Fairfield, "which proves you clever as well as unselfish." + +"Well, never mind me for the present," said Patty; "I want to talk about +some other people, and they are some more of my cousins." + +"A commodity with which you seem to be well supplied," said Kenneth. + +"Indeed I am; I have a large stock yet in reserve, and I think, papa, +that I'll ask Bob and Bumble to visit me for a few weeks." + +"Do," said Mr. Fairfield, "if you would enjoy having them, but not +otherwise. You've just been through a siege of entertaining cousins, and +I think you deserve a vacation." + +"Oh, but these are so different," said Patty. "Bob and Bumble are nothing +like the St. Clairs. They enjoy everything, and they're always happy." + +"I like their name," said Kenneth. "Bumble isn't exactly romantic, but +it sounds awfully jolly." + +"She is jolly," said Patty, "and so is Bob. They're twins, about sixteen, +and they're just brimming over with fun and mischief. Bumble's real name +is Helen, but I guess no one ever called her that. Helen seems to mean a +fair, tall girl, slender and graceful, and rather willowy; and Bumble is +just the opposite of that: she's round and solid, and always tumbling +down; at least she used to be, but she may have outgrown that habit now. +Anyway, she's a dear." + +"And what is Bob like?" asked her father. "I haven't seen him since he +was a baby." + +"Bob? Oh, he's just plain boy; awfully nice and obliging and good-hearted +and unselfish, but I don't believe he'll ever be President." + +"I think I shall like your two cousins," said Kenneth, with an air of +conviction. "When are they coming?" + +"I shall ask them right away, and I hope they'll soon come. How much +longer shall you be in Vernondale?" + +"Oh, I think I'm a fixture for the summer. Aunt Locky wants me to spend +my whole vacation here, and I don't know of any good reason why I +shouldn't." + +"I'm very glad; it will be awfully nice to have you here when the +twins are, and perhaps somebody else will be here, too. I'm going to +ask Nan Allen." + +"Who is she?" inquired Mr. Fairfield. + +"Oh, papa, don't you remember about her? She is a friend of the Barlows, +and lives near them in Philadelphia, and she was visiting them down at +Long Island when I was there last summer. She's perfectly lovely. She's a +grown-up young lady, compared to Bumble and me--she's about twenty-two, I +think--and I know Kenneth will lose his heart to her. He'll have no more +use for schoolgirls." + +"Probably not," said Kenneth; "but I'm afraid the adorable young lady +will have no use for me. She won't if Hepworth's around, and he usually +is. He's always cutting me out." + +"Nothing of the sort," said Patty staunchly. "Mr. Hepworth is very nice, +but he's papa's friend," + +"And whose friend am I?" said young Harper. + +"You're everybody's friend," said Patty, smiling at him. "You're just +'Our Ken.'" + +Miss Nan Allen was delighted to accept an invitation to Boxley Hall, and +it was arranged that she and the Barlow twins should spend August there. + +"A month is quite a long visit, Pattikins," said her father. + +"Yes, but you see, papa, I stayed there three months. Now, if three of +them stay here one month, it will be the same proportion. And, +besides, I like them, and I want them to stay a good while. I shan't +get tired of them." + +"I don't believe you will, but you may get tired of the care of +housekeeping, with guests for so long a time. But if you do, I shall pick +up the whole tribe of you and bundle off for a trip of some sort." + +"Oh, papa, I wish you would do that. I'd be perfectly delighted. I'll do +my best to get tired, just so you'll take us." + +"But if I remember your reports of your Barlow cousins, it seems to me +they would not make the most desirable travelling companions. Aren't they +the ones who were so helter-skelter, never were ready on time, never knew +where things were, and, in fact, had never learned the meaning of the +phrase 'Law and order'?" + +"Yes, they're the ones, and truly they are something dreadful. Don't you +remember they had a party and forgot to send out the invitations? And the +first night I reached there, when I went to visit them, they forgot to +have any bed in my room." + +"Yes, I thought I remembered your writing to me about some such doings; +and do you think you can enjoy a month with such visitors as that?" + +"Oh, yes, papa, because they won't upset _my_ house; and, really, they're +the dearest people. Oh, I'm awfully fond of Bob and Bumble I And Nan +Allen is lovely. Nobody can help liking her. She's not so helter-skelter +as the others, but down at the Hurly-Burly nobody could help losing +their things. Why, I even grew careless myself." + +"Well, have your company, child, and I'll do all I can to make it +pleasant for you and for them." + +"I know you will, you dear old pearl of a father. Sometimes I think you +enjoy my company as much as I do myself, but I suppose you don't really. +I suppose you entertain the young people and pretend to enjoy it just to +make me happy." + +"I am happy, dear, in anything that makes you happy; though sixteen is +not exactly an age contemporary with my own. But I enjoy having Hepworth +down, and I like young Harper a great deal. Then, of course, I have my +little friends, Mr. and Mrs. Elliott, to play with--so I am not entirely +dependent on the kindergarten." + +The Barlow twins and Nan Allen were expected to arrive on Thursday +afternoon at four o'clock, and everything at Boxley Hall was in readiness +for the arrival of the guests. + +"Not that it's worth while to have everything in such spick-and-span +order," said Patty to herself, "for the Barlows won't appreciate it, and +what's more they'll turn everything inside out and upside down before +they've been in the house an hour." + +But, notwithstanding her conviction, she made her preparations as +carefully as if for the most fastidious visitors and viewed the result +with great satisfaction after it was finished. + +She went down in the carriage to meet the train, delighted at the thought +of seeing again her Barlow cousins, of whom she was really very fond. + +"I wish Aunt Grace and Uncle Ted were coming, too," she said to herself; +"but I suppose I couldn't take care of so many people at once. It would +be like running a hotel." + +The train had not arrived when they reached the station, so, telling the +coachman to wait, Patty left the carriage and walked up and down the +station platform. + +"Hello, Patty, haven't your cousins come yet?" + +"Why, Kenneth, is that you? No, they haven't come; I think the train +must be late." + +"Yes, it is a little, but there it is now, just coming into sight around +the curve. May I stay and meet them? Or would you rather fall on their +necks alone?" + +"Oh, stay, I'd be glad to have you; but you'll have to walk back, there's +no room in the carriage for you." + +"Oh, that's all right. I have my wheel, thank you." + +The train stopped, and a number of passengers alighted. But as the train +went on and the small crowd dispersed, Patty remarked in a most +exasperated tone: + +"Well, they didn't come on that train. I just knew they wouldn't. They +are the most aggravating people! Now, nobody knows whether they were on +that train and didn't know enough to get off, or whether they missed it +at the New York end. What time is the next train?" + +"I'm not sure," said Kenneth; "let's go in the station and find out." + +The next train was due at 4.30, but the expected guests did not arrive +on that either. + +"There's no use in getting annoyed," said Patty, laughing, "for it's +really nothing more nor less than I expected. The Barlows never catch the +train they intend to take." + +"And Miss Allen? Is she the same kind of an 'Old Reliable'?" + +"No, Nan is different; and I believe that, left to herself, she'd be on +time, though probably not ahead of time. But I've never seen her except +with the Barlows, and when she was down at the Hurly-Burly she was just +about as uncertain as the rest of them." + +"Is the Hurly-Burly the Barlow homestead?" + +"Well, it's their summer home, and it's really a lovely place. But its +name just expresses it. I spent three months there last summer, and I had +an awfully good time, but no one ever knew what was going to happen next +or when it would come off. But everybody was so good-natured that they +didn't mind a bit. Well, I suppose we may as well drive back home. +There's no telling when these people will come. Very likely not until +to-morrow." + +Just then a small messenger boy came up to Patty and handed her a +telegram. + +"Just as I thought!" exclaimed Patty. "They've done some crazy thing." + +Opening the yellow envelope, she read: + +"Took wrong train. Carried through to Philadelphia. Back this +evening. BOB." + +"Well, then, they can't get here until that nine-o'clock train comes in," +said Kenneth, "so there's no use in your waiting any longer now." + +"No, I suppose not," said Patty; "I'm awfully disappointed. I wish they +had come." + +An east-bound train had just come into the station, and Patty and Kenneth +stood idly watching it, when suddenly Patty exclaimed: + +"There they are now! Did you ever know such ridiculous people?" + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +A FAIR EXCHANGE + + +"We didn't have to go to Philadelphia after all," explained Bob, after +greetings had been exchanged. "We found we could get off at New Brunswick +and come back from there." + +"Why didn't you find out that before telegraphing?" laughed Patty. + +"Never once thought of it," said Bob, "You know the Barlows are not noted +for ingenuity." + +"Well, they're noted for better things than that," said Patty, as she +affectionately squeezed Bumble's plump arm. + +"We wouldn't have thought of it at all," said honest Bob, "if it hadn't +been for Nan. She suggested it." + +"Well, I was sent along with instructions to look after you two +rattle-pated youngsters," said Nan, "and so I had to do something to live +up to my privileges; and now, Bob, you look after the luggage, will you?" + +"Let me help," said Kenneth. "Where are your checks, Miss Allen?" + +"Here are the checks for the trunks, and there are three suit-cases; the +one that hasn't any name on is mine, and you tell it by the fact that it +has an extra handle on the end. I'm very proud of that handle; I had it +put on by special order, and it's so convenient, and it is identification +besides. I didn't want my name painted on. I think it spoils a brand-new +suit-case to have letters all over it." + +"We'll find them all right; come on, Barlow," said Kenneth, and the two +young men started off. + +They returned in a few moments with the three suit-cases, Bob bringing +his own and his sister's, while Kenneth Harper carefully carried the +immaculate leather case with the handle on the end. These were deposited +in the Fairfield carriage. Patty and her guests were also tucked in, and +they started for the house, while Kenneth followed on his wheel. + +"Come over to-night," Patty called back to him, as they left him behind; +and though his answer was lost in the distance, she had little doubt as +to its tenor. + +"What a nice young fellow!" said Nan. "Who is he?" + +"He's the nephew of our next-door neighbour," said Patty; "and he's +spending his vacation with his aunt." + +"He's a jolly all-round chap," said Bob. + +"Yes, he's just that," said Patty. "I thought you'd like him. You'll like +all the young people here. They're an awfully nice crowd." + +"I'm so glad to see _you_ again," said Bumble, "I don't care whether I +like the other young people or not. And I want to see Uncle Fred, too. I +haven't seen him for years and years." + +"Oh, he's one of the young people," said Patty, laughing; "he goes 'most +everywhere with us. I tell him he's more of a boy than Ken." + +As they drove up to the house, Bumble exclaimed with delight at the +beautiful flowers and the well-kept appearance of the whole place. + +"What a lovely home!" she cried. "I don't see how you ever put up with +our tumble-down old place, Patty." + +"Nonsense!" said Patty. "I had the time of my life down at the +Hurly-Burly last summer." + +"Well, we're going to have the time of our life at Boxley Hall this +summer, I feel sure of that," said Bob, as he sprang out of the carriage +and then helped the others out. + +"I hope you will," said Patty. "You are very welcome to Boxley Hall, and +I want you just to look upon it as your home and conduct yourselves +accordingly." + +"Nan can do that," said Bumble, "but I'm afraid, if Bob and I did it, +your beautiful home would soon lose its present spick-and-span effect." + +"All right, let it lose," said Patty. "We'll have a good time anyhow. And +now," she went on, as she took the guests to their rooms, "there'll be +just about an hour before dinner time but if you get ready before that +come down. You'll probably find me on the front veranda, if I'm not in +the kitchen." + +Bob was the first one to reappear, and he found Patty and her father +chatting on the front veranda. + +"How do you do, Uncle Fred?" he said. "You may know my name, but I doubt +if you remember my features." + +"Hello, Bob, my boy," said Mr. Fairfield, cordially grasping the hand +held out to him. "As I last saw you with features of infantile vacancy, I +am glad to start fresh and make your acquaintance all over again." + +"Thank you, sir," said Bob, as he seated himself on the veranda railing. +"I didn't know you as an infant, but I dare say you were a very +attractive one." + +"I think I was," said Mr. Fairfield; "at least I remember hearing my +mother say so, and surely she ought to know." + +Just then Bumble came out on the porch with her hair-ribbon in her hand. + +"Please tie this for me, Patty," she said. "I cannot manage it myself, +and get it on quick before Uncle Fred sees me." + +"But I am so glad to see you, my dear Bumble," said Mr. Fairfield, "that +even that piece of pretty blue ribbon can't make me any gladder." + +Bumble smiled back at him in her winning way, and Patty tied her cousin's +hair-ribbon with a decided feeling of relief that in all other respects +Bumble's costume was tidy and complete. + +"Where's Nan?" she inquired; "isn't she ready yet?" + +"Why, it's the funniest thing," said Bumble, "I tapped at her door as I +came by, but she told me to go on and not wait for her, she would come +down in a few minutes." + +Just as Pansy appeared to announce dinner, Nan did come down, and Patty +stared at her in amazement. Bob whistled, and Bumble exclaimed: + +"Well, for goodness gracious sakes! What are you up to now?" + +For Nan, instead of wearing the pretty gown which Bumble knew she had +brought in her suitcase, was garbed in the complete costume of a trained +nurse. A white piqué skirt and linen shirt-waist of immaculate and +starched whiteness, an apron with regulation shoulder-straps, and a cap +that betokened a graduate of St. Luke's Hospital, formed her surprising, +but not at all unbecoming, outfit. + +Nan's roguish face looked very demure under the white cap, and she smiled +pleasantly when Patty at last recovered her wits sufficiently to +introduce her father. + +"Nan," she said, "if this is really you, let me present my father; and, +papa, this is supposed to be Miss Nan Allen, but I never saw her look +like this before." + +"I am very glad to meet you, Miss Allen," said Mr. Fairfield, "and though +we are all apparently very well at present, one can never tell how soon +there may be need of your professional services." + +"I hope not very soon," said Nan, laughing; "for my professional +knowledge is scarcely sufficient to enable me to adjust this costume +properly." + +"It seems to be on all right," said Patty, looking at it critically; "but +where in the world did you get it? And what have you got it on for? We're +not going to a masquerade." + +"I put it on," said Nan, "because I couldn't help myself. I wanted to +change my travelling gown, and when I opened my suit-case this is all +there was in it, except some combs and brushes and bottles." + +"Whew!" said Bob. "When I picked up that suit-case I wasn't quite sure I +had the right one. You know I went back for it after we left the train at +New Brunswick, and you said it was the only one in the world with a +handle on the end." + +"I thought it was," said Nan, "but it seems somebody else was clever +enough to have an end-handle too, and she was a trained nurse, +apparently." + +"Many of the new suit-cases have handles on the end," said Mr. Fairfield, +"though not common as yet I have seen a number of them. But just imagine +how the nurse feels who is obliged to wear your dinner gown instead of +her uniform." + +"I hope she won't spoil it," exclaimed Bumble. "It was that lovely light +blue thing, one of the prettiest frocks you own." + +"I can imagine her now," said Bob: "she is probably bathing the brow of a +sleepless patient, and the lace ruffles and turquoise bugles are helping +along a lot. In fact, I think she's looking rather nice going around a +sick-room in that blue bombazine." + +"It isn't bombazine, Bob," said his sister; "it's beautiful, lovely +light-blue chiffon." + +"Well, beautiful, lovely light-blue chiffon, then; but anyway, I'm +sure the nurse is glad of a chance to wear it instead of her own +plain clothes." + +"But her own plain clothes are not at all unpicturesque, and are very +becoming to Miss Allen," said Mr. Fairfield. "But haven't your trunks +come?" he added, as they all went out to dinner. + +"No," said Bob; "Mr. Harper and I investigated the baggage-room, but +they weren't there." + +"Oh, call him Kenneth," said Patty. "You boys are too young for such +formality." + +"I may be," said Bob, "but he isn't. He's a college man." + +"He's a college boy," said Patty; "he's only nineteen, and you're sixteen +yourself." + +"Going on seventeen," said Bob proudly, "and so is Bumble." + +"Twins often are the same age," observed Mr. Fairfield, "and after a few +years, Bob, you'll have to be careful how you announce your own age, +because it will reveal your sister's." + +"Pooh! I don't care," said Bumble. "I'd just as lieve people would know +how old I am. Nan is twenty-two, and she doesn't care who knows it." + +"You look about fifty in those ridiculous clothes," said Patty. + +"Do I?" said Nan, quite unconcernedly. "I don't mind that a bit, but I +don't think I can keep them at this stage of whiteness for many days. +Can anything be done to coax our trunks this way?" + +"We might do some telephoning after dinner," said Mr. Fairfield. "What is +the situation up to the present time?" + +"Why, you see it was this way," said Bumble. "When the carriage came to +take us to the station, the trunks weren't quite ready, and mamma said +for us to go on and she'd finish packing them and send them down in time +to get that train or the next." + +"And did they come for that train?" + +"No, they didn't, and so, of course, they must have been sent on the next +one; but even so, they ought to be here now, because, you know, we went +on through and came back." + +"But how did you get your checks if your trunks weren't put on the +train?" + +"Oh, the baggageman knows us," explained Bob, "and he gave us our checks +and kept the duplicates to put on our trunks when they came down to the +station. He often does that." + +"Yes," said Bumble, "we've never had our trunks ready yet when the man +came for them." + +"Nan's was ready," put in Bob, who was a great stickler for justice, +"but, of course, hers couldn't go till ours did. Oh, I guess they'll turn +up all right." + +They did turn up all right twenty-four hours later, but the exchange of +suit-cases was not so easily effected. + +However, after more or less correspondence between Nan and the nurse who +owned the uniform, the transfer was finally made, and Nan recovered her +pretty blue gown, which certainly bore no evidence of having been worn in +a sickroom. + +"But I bet she wore it, all the same," said Bob. "She probably +neglected her patient and went to a party that night just because she +had the frock." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +A GOOD SUGGESTION + + +August at Boxley Hall proved to be a month of fun and frolic. The Barlow +cousins were much easier to entertain than the St. Clairs. In fact, they +entertained themselves, and as for Nan Allen, she entertained everybody +with whom she came in contact. Mr. Fairfield expressed himself as being +delighted to have Patty under the influence of such a gracious and +charming young woman, and Aunt Alice quite agreed with him. Marian adored +Nan, and though she liked Bumble very much indeed, she took more real +pleasure in the society of the older girl. + +But they were a congenial crowd of merry young people, and when Mr. +Hepworth came down from the city, as he often did, and Kenneth Harper +drifted in from next-door, as he very often did, the house party at +Boxley Hall waxed exceeding merry. + +And there was no lack of social entertainment. The Vernondale young +people were quite ready to provide pleasures for Patty's guests, and the +appreciation shown by Nan and the Barlows was a decided and very pleasant +contrast to the attitude of Ethelyn and Reginald. + +Sailing parties occurred often, and these Nan enjoyed especially, for she +was passionately fond of the water, and dearly loved sailing or rowing. + +The Tea Club girls all liked Nan, and though she was older than most of +them, she enjoyed their meetings quite as much as Bumble, Marian, or +Patty herself. + +Bob soon made friends with the "Tea Club Annex," as the boys of Patty's +set chose to call themselves. Though not a club of any sort, they were +always invited when the Tea Club had anything special going on, and many +times when it hadn't. + +One afternoon the Tea Club was holding its weekly meeting at Marian's. + +"Do you know," Elsie Morris was saying, "that the Babies' Hospital is in +need of funds again? Those infants are perfect gormandisers. I don't see +how they can eat so much or wear so many clothes." + +"Babies always wear lots of clothes," said Lillian Desmond, with an air +of great wisdom. "I've seen them; they just bundle them up in everything +they can find, and then wrap more things around them." + +"Well, they've used up all their wrappings," said Elsie Morris, "and +they want more. I met Mrs. Greenleaf this morning in the street, and +she stopped me to ask if we girls wouldn't raise some more money for +them somehow." + +"Oh, dear!" said Florence Douglass. "They just want us to work all the +time for the old hospital; I'm tired of it." + +"Why, Florence!" said Patty. "We haven't done a thing since we had that +play last winter. I think it would be very nice to have some +entertainment or something and make some money for them again. We could +have some summery outdoorsy kind of a thing like a lawn party, you know." + +"Yes," said Laura Russell, "and have it rain and spoil everything; and +soak all the Chinese lanterns, and drench all the people's clothes, and +everybody would run into the house and track mud all over. Oh, it would +be lovely!" + +"What a cheerful view you do take of things, Laura," said Elsie Morris. +"Now, you know it's just as likely not to rain as to rain." + +"More likely," said Nan. "It doesn't rain twice as often as it rains. Now +I believe it would be a beautiful bright day, or moonlight night, +whichever you have the party, and nobody will get their clothes spoiled, +and the lanterns will burn lovely, and you will have a big crowd, and it +would be a howling success, and you'd make an awful lot of money." + +"That picture sounds very attractive," said Polly Stevens, "and I say +let's do it. But somehow I don't like a lawn party--it's so tame. Let's +have something real novel and original. Nan, you must know of something." + +"I don't," said Nan. "I'm stupid as an owl about such things. But if you +can decide on something to have, I'll help all I can with it." + +"And Nan's awful good help!" put in Bumble. "She works and works and +works, and never gets tired. I'll help, too; I'd love to, only I'm not +much good." + +"We'll take all the help that's offered," said Elsie Morris, "of any +quality whatsoever. But what can the show be?" + +No amount of thinking or discussion seemed to suggest any novel +enterprise by which a fortune could be made at short notice, and at last +Nan said: "I should think, Patty, that Mr. Hepworth could help. He's +always having queer sorts of performances in his studio. Don't you know +the Mock Art exhibition he told us about?" + +"Oh, yes," said Patty; "he'd be sure to know of something for us to do; +and I think he's coming out with papa to-night. I'll ask him." + +"Do," said Elsie; "and tell him it must be something that's heaps of fun, +and that we'll all like, and that's never been done here before." + +"All right," said Patty. "Anything else?" + +"Yes; it must be something to appeal to the popular taste and draw a big +crowd, so we can make a lot of money for the babies." + +"Very well," said Patty; "I'll tell him all that, and I'm sure he'll +suggest just the right thing." + +Mr. Hepworth did come down that night, and when the girls asked him for +suggestions he very willingly began to think up plans for them. + +"I should think you might make a success," he said, "of an entertainment +like one I attended up in the mountains last summer. It was called a +'County Fair,' and was a sort of burlesque on the county fairs or state +fairs that used to be held annually, and are still, I believe, in some +sections of the country." + +"It sounds all right so far," said Patty. "Tell us more about it." + +"Well, you know you get everybody interested, and you have a committee +for all the different parts of it." + +"What are the different parts of it?" + +"Oh, they're the domestic department, where you exhibit pies and +bed-quilts and spatter-work done by the ladies in charge." + +"Of course, these exhibits aren't real, you know, Patty," said her +father; "and you girls would probably be tempted to put up gay jokes on +each other. For instance, that rockery arrangement of Pansy's might be +exhibited as your idea of art work." + +"I wouldn't mind the joke on myself, papa," said Patty, "but it might not +please Pansy. But we can get plenty of things to exhibit in the domestic +department. That will be easy enough. I'll borrow Miss Daggett's pumpkin +bed-quilt to exhibit as my latest achievement in the line of applied art, +and I'll make a pie and label it Laura Russell's, which will take the +first prize; but what other departments are there, Mr. Hepworth?" + +"Well, the horticulture department can be made very humourous, as well as +lucrative. At this fair I went to, the ladies had a beautiful table full +of pin-cushions and other gimcracks, in the shape of fruits and +vegetables." + +"Oh, yes," said Bumble, "I know how to make those. I can make bananas and +potatoes and Nan can make lovely strawberries." + +"And I can make paper flowers," said Bob, "honest, I can! Great big +sunflowers and tiger lilies, and you can use them for lampshades if +you like." + +"Yes, the horticulture booth will be easy enough," said Nan. "I'll help a +lot with that. Now, what else?" + +"Then you can have an art gallery, if you like. Burlesque, of course, +with ridiculous pictures and statues. I know where I can borrow a lot for +you in New York." + +"Gorgeous!" cried Patty, clapping her hands. "What a trump you are! +What else?" + +"A loan exhibition is of real interest," said Mr. Hepworth. "If you've +never had one of those here, I think one or two of your members could +arrange a very effective little exhibit by borrowing objects of interest +from their friends about town." + +"I'm sure of it," said Patty. "Miss Daggett has lovely things, and so has +Mrs. Greenleaf, and Aunt Alice, and lots of people. We'll let Florence +Douglass and Lillian Desmond look after that. It's just in their line." + +"And then you must have side shows, you know; funny performances, like +'Punch and Judy,' and a fortune-telling gipsy. And then all the people +who take part in it must wear fancy or grotesque costumes. And the great +feature of the whole show is a parade of these people in their eccentric +garb. Some walk, while others ride on decorated steeds, or in queer +vehicles. Of course, there's lots of detail and lots of work about it, +but if you go into the thing with any sort of enthusiasm, I'm sure you +can make a big success of it." + +They did go into the thing with all sorts of enthusiasm, and they did +make a big success of it. + +The Tea Club girls declared the scheme a fine one, and the Boys' Annex +announced themselves as ready to help in any and every possible way. +Committees were appointed to attend to the different departments, and as +these committees were carefully selected with a view to giving each what +he or she liked best to do, the whole work went on harmoniously. + +The site chosen for the county fair was the old Warner place. As this was +still unoccupied, it made a most appropriate setting for the projected +entertainment. When Mr. Hepworth saw it he declared it was ideal for the +purpose, and immediately began to make plans for utilising the different +rooms of the old house. + +A loan exhibition was to be held in one; and, as Patty had foreseen, many +old relics and heirlooms of great interest were borrowed from willing +lenders around town. In another room was the domestic exhibition, and in +another the horticultural show was held. + +One room was devoted to amusing the children, and contained a Punch and +Judy show, fish pond, and various games. + +There was a candy kitchen, where white-capped cooks could make candy and +sell it to immediate purchasers. + +It had been decided to hold the fair during the afternoon and evening of +two consecutive days. As Nan had prophesied, these days showed weather +beyond all criticism. Not too warm to be pleasant, but with bright +sunshine and a gentle breeze. + +At three o'clock the grand parade began, and the spectators watched with +glee the grotesque figures that passed them in line. + +Patty, whose special department was the candy kitchen, was dressed as the +Queen of Hearts who made the renowned tarts. Mr. Hepworth had designed +her dress, and though it was of simple white cheese-cloth, trimmed with +red-and-gold hearts, it was very effective and becoming. She wore a gilt +crown, and carried a gilt sceptre, and rode in her own little pony cart, +which had been so gaily decorated for the occasion that it was quite +unrecognisable. Kenneth Harper, as the Knave of Hearts, who wickedly +stole the tarts, sat by her side and drove the little chariot. + +Nan was dressed as a gipsy. She had a marvellous tent in which to tell +fortunes, and in the parade she rode on a much-bedecked donkey. + +Marian was a dame of olden time, and Bumble was a Japanese lady of +high degree. + +There were quaint and curious costumes of all sorts, each of which +provoked much mirth or admiration from the enthusiastic audience. + +After the parade, the fair was announced open, and the patrons were +requested to spend their money freely for the benefit of the hospital. + +So well did they respond that, as a result of their efforts, the Tea Club +girls were able to present Mrs. Greenleaf with the sum of five hundred +dollars toward her good work. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +AT THE SEASHORE + + +Toward the end of August the Barlows' visit drew toward its close. +Although Patty was sorry to have her cousins go, yet she looked forward +with a certain sense of relief to being once more alone with her father. + +"It's lovely to have company," she confided to her Aunt Alice one day, +"and I do enjoy it ever so much, only somehow I get tired of ordering and +looking after things day after day." + +"All housekeepers have that experience, Patty, dear," said Aunt Alice, +"but they're usually older than you before they begin. It is a great deal +of care for a girl of sixteen, and though you get along beautifully, I'm +sure it has been rather a hard summer for you." + +So impressed was Mrs. Elliott with these facts that she talked to Mr. +Fairfield about the matter, and advised him to take Patty away somewhere +for a little rest and change before beginning her school year again. + +Mr. Fairfield agreed heartily to this plan, expressed himself as willing +to take Patty anywhere, and suggested that some of the Elliotts go, too. + +When Patty's opinion was asked, she said she would be delighted to go +away for a vacation, and that she had the place all picked out. + +"Well, you are an expeditious young woman," said her father. "And where +is it that you want to go?" + +"Why, you see, papa, the 1st of September, when Bob and Bumble go home +from here, Nan isn't going back with them; she's going down to Spring +Lake. That's a place down on the New Jersey coast, and I've never been +there, and she says it's lovely, and so I want to go there." + +"Well, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't," said Mr. Fairfield. "It +would suit me well enough, if Nan is willing we should follow in her +footsteps." + +"I'm delighted to have you," said Nan, who was in a hammock at the other +end of the veranda when this conclave was taking place. + +"I wish we could go with the crowd," said Bob, who was perched on the +veranda railing. + +"I wish so, too," said Bumble; "but wishing doesn't do any good. After +that letter father wrote yesterday, I think the best thing for us to do +is to scurry home as fast as we can." + +So the plans were made according to Patty's wish, and a few days after +the Barlow twins returned to their home, a merry party left Vernondale +for Spring Lake. + +This party consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Elliott and Marian, Mr. Fairfield, +Patty, and Nan. + +They had all arranged for rooms in the same hotel to which Nan was going, +and where her parents were awaiting her. + +Marlborough House was its name, and very attractive and comfortable it +looked to the Vernondale people as they arrived about four o'clock one +afternoon in early September. + +Mr. and Mrs. Allen proved to be charming people who were more than ready +to show any courtesies in their power to the Fairfields, who had so +kindly entertained Nan. + +Although an older couple than the Elliotts, they proved to be congenial +companions, and after a day or two the whole party felt as if they had +known each other all their lives. Acquaintances ripen easily at the +seashore, and Patty soon came to the conclusion that she was beginning +what was to be one of the pleasantest experiences of her life. + +And so it proved; although Mr. Fairfield announced that Patty had come +down for a rest, and that there was to be very little, if any, gaiety +allowed, yet somehow there was always something pleasant going on. + +Every day there was salt-water bathing, and this was a great delight to +Patty. The summer before, at her uncle's home on Long Island, she had +learned to swim, and though it was more difficult to swim in the surf, +yet it was also more fun. Nan was an expert swimmer, and Marian knew +nothing of the art, but the three girls enjoyed splashing about in the +water, and were never quite ready to come out when Aunt Alice or Mrs. +Allen called to them from the beach. + +In the afternoons there were long walks or drives along the shore, and +the exercise and salt air soon restored to Patty the robust health and +strength which her father feared she had lost during the summer. + +In the evening there was dancing--sometimes hops, but more often informal +dancing among the young people staying at the hotel. All three of our +girls were fond of dancing, and excelled in the art, but Patty was +especially graceful and skillful. + +The first Saturday night after their arrival at Marlborough House, a +large dance was to be held, and this was really Patty's first experience +at what might be termed a ball. + +She was delighted with the prospect, and her father had ordered her a +beautiful new frock from New York, which proved to be rather longer than +any she had as yet worn. + +"I feel so grown up in it," she exclaimed, as she tried it on to show her +father. "I think I'll have to do up my hair when I wear this grand +costume; It doesn't seem just right to have it tied up with a little +girl hair-ribbon." + +"Patty, my child, I do believe you're growing up!" said her father. + +"I do believe I am, papa; I'm almost seventeen, and I'm taller than Aunt +Alice now, and a lot taller than Marian." + +"It isn't only your height, child, you always were a big girl. But you +seem to be growing up in other ways, and I don't believe I like it I +was glad when you were no longer a child, but I like to have you a +little girl, and I don't believe I'll care for you a bit when you're a +young woman." + +"Now, isn't that too bad!" said Patty, pinching her father's cheek. "I +suppose I'll have to suit myself with another father--I'm sure I couldn't +live with anybody who didn't like me a bit. Well, perhaps Uncle Charley +will adopt me; he seems to like me at any age." + +"Oh, I'll try and put up with you," said her father, kissing her. "And +meantime, what's this talk about piling up your hair on top of your head. +Is it really absolutely necessary to do so, if you wear this frippery +confection of dry-goods?" + +"Oh, not necessary, perhaps, but I think it would look better. At any +rate, I'll just try it." + +"Well, you don't seem to be standing with very _reluctant_ feet," said +her father. "I believe you're rather anxious to grow up, after all; but +run along, chicken, and dress your hair any way you please. I want you to +have a good time at your first ball." + +As Frank Elliott and Kenneth Harper and Mr. Hepworth came down to Spring +Lake to stay over Sunday, the party of friends at Marlborough House was +considerably augmented. When the young men arrived the girls were lazily +basking on the sand, and Nan was pretending to read a book to the other +two. Only pretending, however, for Patty kept interrupting her with +nonsensical remarks, and Marian teased her by slowly sifting sand through +her fingers onto the pages of the book. + +"I might as well try to read to a tribe of wild Indians as to you two +girls," said Nan at last. "Don't you _want_ your minds improved?" + +"Do you think our superior minds _can_ be improved by that trash you're +reading?" said Patty. "I really think some of your instructive +conversation would benefit us more greatly." + +"You're an ungrateful pair," said Nan, "and you don't deserve that I +should waste my valuable conversation upon you. And you don't deserve, +either, that I should tell you to turn your heads around to see who's +coming--but I will." + +Her hearers looked round quickly, and saw three familiar figures coming +along the board walk. + +"Goody!" cried Patty, and scrambling to her feet, she ran with +outstretched hands to meet them. + +She didn't look very grown up then, in her blue-serge beach dress and her +hair in a long thick braid down her back, and curling round her temples +in windblown locks; but to Mr. Hepworth's artist eye she looked more +beautiful than he had ever seen her. + +Kenneth Harper, too, looked admiringly at the graceful figure flying +toward them across the sand, but Frank shouted: + +"Hello, Patty, don't break your neck! we're coming down there. +Where's Marian?" + +"She's right here," answered Patty; "we're all right here. Your mother's +up on the veranda. Oh, I'm so glad to see you! This is the loveliest +place, and we're having the beautifullest time; and now that you boys +have come, it will be better than ever. And there's going to be a hop +tonight! Isn't that gay? Oh, how do you do, Mr. Hepworth?" + +Though Patty's manner took on a shade more of dignity in addressing the +older man, it lost nothing in cordiality, and he responded with words of +glad greeting. + +Hearing the laughter and excitement, Aunt Alice and Mrs. Allen came down +from the veranda to sit on the sand by the young people. Soon Mr. +Fairfield and Mr. Allen and Mr. Elliott, returning from a stroll, joined +the party. + +The newcomers produced divers and sundry parcels, which they turned over +to the ladies, and which proved to contain various new books and +magazines and delicious candies and fruits. + +"It's just like Christmas!" exclaimed Patty. "I do love to have things +brought to me." + +"You're certainly in your element now, then," said Mr. Fairfield, looking +at his daughter, who sat with a fig in one hand and a chocolate in the +other, trying to open a book with her elbows. + +"I certainly am," she responded. "The only flaw is that I suppose it's +about time to go in to dinner. I wish we could all sit here on the +sand forever." + +"You'd change your mind when you reached my age," said Mrs. Allen. "I'm +quite ready to go in now and find a more comfortable chair." + +Later that evening Patty, completely arrayed for the dance, came to her +father for inspection. + +"You look very sweet, my child," he said after gazing at her long and +earnestly; "and with your hair dressed that way you look very much like +your mother. I'm sorry you're growing up, my baby, I certainly am; but I +suppose it can't be helped unless the world stops turning around. And if +it's any satisfaction to you, I'd like to have you know that your father +thinks you the prettiest and sweetest girl in all the country round." + +"And aren't you going to tell me that if I only behave as well as I look, +I'll do very nicely?" + +"You seem to know that already, so I hardly think it's necessary." + +"Well, I'll tell it to you, then; for you do look so beautiful in +evening clothes that I don't believe you _can_ behave as well as you +look. Nobody could." + +"I see your growing up has taught you flattery," said her father, "a +habit you must try to overcome." + +But Patty was already dancing down the long hall to Aunt Alice's room, +and a few moments later they all went down to the parlours. + +When Kenneth first saw Patty that evening, he stood looking at her with a +funny, stupefied expression on his face. + +"What's the matter?" said Patty, laughing. "Just because I'm wearing a +few extra hairpins you needn't look as if you'd lost your last friend." + +"I--I feel as if I ought to call you Miss Fairfield." + +"Well, call me that if you like, I don't mind. Call me Miss Smith or Miss +Brown, if you want to--I don't care what you call me, if you'll only ask +me to dance." + +"Come on, then," said Kenneth; and in a moment they were whirling in the +waltz, and the boy's momentary embarrassment was entirely forgotten. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +AMBITIONS + + +"There!" said Kenneth, after the dance was over, "you look more like your +old self now." + +"I haven't lost any hairpins, have I?" said Patty, putting up her hands +to her fluffy topknot. + +"No, but you've lost that absurd dressed-up look." + +"I'm getting used to my new frock. Don't you like it?" + +"Yes, of course I do. I like everything you wear, because I like you. In +fact, I think I like you better than any girl I ever saw." + +Kenneth said this in such a frank, boyish way that he seemed to be +announcing a mere casual preference for some matter-of-fact thing. + +At least it seemed so to Patty, and she answered carelessly: + +"You _think_ you do! I'd like you to be sure of it, sir." + +"I am sure of it," said Ken, and then, a little more diffidently: "Do you +like me best?" + +"Why, yes, of course I do," said Patty, smiling, "that is, after papa and +Aunt Alice and Marian and Uncle Charley and Frank and Mancy and +Pansy--and Mr. Hepworth." + +Patty might not have added the last name if she had not just then seen +that gentleman coming toward her. + +He looked at Patty with an especial kindliness in his eyes, and +said gently: + +"Miss Fairfield, may I see your card?" + +Patty flushed a little and her eyes fell. + +"Please don't talk like that," she said. "I'm not grown up, if I am +dressed up. I'm only Patty, and if you call me anything else I'll +run away." + +"Don't run away," said Mr. Hepworth, still looking at her with that grave +kindliness that seemed to have about it a touch of sadness. "I will call +you Patty as long as you will stay with me." + +Then Patty smiled again, quite her own merry little self, and gave him +her card, saying: + +"Put your name down a lot of times, please; you are a beautiful dancer, +and I like best to dance with the people I know best." + +"I wish I had a rubber stamp," said Mr. Hepworth; "it's very fatiguing to +write one's name on every line." + +"Oh, good gracious!" cried Patty, "don't take them all. I want to save a +lot for Frank and Ken--" + +"And your father," said Mr. Hepworth. + +"Papa? He doesn't dance--at least, I never saw him." + +"But he did dance that last waltz, with Miss Allen." + +"With Nan? Well, then, I rather think he can dance with his own +daughter. Don't take any more; I want all the rest for him, and please +take me to him." + +"Here he comes now. Mr. Fairfield, your daughter wishes a word with you." + +"Papa Fairfield!" exclaimed Patty, "you never told me you could dance!" + +"You never asked me; you took it for granted that I was too old to frisk +around the ballroom." + +"And aren't you?" asked Patty teasingly. + +"Try me and see," said her father, as he took her card. + +The trial proved very satisfactory, and Patty declared that she must have +inherited her own taste for dancing from her father. + +The evening passed all too swiftly. Pretty Patty, with her merry ways and +graceful manners, was a real belle, and Aunt Alice was besieged by +requests for introductions to her niece and daughter. But Marian, though +a sweet and charming girl, had a certain shyness which always kept her +from becoming an immediate favourite. Patty's absolute lack of +self-consciousness and her ready friendliness made her popular at once. + +Mr. Fairfield and Nan Allen were speaking of this, as they stood out on +the veranda and looked at Patty through the window. + +"She's the most perfect combination," Miss Allen was saying, "of the +child and the girl. She has none of the silly affectations of +young-ladyhood, and yet she has in her nature all the elements that go to +make a wise and sensible woman." + +"I think you're right," said Mr. Fairfield, as he looked fondly at his +daughter. "She is growing up just as I want her to, and developing the +traits I most want her to possess. A frank simplicity of manner, a happy, +fun-loving disposition, and a gentle, unselfish soul." + +Meantime Patty and Mr. Hepworth were sitting on the stairs. + +"Now my cup of happiness is full," remarked Patty. "I have always thought +it must be perfect bliss to sit on the stairs at a party. I don't know +why, I'm sure, but all the information I have gathered from art and +literature have led me to consider it the height of earthly joy." + +"And is it proving all your fancy painted it?" asked Mr. Hepworth, who +was sitting a step below. + +"Yes--that is, it's almost perfect." + +"And what is the lacking element?" + +"Oh, I wouldn't like to tell you," said Patty, and Mr. Hepworth was not +quite certain whether her confusion were real or simulated. + +"May I guess?" he asked. + +"Yes, if you'll promise not to guess true," said Patty. "If you did, I +should be overcome with blushing embarrassment." + +"But I am going to guess, and if I guess true I will promise to go and +bring you the element that will complete your happiness." + +"That sounds so tempting," said Patty, "that now I hope you _will_ guess +true. What is the missing joy?" + +"Kenneth Harper," said Mr. Hepworth, looking at Patty curiously. + +Without a trace of a blush Patty broke into gay laughter. + +"Oh, you are ridiculous!" she said. "I have _you_ here, why should I +want him?" + +"Then what is it you do want?" and Mr. Hepworth looked away as he evaded +her question. + +"Since you make me confess my very prosaic desires, I'll own up that I'd +like a strawberry ice." + +"Well, that's just what I'm dying for myself," said Mr. Hepworth gaily; +"and if you'll reserve this orchestra chair for me, I'll go and forage +for it. It looks almost impossible to get through that crowd, but I'll +return either with my shield or on it. Unless you'd rather I'd send +Harper back with the ice?" + +"Do just as you please," said Patty, with a sudden touch of coquetry in +her smiling eyes; "it doesn't matter a bit to me." + +But though a willing messenger, Mr. Hepworth found it impossible to +accomplish his errand with any degree of rapidity, and when he +returned, successful but tardy, he found young Harper waiting where he +had left Patty. + +"She's gone off to dance with Frank Elliott," explained the boy +cheerfully, "and she said you and I could divide the ices between us." + +"All right," said the artist; "here's your share." + +The next morning Patty, Nan, and Marian went down to the beach for a +quiet chat. + +"Let's shake everybody," said Patty, "and just go off by ourselves. I'm +tired of a lot of people." + +"You're becoming such a belle, Patty," said Nan, "that I'm afraid you'll +be bothered with a lot of people the rest of your life." + +"No, I won't," said Patty. "Lots of people are all very well when you +want them, but I'm going to cultivate a talent for getting rid of them +when you don't want them." + +"Can you cultivate a talent, if you have only a taste to start with?" +said Marian, with more seriousness than Patty's careless remark seemed +to call for. + +"If you have the least little scrap of a mustard-seed of taste, and +plenty of will-power, you can cultivate all the talents you want," +said Patty, with the air of an oracle, "Why, what do you want to do +now, Marian?" + +Marian's ambitions were a good deal of a joke in the Elliott family. At +one time she had determined to become a musician, and had spent, +unsuccessfully, many hours and much money in her endeavours, but at last +she was obliged to admit that her talents did not lie in that +direction. Later on she had tried painting, and notwithstanding +discouraging results, she had felt sure of her artistic ability for a +long time, until at last she had proved to her own satisfaction that she +was not meant to make pictures; and now, when she asked the above +question in a serious tone, Patty felt sure that some new scheme was +fermenting in her cousin's brain. + +"What's up, Marian?" she said. "Out with it, and we'll promise to help +you, if it's only by wise discouragement." + +"I think," said Marian, unmoved by her cousin's attitude, "I think I +should like to be an author." + +"Do," said Patty; "that's the best line you've struck yet, because it's +the cheapest. You see, Nan, when Marian goes in for painting and +sculpture and music, her whims cost Uncle Charley fabulous sums of money. +But this new scheme is great! The outlay for a fountain pen and a few +sheets of stamps can't be so very much, and the scheme will keep you out +of other mischief all winter." + +"It does sound attractive," said Nan. "Tell us more about it. Are you +going to write books or stories?" + +"Books," said Marian calmly. + +"Lovely!" cried Patty. "Do two at once, won't you? So you can dedicate +one to Nan and one to me at the same time; I won't share my dedication +with anybody." + +"You can laugh all you like," said Marian; "I don't mind a speck, for I'm +sure I can do it; I've been talking to Miss Fischer, she's written lots +of books, you know, and stories, too, and she says it's awfully easy if +you have a taste for it." + +"Of course it is," said Patty; "that's just what I told you. If you have +a taste--good taste, you know--and plenty of will-power and stamps, you +can write anything you want to; and I believe you'll do it. Go in and +win, Marian! You can put me in your book, if you want to." + +"Willpower isn't everything, Patty," said Nan, whose face had assumed a +curious and somewhat wistful look; "at least, it may be in literature, +but it won't do all I want it to." + +"What do you want, girlie?" said Patty. "I never knew you had an +ungratified ambition gnawing at your heart-strings." + +"Well, I have; I want to be a singer." + +"You do sing beautifully," said Marian. "I've heard you." + +"Yes, but I mean a great singer." + +"On the stage?" inquired Patty. + +"Yes, or in concerts; I don't care where, but I mean to sing wonderfully; +to sing as I feel I could sing, if I had the opportunity." + +"You mean a musical education and foreign study and all those things?" +said Patty. + +"Yes," said Nan. + +"But after all that you might fail," said Marian, remembering her own +experiences. + +"Yes, I might, and probably I should. It's only a dream, you know, but we +were talking about ambitions, and that's mine." + +"And can't you accomplish it?" + +"I don't see how I can; my parents are very much opposed to it. They hate +anything like a public career, and they think I sing quite well enough +now without further instructions." + +"I think so, too," said Patty. "I'd rather hear you sing those quaint +little songs of yours than to hear the most elaborate trills and frills +that any prima donna ever accomplished." + +"Your opinion is worth a great deal to me, Patty, as a friend, but +technically, I can't value it so highly." + +"Of course, I don't know much about music," said Patty, quite unabashed; +"but papa thinks so too. He said your voice is the sweetest voice he +ever heard." + +"Did he?" said Nan. + +"What is your ambition, Patty?" said Marian, after a moment's pause. "Nan +and I have expressed ourselves so frankly you might tell us yours." + +"My ambition?" said Patty. "Why, I never thought of it before, but I +don't believe I have any. I feel rather ashamed, for I suppose every +properly equipped young woman ought to have at least one ambition, and I +don't seem to have a shadow of one. Really great ones, I mean. Of course, +I can sing a little; not much, but it seems to be enough for me. And I +can play a little on the piano and on the banjo, and I suppose it's +shocking; but really I don't care to play any better than I do. I can't +paint, and I can't write stories, but I don't want to do either." + +"You can keep house," said Marian. + +Patty's eyes lighted up. + +"Yes," she said; "isn't it ridiculous? But I do really believe that's my +ambition. To keep house just perfectly, you know, and have everything go +not only smoothly but happily." + +"You ought to have been a _chatelaine_ of the fourteenth century," said +Nan. + +"Yes," said Patty eagerly; "that's just my ambition. What a pity it's +looking backward instead of forward. But I would love to live in a great +stone castle, all my own, with a moat and drawbridge and outriders, and +go around in a damask gown with a pointed bodice and big puffy sleeves +and a ruff and a little cap with pearls on it, and a bunch of keys +jingling at my side." + +"They usually carry the keys in a basket," observed Marian; "and you +forgot to mention the falcon on your wrist." + +"So I did," said Patty, "but I think the falcon would be a regular +nuisance while I was housekeeping, so I'd put him in the basket, and set +it up on the mantelpiece, and keep my keys jingling from my belt." + +"Well, it seems," said Nan, "that Patty has more hopes of realising her +ambition than either of us." + +"Speak for yourself," said Marian. + +"I think I have," said Patty. "I have all the keys I want, and I'm quite +sure papa would buy me a falcon if I asked him to." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +AN AFTERNOON DRIVE + + +The next Saturday Mr. Fairfield proposed that they all go for a drive +to Allaire. + +"What's Allaire?" said Patty. + +"It's a deserted village," replied her father. "The houses are empty, the +old mill is silent, the streets are overgrown; in fact, it's nothing but +a picturesque ruin of a once busy hamlet." + +"They say it's a lovely drive," said Nan. "I've always wanted to +go there." + +"The boys will be down by noon," said Mr. Elliott, "and we can get off +soon after luncheon. Do you suppose, Fred, we can get conveyances enough +for our large and flourishing family?" + +"We can try," said Mr. Fairfield. "I'll go over to the stables now and +see what I can secure." + +On his return he found that Hepworth, Kenneth, and Frank had arrived. + +"Well, Saturday's children," he said, "I'm glad to see you. I always +know it's the last day of the week when this illustrious trio bursts +upon my vision." + +"We're awfully glad to burst," said Frank; "and we hope your vision can +stand it." + +"Oh, yes," said Mr. Fairfield; "the sight of you is good for the eyes. +And now I'll tell you the plans for the afternoon." + +"What luck did you have with the carriages, papa?" asked impatient Patty. + +"That's what I'm about to tell you, my child, if you'll give me half a +chance. I secured four safe, and more or less commodious, vehicles." + +"Four!" exclaimed Marian. "We'll be a regular parade." + +"Shall we have a band?" asked Nan. + +"Of course," said Kenneth; "and a fife-and-drum corps besides." + +"You won't need that," said Patty, "for there'll be no 'Girl I Left +Behind Me.' We're all going." + +"Of course we're all going," said Mr. Fair-field; "and as we shall +have one extra seat, you can invite some girl who otherwise would be +left behind." + +"If Frank doesn't mind," said Patty, with a mischievous glance at her +cousin, "I'd like to ask Miss Kitty Nelson." + +They all laughed, for Frank's admiration for the charming Kitty was an +open secret. + +Frank blushed a little, but he held his own and said: + +"Are they all double carriages, Uncle Fred?" + +"No, my boy; there are two traps and two victorias." + +"All right, then, I'll take one of the traps and drive Miss Nelson." + +"Bravo, boy! if you don't see what you want, ask for it. Miss Allen, will +you trust yourself to me in the other trap?" + +"With great pleasure, Mr. Fairfield," replied Nan; "and please +appreciate my amiability, for I think they're most jolty and +uncomfortable things to ride in." + +"I speak for a seat in one of the victorias," said Aunt Alice; "and I +think it wise to get my claim in quickly, as the bids are being made +so rapidly." + +"I don't care how I go," said Patty, "or what I go in. I'm so amiable, a +child can play with me to-day. I'll go in a wheelbarrow, if necessary." + +"I had hoped to drive you over myself," said Mr. Hepworth, who sat next +to her, speaking in a low tone; "but I'll push you in a wheelbarrow, if +you prefer." + +"You go with me, Patty, in one of the traps, won't you?" said Kenneth, +who sat on the veranda railing at her other side. + +Patty's face took on a comical smile of amusement at these two requests, +but she answered both at once by merrily saying: + +"Then it all adjusts itself. Mr. and Mrs. Allen and Mr. and Mrs. Elliott +shall have the most comfortable carriage, and Marian and Mr. Hepworth and +Ken and I will go in the other." + +That seemed to be the, best possible arrangement, and about three +o'clock the procession started. + +Patty and Marian took the back seat of the open carriage, Mr. Hepworth +and Kenneth Harper sat facing them. + +As Marian had already become very much interested in her new fad of +authorship, and as under Miss Fischer's tuition she was rapidly +developing into a real little blue-stocking, it is not strange that the +conversation turned in that direction. + +"I looked in all the bookshops in the city for your latest works, Miss +Marian," said Mr. Hepworth, "but they must have been all sold out, for I +couldn't find any." + +"Too bad," said Marian. "I'm afraid you'll have to wait until a new +edition is printed." + +"You're not to tease Marian," said Patty reprovingly. "She's been as +patient as an angel under a perfect storm of chaff, and I'm not going to +allow any more of it." + +"I don't mind," said Marian. "I think, if one is really in earnest, one +oughtn't to be annoyed by good-natured fun." + +"Quite right," said Kenneth; "and ambition, if it's worth anything, +ought to rise above comment of any sort." + +"It ought to be strengthened by comment of any sort," said Mr. Hepworth. + +"Of any sort?" asked Marian thoughtfully. + +"Yes, for comment always implies recognition, and that in itself means +progress." + +"Have you an ambition, Mr. Hepworth?" said Patty suddenly. "But you have +already achieved yours. You are a successful artist." + +"A man may have more than one ambition," said Mr. Hepworth slowly, "and I +have _not_ achieved my dearest one." + +"I suppose you want to paint even better than you do," said Patty. + +"Yes," said the artist, smiling a little, "I hope I shall always want to +paint better than I do. What's your ambition, Harper?" + +"To build bridges," said Kenneth. "I'm going to be a civil engineer, but +my ambition is to be a bridge-builder. And I'll get there yet," he added, +with a determined nod of his head. + +"I think you will," said Mr. Hepworth, "and I'm sure I hope so." + +Then the talk turned to lighter themes than ambition, and merry laughter +and jest filled up the miles to Allaire. + +All were delighted with the place. Aside from the picturesque ruined +buildings and the eerie mysterious-looking old mill, there was a novel +interest in the strange silent air of desertion that seemed to invest the +place with an almost palpable loneliness. + +"I don't like it," said Patty. "Come on, let's go home." + +But to Marian's more romantic imagination it all seemed most attractive, +so different was her temperament from that of her sunshiny, +merry-hearted cousin. + +At last they did go home, and Patty chattered gaily all the way in +order, as she said, to drive away the musty recollections of that +forlorn old place. + +"How did you like it, Nan?" she asked, when they were all back at +the hotel. + +"I thought it beautiful," said Nan, smiling. + +That evening there was a small informal dance in the parlours. Not a +large hop, like the one given the week before, but Patty declared the +small affair was just as much fun as the other. + +"I always have all the fun I can possibly hold, anyway," she said; "and +what more can anybody have?" + +Toward the close of the evening Mr. Fairfield came up to Patty, who +was sitting, with a crowd of merry young people, in a cosey corner of +the veranda. + +"Patty," he said, "don't you want to come for a little stroll on the +board walk?" + +"Yes, of course I do," said Patty, wondering a little, but always ready +to go with her father. "Is Nan going?" + +"No, I just want you," said Mr. Fairfield. + +"All right," said Patty, "I'm glad to go." + +They joined the crowd of promenaders on the board walk, and as they +passed Patty's favourite bit of beach she said: + +"That's where we girls sit and talk about our ambitions." + +"Yes, so I've heard," said Mr. Fairfield. "And what are your +ambitions, baby?" + +"Oh, mine aren't half so grand and gorgeous as the other girls'. They +want to do great things, like singing in grand opera and writing immortal +books and things like that." + +"And your modest ambition is to be a good housekeeper, isn't it?" + +"Well, yes, papa; but not only that. I was thinking about it afterward by +myself, and I think that the housekeeping is the practical part of +it--and that's a good big part too--but what I really want to be is a +lovely, good, _womanly_ woman, like Aunt Alice, you know. I don't believe +she ever wanted to write books or paint pictures." + +"No she never did," said Mr. Fairfield, "and I quite agree with you that +her ambitions are just as high and noble as those others you mentioned." + +"Well, I'm glad you think so, papa, for I was afraid I might seem to you +very small and petty to have all my ambitions bounded by the four walls +of my own home." + +"No, Patty, girl, I think those are far better than unbounded ambitions, +far more easily realised, and will bring you greater and better +happiness. But don't you see, my child, that the very fact of your having +a talent--which you certainly have--for housekeeping and home-making, +implies that some day, in the far future, I hope, you will go away from +me and make a home of your own?" + +"Very likely I shall, papa; but that's so far in the future that it's not +worth while bothering about it now." + +"But I'm going to bother about it now to a certain extent. Do you +realise that when this does come to pass, be it ever so far hence, that +you're going to leave your poor old father all alone, and that, too, +after I have so carefully brought you up for the express purpose of +making a home for me?" + +"Well, what are you going to do about it?" said Patty, who was by no +means taking her father's remarks seriously. + +"Do? Why, I'm going to do just this. I'm going to get somebody else to +keep my house for me, and I'm going to get her now, so that I'll have +her ready against the time you leave me." + +Patty turned, and by the light of an electric lamp which they were +passing, saw the smile on her father's face, and with a sudden intuition +she exclaimed: + +"Nan!" + +"Yes," replied her father, "Nan. How do you like it?" + +"Like it?" exclaimed Patty. "I _love_ it! I think it's perfectly +gorgeous! I'm just as delighted as I can be! How does Nan like it?" + +"She seems delighted too," said Mr. Fairfield, smiling. + + +THE END + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Patty at Home, by Carolyn Wells + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PATTY AT HOME *** + +***** This file should be named 10268-8.txt or 10268-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/6/10268/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan, and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: + https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL + + diff --git a/old/10268-8.zip b/old/10268-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2156b75 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10268-8.zip diff --git a/old/10268.txt b/old/10268.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5c7d51e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10268.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6854 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Patty at Home, by Carolyn Wells + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Patty at Home + +Author: Carolyn Wells + +Release Date: November 25, 2003 [EBook #10268] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PATTY AT HOME *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan, and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + + Patty At Home + + BY CAROLYN WELLS + + AUTHOR OF TWO LITTLE WOMEN SERIES, THE MARJORIE SERIES, ETC. + + 1904 + + + + +_To My very good friend, Ruth Pilling_ + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + + I. THE DEBATE + + II. THE DECISION + + III. THE TEA CLUB + + IV. BOXLEY HALL + + V. SHOPPING + + VI. SERVANTS + + VII. DIFFERING TASTES + + VIII. AN UNATTAINED AMBITION + + IX. A CALLER + + X. A PLEASANT EVENING + + XI. PREPARATIONS + + XII. A TEA CLUB TEA + + XIII. A NEW FRIEND + + XIV. THE NEIGHBOUR AGAIN + + XV. BILLS + + XVI. A SUCCESSFUL PLAY + + XVII. ENTERTAINING RELATIVES + + XVIII. A SAILING PARTY + + XIX. MORE COUSINS + + XX. A FAIR EXCHANGE + + XXI. A GOOD SUGGESTION + + XXII. AT THE SEASHORE + + XXIII. AMBITIONS + + XXIV. AN AFTERNOON DRIVE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE DEBATE + + +In Mrs. Elliott's library at Vernondale a great discussion was going on. +It was an evening in early December, and the room was bright with +firelight and electric light, and merry with the laughter and talk of +people who were trying to decide a great and momentous question. + +For the benefit of those who are not acquainted with Patty Fairfield and +her relatives, it may be well to say that Mrs. Elliott was Patty's Aunt +Alice, at whose home Patty and her father were now visiting. Of the other +members of the Elliott family, Uncle Charley, grandma, Marian, and Frank +were present, and these with Mr. Fairfield and Patty were debating a no +less important subject than the location of Patty's future home. + +"You know, papa," said Patty, "you said that if I wanted to live in +Vernondale you'd buy a house here, and I do want to live here,--at least, +I am almost sure I do." + +"Oh, Patty," said Marian, "why aren't you quite sure? You're president of +the club, and the girls are all so fond of you, and you're getting along +so well in school. I don't see where else you could want to live." + +"I know," said Frank. "Patty wants to live in New York. Her soul yearns +for the gay and giddy throng, and the halls of dazzling lights. 'Ah, +Patricia, beware! the rapids are below you!' as it says in that thrilling +tale in the Third Reader." + +"I think papa would rather live in New York," said Patty, looking very +undecided. + +"I'll tell you what we'll do," exclaimed Frank, "let's debate the +question. A regular, honest debate, I mean, and we'll have all the +arguments for and against clearly stated and ably discussed. Uncle Fred +shall be the judge, and his decision must be final." + +"No," said Mr. Fairfield, "we'll have the debate, but Patty must be the +judge. She is the one most interested, and I am ready to give her a home +wherever she wants it; in Greenland's icy mountains, or India's coral +strand, if she chooses." + +"You certainly are a disinterested member," said Uncle Charley, laughing, +"but that won't do in debate. Here, I'll organise this thing, and for the +present we won't consider either Greenland or India. The question, as I +understand it, is between Vernondale and New York. Now, to bring this +mighty matter properly before the house, I will put it in the form of a +resolution, thus: + +"RESOLVED, That Miss Patty Fairfield shall take up her permanent abode in +New York City." + +Patty gave a little cry of dismay, and Marian exclaimed, "Oh, father, +that isn't fair!" + +"Of course it's fair," said Mr. Elliott, with a twinkle in his eye. "It +doesn't really mean she's going, but it's the only way to find out what +she is going to do. Now, Fred shall be captain on the affirmative side, +and I will take the negative. We will each choose our colleagues. Fred, +you may begin." + +"All right," said Mr. Fairfield "As a matter of social etiquette, I think +it right to compliment my hostess, so I choose Mrs. Elliott on my side." + +"Oh, you choose me, father," cried Marian, "do choose me." + +"Owing to certain insidious wire-pulling I'm forced to choose Miss Marian +Elliott," said Uncle Charley, pinching his daughter's ear. + +"If one Mrs. Elliott is a good thing," said Mr. Fairfield, "I am sure two +would be better, and so I choose Grandma Elliott to add to my collection +of great minds." + +"Frank, my son," said Uncle Charley, "don't think for a moment that I am +choosing you merely because you are the Last of the Mohicans. Far from +it. I have wanted you from the beginning, and I'm proud to impress your +noble intellect in my cause." + +"Thank you, sir," said Frank, "and if our side can't induce Patty to stay +in Vernondale, it won't be for lack of good strong arguments forcibly +presented." + +"Modest boy!" said his mother, "You seem quite to forget your wise and +clever opponents." + +In great glee the debaters took their places on either side of the +library table, while Patty, being judge, was escorted with much ceremony +to a seat at the head. An old parlour-croquet mallet was found for her, +with which she rapped on the table after the manner of a grave and +dignified chairman. + +"The meeting will please come to order," she said, "and the secretary +will please read the minutes of the last meeting." + +"The secretary regrets to report," said Frank, rising, "that the minutes +of the last meeting fell down the well. Although rescued, they were +afterward chewed up by the puppy, and are at present somewhat illegible. +If the honourable judge will excuse the reading of the minutes, the +secretary will be greatly obliged." + +"The minutes are excused," said Patty, "and we will proceed at once to +more important business. Mr. Frederick Fairfield, we shall be glad to +hear from you." + +Mr. Fairfield rose and said, "Your honour, ladies, and gentlemen: I would +be glad to speak definitely on this burning question, but the truth is, I +don't know myself which way I want it to be decided. For, you see, my +only desire in the matter is that the wise and honourable judge, whom we +see before us, should have a home of such a character and in such a place +as best pleases her; but, before she makes her decision, I hope she will +allow herself to be thoroughly convinced as to what will please her. And +as, by force of circumstance, I am obliged to uphold the New York side of +this argument, I will now set forth some of its advantages, feeling sure +that my worthy opponents are quite able to uphold the Vernondale side." + +"Hear, hear!" exclaimed Frank, but Patty rapped with her mallet and +commanded silence. + +Then Mr. Fairfield went on: + +"For one thing, Patty has always lived in a city, and, like myself, is +accustomed to city life. It is more congenial to both of us, and I +sometimes fear we should miss certain city privileges which may not be +found in a suburban town." + +"But we have other things that you can't get in the city," broke +in Marian. + +"And I am very sure that they will be enthusiastically enumerated when it +is your turn to speak," said Mr. Fairfield, smiling. + +"The gentleman has the floor," remarked Patty, "the others will please +keep their seats. Proceed, Mr. Fairfield." + +So Mr. Fairfield proceeded: + +"Other advantages, perhaps, will be found in the superior schools which +the city is said to contain. I am making no allusion to the school that +our honourable judge is at present attending, but I am speaking merely on +general principles. And not only schools, but masters of the various +arts. I have been led to believe by the assertions of some people, who, +however, may be prejudiced, that Miss Fairfield has a voice which +requires only training and practise to rival the voice of Adelina Patti, +when that lady was Miss Fairfield's age." + +"Quite true," said the judge, nodding gravely at the speaker. + +"This phenomenal voice, then, might--mind; I say might--be cultivated to +better purpose by metropolitan teachers." + +"We have a fine singing-master here," exclaimed Frank, but Patty rapped +him to silence. + +"What's one singing-master among a voice like Miss Fairfield's?" demanded +the speaker, "and another thing," he continued, "that ought to affect you +Vernondale people very strongly, is the fact that you would have a +delightful place to visit in New York City. Now, don't deny it. You know +you'd be glad to come and visit Patty and me in our brown-stone mansion, +and we would take you around to see all the sights, from Grant's tomb to +the Aquarium." + +"We've seen those," murmured Frank. + +"They're still there," said Mr. Fairfield, "and there will probably be +some other and newer entertainments that you haven't yet seen." + +"It does sound nice," said Frank. + +"And finally," went on Mr. Fairfield, "though I do not wish this +argument to have undue weight, it certainly would be more convenient +for me to live in the city. I am about to start in business there, and +though I could go in and out every day, as the honourable gentleman on +the other side of the table does, yet he is accustomed to it, and, as I +am not, it seems to me an uninteresting performance. However, I dare say +I could get used to a commutation ticket, and I am certainly willing to +try. All of which is respectfully submitted," and with a bow the speaker +resumed his seat. + +"That was a very nice speech," said the judge approvingly, "and now we +would be pleased to hear from the captain gentleman on the other side." + +Uncle Charley rose. + +"Without wishing to be discourteous," he said, "I must say that I think +the arguments just set forth are exceedingly flimsy. There can be no +question but that Vernondale would be a far better and more appropriate +home for the young lady in question than any other spot on the globe. +Here we have wide streets, green lawns, fresh air, and bright sunshine; +all conducive to that blooming state of health which our honourable +judge now, apparently, enjoys. City life would doubtless soon reduce her +to a thin, pale, peaked specimen of humanity, unrecognisable by her +friends. The rose-colour in her cheeks would turn to ashen grey; her +starry eyes would become dim and lustreless. Her robust flesh would +dwindle to skin and bone, and probably her hair would all fall out, and +she'd have to wear a wig." + +Even Patty's mallet was not able to check the burst of laughter caused by +the horrible picture which Uncle Charley drew, but after it had subsided, +he continued: "As to the wonderful masters and teachers in the city, far +be it from me to deny their greatness and power. But the beautiful +village of Vernondale is less than an hour from New York; no mosquitoes, +no malaria; boating, bathing, and fishing. Miss Fairfield could, +therefore, go to New York for her instructions in the various arts and +sciences, and return again to her Vernondale home on a local train. Add +to this the fact that here she has relatives, friends, and acquaintances, +who already know and love her, while, in New York, she would have to +acquire a whole new set, probably have to advertise for them. As to the +commuting gentleman: before his first ticket was all punched up, he would +be ready to vow that the commuter's life is the only ideal existence. +Having thus offered unattackable arguments, I deem a decision in our +favour a foregone conclusion, and I take pleasure in sitting down." + +"A very successful speech," said Patty, smiling at her uncle. "We will +now be pleased to hear from the next speaker on the affirmative side. +Mrs. Charles Elliott, will you kindly speak what is on your mind?" + +"I will," said Mrs. Elliott, with a nod of her head that betokened +Fairfield decision of character. "I will say exactly what is on my mind +without regard to which side I am on." + +"Oh, that isn't fair!" cried Patty. "A debate is a debate, you know, +and you must make up opinions for your own side, whether you think +them or not." + +"Very well," said Aunt Alice, smiling a little, "then it being +thoroughly understood that I am not speaking the truth, I will say that I +think it better for Patty to live in New York. As her father will be away +all day at his business, she will enjoy the loneliness of a big +brown-stone city house; she will enjoy the dark rooms and the entire +absence of grass and flowers and trees, which she hates anyway; instead +of picnics and boating parties, she can go to stiff and formal afternoon +teas; and, instead of attending her young people's club here, she can +become a member of the Society of Social Economics." + +With an air of having accomplished her intention, Aunt Alice sat down +amid great cheers and handclappings from the opposite side. + +Patty looked a little sober as she began to think the Vernondale home +would win; and, though for many reasons she wished it would be so, yet, +at the same time, she realised very strongly the attractions of life in +New York City. + +However, she only said: + +"The meeting will please come to order, in order to listen to the +opinions of Miss Elliott." + +Marian rose with great dignity, and addressed the chair and the ladies +and gentlemen with true parliamentary punctiliousness. + +"Though personally interested in this matter," she began, "it is not my +intention to allow my own wishes or prejudices to blind me to the best +interests of our young friend who is now under discussion. Far be it from +me to blight her career for the benefit of my own unworthy self, but I +will say that if Patty Fairfield goes to live in New York, or anywhere +except Vernondale, I think she's just the horridest, meanest old thing on +the face of the earth! Why, I wouldn't _let_ her go! I'd lock her in her +room, and poke bread and water to her through the keyhole, if she dared +to think of such a thing! Go to New York, indeed! A nice time she'd have, +hanging on straps in the trolley-cars, and getting run over by +automobiles! The whole thing is so perfectly absurd that there's no +earthly chance of its ever coming to pass. Why, she _wouldn't_ go, she +couldn't be _hired_ to go; she wouldn't be happy there a minute; but if +she _does_ go, I'll go, too!" + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE DECISION + + +"Hooray for our side!" cried Frank, as Marian dropped into a chair after +her outburst of enthusiasm. + +"Oh, I haven't finished yet," said Marian, jumping up again. "I want to +remark further that not only is Patty going to live in Vernondale, but +she's going to have a house very near this one. I've picked it out," and +Marian wagged her head with the air of a mysterious sibyl. "I won't tell +you where it is just yet, but it's a lovely house, and big enough to +accommodate Uncle Fred and Patty, and a guest or two besides. I've +selected the room that I prefer, and I hope you will furnish it in blue." + +"The speaker is a bit hasty," said Patty as Marian sat down again; "we +can't furnish any rooms before this debate is concluded; and, though we +deeply regret it, Miss Elliott will be obliged to wait for her blue room +until the other speakers have had their speak." + +But Patty smiled at Marian understandingly, and began to have a very +attractive mental picture of her cousin's blue room next her own. + +"The next speaker," announced the judge, "will be Mrs. Elliott, +Senior,--the Dowager Duchess. Your Grace, we would be pleased to hear +from you." + +"I don't know," said Grandma Elliott, looking rather seriously into the +smiling faces before her, "that I am entirely in favour of the country +home. I think our Patty would greatly enjoy the city atmosphere. She is a +schoolgirl now, but in a year or two she will be a young woman, and one +well deserving of the best that can be given to her. I am city-bred +myself, and though at my age I prefer the quiet of the country, yet for a +young girl I well know the charm of a city life. Of course, we would all +regret the loss of our Patty, who has grown to be a part of our daily +life, but, nevertheless, were I to vote on this matter, I should +unhesitatingly cast my ballot in favour of New York." + +"Bravo for grandma!" cried Frank. "Give me a lady who fearlessly speaks +her mind even in the face of overwhelming opposition. All the same, I +haven't spoken my piece yet, and I believe it is now my turn." + +"It is," said Patty, "and we eagerly await your sapient and +authoritative remarks." + +"Ahem!" said Frank pompously, as he arose. "My remarks shall be brief, +but very much to the point. Patty's home must be in Vernondale because we +live here. If ever we go to live in New York, or Oshkosh, or Kalamazoo, +Patty can pick up her things and go along. Just get that idea firmly +fixed in your heads, my friends. Where we live, Patty lives; whither she +goeth, we goeth. Therefore, if Patty should go to New York, the Elliotts +will take up bag and baggage, sell the farm, and go likewise to New York. +Now I'm sure our Patty, being of proper common-sense and sound judgment, +wouldn't put the Elliott family to such inconvenience,--for moving is a +large and fearsome proposition. Thus we see that as the Mountain insists +on following Mahomet whithersoever she goest, the only decently polite +thing for Mahomet to do is to settle in Vernondale. I regret exceedingly +that I am forced to express an opinion so diametrically opposed to the +advices of Her Grace, the Dowager Duchess, but I'm quite sure she didn't +realise what a bother it would be for the Elliotts to move. And now, +having convinced you all to my way of thinking, I will leave the case in +the hands of our wise and competent judge." + +"Wait," said Uncle Charley; "I believe the captains are usually allowed a +sort of summing-up speech, are they not?" + +"They are in this case, anyway," said Patty. "Mr. Elliott will please go +ahead with his summing-up." + +"Well," said Uncle Charley, "the sum of the whole matter seems to be that +we all want Fred and Patty to live here because we want them to; but, of +course, it's only fair that they consult their own wishes in the matter, +and if they conclude that they prefer New York, why,--we'll have another +debate, that's all." + +Uncle Charley sat down, and Mr. Fairfield rose. "I have listened with +great interest to the somewhat flattering remarks of my esteemed fellow +members, and have come to the conclusion that, if agreeable to Her +Judgeship, a compromise might be effected. It would seem to me that if a +decision should be arrived at for the Vernondale home, the Fairfields +could manage to reap some few of those mysterious advantages said to be +found in city life, by going to New York and staying a few months every +winter. This, too, would give them an opportunity to receive visits from +the Elliott family, which would, I'm sure, be a pleasure and profit to +all concerned. With this suggestion I am quite ready to hear a positive +and final decision from Her Honour, the Judge." + +"And it won't take her long to make up her mind, either," cried Patty. "I +knew you'd fix it somehow, papa; you are the best and wisest man! Solomon +wasn't in it with you, nor Solon, nor Socrates, nor anybody! That +arrangement is exactly what I choose, and suits me perfectly, I do want +to stay in New York sometimes, but I would much rather live in +Vernondale; so the judge hereby announces that, on the merits of the +case, the question is decided in the negative. The Fairfields will buy a +house in Vernondale, and the judge hopes that they will buy it quick." + +"Three cheers for Patty and Uncle Fred," cried Frank, and while they were +being given with a will, Marian flew to the telephone, and, when the +cheers subsided, she was engaged in a conversation of which the debating +club heard only one side. + +"Is this you, Elsie?" + +"What do you think? Patty's going to stay in Vernondale!" + +"Yes, indeed, perfectly gorgeous." + +"Just this evening; just now." + +"I guess I am! I'm so glad I don't know what to do!" + +"Oh, yes, of course she'll keep on being president." + +"No, they haven't decided yet, but I want them to take the Bigelow +house." + +"Yes; wouldn't it be fine!" + +"Oh, it isn't very late." + +"Well, come over early to-morrow morning, then." + +"Good-by." + +"Elsie Morris is delighted," said Marian, as she hung up the receiver, +"and Polly Stevens will just dance jigs of joy when she hears about it. +I'd call her up now, only I'm afraid she'd break the telephone trying to +express her enthusiasm; she flutters so." + +"You can tell her about it to-morrow," said Frank, "and now let's +talk about where the house shall be. Would you rather buy or build, +Uncle Fred?" + +"Perhaps it would be better to rent," said Mr. Fairfield. "Suppose my +fickle daughter should change her mind, and after a visit in the city +decide that she prefers it for her home." + +"I'm not fickle, papa," said Patty, "and it's all arranged all right just +as it is; but I don't want a rented house, they won't let you drive tacks +in the walls, or anything like that. Let's buy a house, and then, if you +turn fickle and want to move away, we can sell it again." + +"All right," said Mr. Fairfield obligingly, "what house shall we buy?" + +"I know just the one," cried Marian; "guess where it is." + +"Would you, by any chance, refer to the Bigelow house?" inquired +Frank politely. + +"How did you know?" exclaimed Marian. "I only heard to-day that it is for +sale, and I wanted to surprise you." + +"Well, next time you have a surprise in store for us," said Frank, "don't +announce it to Elsie Morris over the telephone." + +"Oh, did you hear that?" + +"As a rule, sister dear, unless you are the matron of a deaf and dumb +asylum, you must expect those present to hear your end of a telephone +conversation." + +"Of course," said Marian; "I didn't think. But, really, wouldn't the +Bigelow house be fine? Only a few blocks away from here, and such a +lovely house, with a barn and a conservatory, and a little arbour in +the garden." + +Patty began to look frightened. + +"Goodness, gracious me!" she exclaimed; "I don't believe I realise what +I'm coming to. I could take care of the little arbour in the garden; but +I wonder if I could manage a house, and a barn, and a conservatory!" + +"And go to school every day, besides," said her father, laughing. "I +think, my child, that at least until your school days are over, we will +engage the services of a responsible housekeeper." + +"Oh, papa!" cried Patty, in dismay, "you said I could keep house for +you; and Aunt Alice has taught me lots about it; and she'll teach me +lots more; and you know I can make good pumpkin pies; and, of course, +I can dust and fly 'round; and that's about all there is to +housekeeping, anyway." + +"Oh, Patty," said Aunt Alice, "my lessons must have fallen on stony +ground if you think that's all there is to housekeeping." + +"That's merely a figure of speech, Aunt Alice," replied Patty. "You well +know I am a thoroughly capable and experienced housekeeper; honest, +steady, good-tempered, and with a fine reference from my last place." + +"You're certainly a clever little housekeeper for your age," said her +aunt, "but I'm not sure you could keep house successfully, and go to +school, and practice your music, and attend to your club all at the +same time." + +"But I wouldn't do them all at the same time, Aunt Alice. I'd have a time +for everything, and everything in it place. I would go to school, and +practise, and housekeep, and club; all in their proper proportions--" +Here Patty glanced at her father. "You see, if I had the proportions +right, all would go well." + +"Well, perhaps," said Mr. Fairfield, "if we had a competent cook and a +tidy little waitress, we could get along without a professional +housekeeper. I admit I had hoped to have Patty keep house for me and +preside at my table, and at any rate, it would do no harm to try it as an +experiment; then, if it failed, we could make some other arrangement." + +"I guess I do want to sit at the head of our table, papa," said Patty; +"I'd just like to see a housekeeper there! A prim, sour-faced old lady +with a black silk dress and dangling ear-rings! No, I thank you. If I +have my way I will keep that house myself, and when I get into any +trouble, I will fly to Aunt Alice for rest and refreshment." + +"We'll all help," said Marian; "I'll make lovely sofa-pillows for you, +and I'm sure grandma will knit you an afghan." + +"That isn't much towards housekeeping," said Frank. "I'll come over next +summer and swing your hammock for you, and put up your tennis-net." + +"And meantime," said Uncle Charley, "until the house is bought and +furnished, the Fairfield family will be the welcome guests of the +Elliotts. It's almost the middle of December now, and I don't think, Miss +Patty Fairfield, that you'll get your home settled in time to make a +visit in New York _this_ winter; and now, you rattle-pated youngsters, +run to bed, while I discuss some plans sensibly with my brother-in-law +and fellow townsman." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE TEA CLUB + + +"Well I should think you'd better stay in Vernondale, Patty Fairfield, if +you know what's good for yourself! Why, if you had attempted to leave +this town, we would have mobbed you with tar and feathers, or whatever +those dreadful things are that they do to the most awful criminals." + +"Oh, if I had gone, Polly, I should have taken this club with me, of +course. I'm so used to it now, I'm sure I couldn't live a day, and +know that we should meet no more, as the Arab remarked to his +beautiful horse." + +"It would be rather fun to be transported bodily to New York as a club, +but I'd want to be transported home again after the meeting," said +Helen Preston. + +"Why shouldn't we do that?" cried Florence Douglass. "It would be lots of +fun for the whole club to go to New York some day together." + +"I'm so glad Patty is going to stay with us, I don't care what we do," +said Ethel Holmes, who was drawing pictures on Patty's white shirt-waist +cuffs as a mark of affection. + +"I'm glad, too," said Patty; "and, Ethel, your kittens are perfectly +lovely, but this is my last clean shirt-waist, and those pencil-marks are +awfully hard to wash out." + +"I don't mean them to be washed out," said Ethel, calmly going on with +her art work; "they're not wash drawings, they're permanent decorations +for your cuffs, and are offered as a token of deep regard and esteem." + +The Tea Club was holding a Saturday afternoon meeting at Polly Stevens's +house, and the conversation, as yet, had not strayed far from the +all-engrossing subject of Patty's future plans. + +The Tea Club had begun its existence with lofty and noble aims in a +literary direction, to be supplemented and assisted by an occasional +social cup of tea. But if you have had any experience with merry, healthy +young girls of about sixteen, you will not be surprised to learn that +the literary element had softly and suddenly vanished away, much after +the manner of a Boojum. Then, somehow, the social interest grew stronger, +and the tea element held its own, and the result was a most satisfactory +club, if not an instructive one. + +"But," as Polly Stevens had said, "we are instructed all day long in +school, and a good deal out of school, too, for that matter; and what we +need most is absolutely foolish recreation; the foolisher the better." + +And so the Saturday afternoon meetings had developed into merely merry +frolics, with a cup of tea, which was often a figure of speech for +chocolate or lemonade, at the close. + +There were no rules, and the girls took pleasure in calling themselves +unruly members. There were no dues, and consequently no occasion for a +secretary or treasures. Patty continued to be called the president, but +the title meant nothing more than the fact that she was really a chief +favourite among the girls. No one was bound, or even expected to attend +the meetings unless she chose; but, as a rule, a large majority of the +club was present. + +And so to-day, in the library at Polly Stevens's house, nine members of +the Tea Club were chattering like nine large and enthusiastic magpies. + +"Now we can go on with the entertainment," said Lillian Desmond, as she +sat on the arm of Patty's chair, curling wisps of the presidential hair +over her fingers. "If Patty had gone away, I should have resigned my part +in the show and gone into a convent. Where are you going to live, Patty?" + +"I don't know, I am sure; we haven't selected a house yet; and if we +don't find one we like, papa may build one, though I believe Marian has +one all picked out for us." + +"Yes, I have," said Marian. "It's the Bigelow house on our street. I do +want to keep Patty near us." + +"The Bigelow house? Why, that's too large for two people. Patty and Mr. +Fairfield would get lost in it. Now, I know a much nicer one. There's a +little house next-door to us, a lovely, little cottage that would suit +you a lot better. Tell your father about it, Patty. It's for sale or +rent, and it's just the dearest place." + +"Why, Laura Russell," cried Marian, "that little snip of a house! It +wouldn't hold Patty, let alone Uncle Fred. You only proposed it because +you want Patty to live next-door to you." + +"Yes; that's it," said Laura, quite unabashed; "I know it's too little, +but you could add ells and bay-windows and wings and things, and then it +would be big enough." + +"Would it hold the Tea Club?" said Patty. "I must have room for them, +you know." + +"Oh, won't it be fun to have the Tea Club at Patty's house!" cried +Elsie. "I hadn't thought of that." + +"What's a home without a Tea Club?" said Patty. "I shall select the house +with an eye single to the glory and comfort of you girls." + +"Then I know of a lovely house," said Christine Converse. "It's awfully +big, and it's pretty old, but I guess it could be fixed up. I mean the +old Warner place." + +"Good gracious!" cried Ethel; "'way out there! and it's nothing but a +tumble-down old barn, anyhow." + +"Oh, I think it's lovely; and it's Colonial, or Revolutionary, or +something historic; and they're going to put the trolley out there this +spring,--my father said so." + +"It is a nice old house," said Patty; "and it could be made awfully +pretty and quaint. I can see it, now, in my mind's eye, with dimity +curtains at the windows, and roses growing over the porch." + +"I hope you will never see those dimity curtains anywhere but in your +mind's eye," said Marian. "It's a heathenish old place, and, anyway, it's +too far away from our house." + +"Papa says I can have a pony and cart," said Patty; "and I could drive +over every day." + +"A pony and cart!" exclaimed Helen Preston. "Won't that be perfectly +lovely! I've always wanted one of my own. And shall you have +man-servants, and maid-servants? Oh, Patty, you never could run a big +establishment like that. You'll have to have a housekeeper." + +"I'm going to try it," said Patty, laughing. "It will be an +experiment, and, of course, I shall make lots of blunders at first; but +I think it's a pity if a girl nearly sixteen years old can't keep house +for her own father." + +"So do I," said Laura. "And, anyhow, if you get into any dilemmas we'll +all come over and help you out." + +The girls laughed at this; for Laura Russell was a giddy little +feather-head, and couldn't have kept house for ten minutes to save her +life. + +"Much good it would do Patty to have the Tea Club help her keep house," +said Florence Douglass. "But we'll all make her lovely things to go to +housekeeping with. I shall be real sensible, and make her sweeping-caps +and ironing-holders." + +"Oh, I can beat that for sensibleness," cried Ethel Holmes. "I read about +it the other day, and it's a broom-bag. I haven't an idea what it's for; +but I'll find out, and I'll make one." + +"One's no good," said Marian sagely. "Make her a dozen while you're +about it." + +"Oh, do they come by dozens?" said Ethel, in an awestruck voice. "Well, +I guess I won't make them then. I'll make her something pretty. A +pincushion all over lace and pin ribbons, or something like that." + +"That will be lovely," said Laura. "I shall embroider her a tablecloth." + +"You'll never finish it," said Patty, who well knew how soon Laura's +bursts of enthusiasm spent themselves. "You'd better decide on a doily. +Better a doily done than a tablecloth but begun." + +"Oh, I'll tell you-what we can do, girls," said Polly Stevens. "Let's +make Patty a tea-cloth, and we'll each write our name on it, and then +embroider it, you know." + +"Lovely!" cried Christine. "Just the thing. Who'll hemstitch it? I won't. +I'll embroider my name all right, but I hate to hemstitch." + +"I'll hemstitch it," said Elsie Morris. "I do beautiful hemstitching." + +"So do I," said Helen Preston. "Let me do half." + +"Ethel and I hemstitch like birds," said Lillian Desmond. "Let's each do +a side,--there'll be four sides, I suppose." + +"Well, the tea-cloth seems in a fair way to get hemstitched," said +Patty. "You can put a double row around it, if you like, and I'll be +awfully glad to have it. I'll use it the first Saturday afternoon after +I get settled." + +"I wish I knew where you're going to live," said Ethel. "I'd like to have +a correct mental picture of that first Saturday afternoon." + +"It's a beautiful day for walking," said Polly Stevens. "Let's all go +out, and take a look at the Warner place. Something tells me that you'll +decide to live there." + +"I hope something else will tell you differently, soon," said Marian, +"for I'll never give my consent to that arrangement. However, I'd just +as lieve walk out there, if only to convince you what a forlorn old +place it is." + +"Come on; let's go, then. We can be back in an hour, and have tea +afterwards. I'll get the key from Mr. Martin, as we go by." + +Like a bombarding army the Tea Club stormed the old Warner house, and +once inside its Colonial portal, they made the old walls ring with their +laughter. The wide hall was dark and gloomy until Elsie Morris flung open +the door at the other end, and let in the December sunshine. + +"Seek no farther," she cried dramatically. "We have crossed the Rubicon +and found the Golden Fleece! This is the place of all others for our Tea +Club meeting, and it doesn't matter what the rest of the house may be +like. Patty, you will kindly consider the matter settled." + +"I'll consider anything you like," said Patty; "and before breakfast, +too, if you'll only hurry up and get out of this damp, musty old place. +I'm shivering myself to pieces." + +"Oh, it isn't cold," said Laura Russell; "and while we're here, let's go +through the house." + +"Yes," said Marian; "examine it carefully, lest some of its numerous +advantages should escape your notice. Observe the hardwood floors, the +magnificent mahogany stair-rail, and the lofty ceilings!" + +The old floors were creaky, worm-eaten, and dusty; the stair-rail was in +a most dilapidated condition, and the ceilings were low and smoky; so +Marian scored her points. + +"But it is antique," said Ethel Holmes, with the air of an auctioneer. +"Ah, ladies, what would you have? It is a fine specimen of the Colonial +Empire period, picked out here and there with Queen Anne. The mantels, +ah,--the mantels are dreams in marble." + +"Nightmares in painted wood, you mean," said Lillian. + +"But so roomy and expansive," went on Ethel. "And the wall-papers! +Note the fine stage of complete dilapidation left by the moving +finger of Time." + +"The wall-papers are all right," said Patty. "They look as if they'd peel +off easily. Come on upstairs." + +The chambers were large, low, and rambling; and the house, in its best +days, must have been an interesting specimen of its type. But after a +short investigation, Patty was as firmly convinced as Marian that its +charms could not offset its drawbacks. + +"I've seen enough of this moated grange," cried Patty. "Come on, girls, +we're going back to tea, right, straight, smack off." + +"There's no pleasing some folks," grumbled Ethel. "Here's an ancestral +pile only waiting for somebody to ancestralise it. You could make it one +of the Historic Homes of Vernondale, and you won't even consider it for +a minute." + +"I'll consider it for a minute," said Patty, "if that will do you +any good, but not a bit longer; and as the minute is nearly up, I +move we start." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +BOXLEY HALL + + +After consultation with various real estate agents, and after due +consideration of the desirable houses they had to offer, Mr. Fairfield +came to the conclusion that the Bigelow house, which Marian had +suggested, was perhaps the most attractive of any. + +And so, one afternoon, a party of very interested people went over to +look at it. + +The procession was headed by Patty and Marian, followed by Mr. Fairfield +and Aunt Alice, while Frank and his father brought up the rear. But as +they were going out of the Elliotts' front gate, Laura Russell came +flying across the street. + +"Where are all you people going?" she cried. "I know you're going to look +at a house. Which one?" + +"The Bigelow house," said Marian, "and I'm almost sure Uncle Fred will +decide to take it. Come on with us; we're going all through it." + +"No," said Laura, looking disappointed, "I don't want to go; and I don't +want the Fairfields to live in that house anyway. If they would only look +at that little cottage next-door to us, I know they'd like it ever so +much better. Oh, please, Mr. Fairfield, won't you come over and look at +it now? It's so pretty and cunning, and it has the loveliest garden and +chicken-coop and everything." + +"I don't want a chicken-coop," said Patty, laughing; "I've no chickens, +and I don't want any." + +"Our chickens are over there most of the time," said Laura. + +"Then, of course, we ought to have a coop to keep our neighbours' +chickens in," said Mr. Fairfield; "and if this cottage is as delightful +as Miss Russell makes it out, I think it's our duty at least to go and +look at it. If the rest of you are willing, suppose we go over there +first, and then if we _should_ decide not to take it, we'll have time to +investigate the Bigelow afterward" + +Marian looked so woe-begone that Patty laughed. + +"Cheer up, girl," she said; "there isn't one chance in a million of our +taking that doll's house, but Laura will never give us a minute's peace +until we go and look at it; so we may as well go now, and get it over." + +"All right," said Marian; and Patty, with her two girl friends on either +side of her, started in the direction of the cottage. + +But when they reached it, Mr. Fairfield exclaimed in amazement. "That +little house?" he said. "Oh, I see; that's the chicken-coop you spoke of. +Well, where is the house?" + +"This is the house," said Laura; "but, somehow, it does look smaller than +usual; still, it's a great deal bigger inside." + +"No doubt," said Frank. "I've often noticed that the inside of a house is +much larger than the outside. Of course, we can't all go in at once, but +I'm willing to wait my turn. Who will go first?" + +"Very well, you may stay outside," said Laura. "I think the rest of us +can all squeeze in at once, if we try." + +But Frank followed the rest of the party, and, passing through the narrow +hall, they entered the tiny parlour. + +"I never was in such a crowded room," said Marian. "I can scarcely get my +breath. I had no idea there were so many of us." + +"Well, you're not going to live here," said Laura. "There's room enough +for just Patty and her father." + +"There is, if we each take a room to ourself," said Mr. Fairfield. "You +may have this parlour, my daughter, and I'll take the library. Where is +the library, Miss Russell?" + +"I think it has just stepped out," said Frank; "at any rate, it isn't on +this floor; there's only this room, and the dining-room, and a kitchen +cupboard." + +"Very likely the library is on the third floor," said Marian; "that would +be convenient." + +"There isn't any third floor," explained Laura. "This is what they call +a story-and-a-half house." + +"It would have to be expanded into a serial story, then, before it would +do for us," said Mr. Fairfield. "We may not be such big people, but Patty +and I have a pretty large estimate of ourselves, and I am sure we never +could live in such a short-story-and-a-half as this seems to be." + +"Indeed, we couldn't, papa," said Patty. "Just look at this dining-room. +I'm sure it's only big enough for one. We would have to have our meals +alternately; you could have breakfast, and I would have dinner one day, +and the next day we'd reverse the order." + +"Come, look at the kitchen, Patty," called out Frank; "or at least stick +your head in; there isn't room for all of you. See the stationary tubs. +Two of them, you see; each just the size of a good comfortable +coffee-cup." + +"Just exactly," said Patty, laughing; "why, I never saw such a house. +Laura Russell, what were you thinking of?" + +"Oh, of course, you could add to it," said Laura. "You could build on +as many more rooms as you wanted, and you could run it up another story +and a half, and that would make three stories; and I do want you to +live near me." + +"We're sorry not to live near you, Miss Laura," said Mr. Fairfield; "but +I can't see my way clear to do it unless you would move into this +bandbox, and let us have your roomy and comfortable mansion next door." + +"Oh, there wouldn't be room for our family here," said Laura. + +"But you could build on a whole lot of rooms," said Frank, "and add +enough stories to make it a sky-scraper; and put in an elevator, and it +would be perfectly lovely." + +Laura laughed with the rest, and then, at Mrs. Elliott's suggestion, they +all started back to the Bigelow house. + +"Now, this is something like," said Marian, as they went in at the gate +and up the broad front walk. + +"Like what?" said Frank. + +"Like a home for the Fairfields. What shall you call it--Fairfield Hall, +Fairfield Place, or what?" + +"I don't know," cried Patty, dashing up the veranda steps. "But isn't it +a dear house! I feel at home here already. This big piazza will be lovely +in warm weather. There's room for hammocks, and big chairs, and little +tables, and everything." + +Inside, the house proved very attractive. The large square hall opened +into a parlour on one side and a library on the other. Back of the +library was a little conservatory, and beyond that a large, light +dining-room with an open fireplace. + +"Here's a kitchen worth having," said Aunt Alice, who was investigating +ahead of the rest; "and such convenient pantries and cupboards." + +"And this back veranda is great," said Frank, opening the door from a +little hall. + +"Oh, yes," said Patty; "see the dead vines. In the summer it must have +honeysuckles all over it. And there's the little arbour at the foot of +the garden. I'm going down to see it." + +Marian started to follow her, but Laura called her back to show her some +new attraction, and Patty ran alone down the veranda steps, and through +the box-bordered paths to the little rustic arbour. + +"Goodness!" she exclaimed, as she reached it. "Who in the world are you?" + +For inside the arbour sat a strange-looking girl of about Patty's own +age. She was a tall, thin child, with a pale face, large black eyes, and +straight black hair, which hung in wisps about her ears. + +"I'm Pansy," she said, clasping her hands in front of her, and looking +straight into Patty's face. + +"You're Pansy, are you?" said Patty, looking puzzled. "And what are you +doing here, Pansy?" + +"Well, miss, you see it's this way. I want to go out to service; and when +I heard you was going to have a house of your own, I thought maybe you'd +take me to work for you." + +"Oh, you did! Well, why didn't you come and apply to me, then, in proper +fashion, and not sit out here waiting for me to come to you? Suppose I +hadn't come?" + +"I was sure you'd come, miss. Everybody who looks at this house comes out +to look at the arbour; but there hasn't been anybody before that I wanted +to work for. Please take me, miss; I'll be faithful and true." + +"What can you do?" asked Patty, half laughing, and half pitying the +strange-looking girl. "Can you cook?" + +"No, ma'am, I can't cook; but I might learn it. But I didn't mean that. I +thought you'd have a cook, and you'd take me for a table girl, you know; +and to tidy up after you." + +"I do want a waitress; but have you had any experience?" + +"No, ma'am," said the girl very earnestly, "I haven't, but I'm just sure +I could learn. If you just tell me a thing once, you needn't ever tell it +to me again. That's something, isn't it?" + +"Indeed it is," said Patty, remembering a certain careless waitress at +Mrs. Elliott's. "Have you any references?" + +"No," said the girl, smiling; "you see, I've never lived anywhere except +home, and I suppose mother's reference wouldn't count." + +"It would with me," said Patty decidedly. "I think your mother ought +to know more about you than anybody else. What would she say if I +asked her?" + +"She'd say I was careless and heedless and thoughtless, and didn't know +anything," replied the girl cheerfully; "and I am that way at home, but I +wouldn't be if I worked for you, because I want to be a waitress, and a +good one; and you'd see how quick I'd learn. Oh, do take me, miss. You'll +never be sorry, and that's sure!" + +This statement was accompanied by such decided gestures of head and hands +that Patty was very nearly convinced to the contrary, but she only said, +"I'm sorry, Pansy,--you said your name was Pansy, didn't you?" + +"Yes, miss,--Pansy Potts." + +"What an extraordinary name!" + +"Is it, miss? Well, you see, my father's name was Potts; and mother named +me Pansy, because she's so fond of the flower. You don't think the name +will interfere with my being a waitress, do you?" + +"Not so far as I'm concerned," said Patty, laughing; "but, you see, I +shall be a very inexperienced housekeeper, and if I have an inexperienced +waitress also, I don't know what might happen." + +"Why, now, miss; it seems to me that that would work out just right. +You're a young housekeeper, but I expect you know just about what a +waitress ought to do, and you could teach me; and I know a lot about +housekeeping, and I could teach you." + +The sincerity in Pansy's voice and manner impressed Patty, and she looked +at her closely, as she said: + +"It does seem good proportion." + +"It is," said Pansy; "and you've no idea how quickly I can learn." + +"Can you?" said Patty. "Well, then, learn first to call me Miss Patty. It +would suit me much better than to hear you say 'miss' so often." + +"Yes, Miss Patty." + +"And don't wring your hands in that absurd fashion, and don't stand +first on one foot and then on the other, as if you were scared out of +your wits." + +"No, Miss Patty." + +Pansy ceased shuffling, dropped her hands naturally to her sides, and +stood in the quiet, respectful attitude that Patty had unconsciously +assumed while speaking. + +Delighted at this quick-witted mimicry, Patty exclaimed: + +"I believe you will do. I believe you are just the one; but I can't +decide positively, now. You go home, Pansy, and come to-morrow afternoon +to see me at Mrs. Elliott's. Do you know where I live?" + +"Yes, Miss Patty," and, with a respectful little bob of her head, Pansy +Potts disappeared, and Patty ran back to the house. + +"Well, chickadee," said Mr. Fairfield, "I have about decided that +you and I can make ourselves comfortable within these four walls, +and, if it suits your ladyship, I think we'll consider that we have +taken the house." + +"It does suit me," said Patty. "I'm perfectly satisfied; and _I_ have +taken a house-maid." + +"Where did you get her?" exclaimed Frank. "Do they grow on trees in the +garden? I saw you out in the arbour with one." + +"Yes," said Patty; "I picked her off a tree. She isn't quite ripe, but +she's not so very green; and I think she'll do. Never mind about her now. +I can't decide until I've had a talk with Aunt Alice. I'm so glad you +decided on this house, papa. Oh, isn't it lovely to have a home! It looks +rather bare, to be sure, but, be it ever so empty, there's no place like +home. Now, what shall we name it? I do like a nice name for a place." + +"It has so many of those little boxwood Hedges," said Aunt Alice, looking +out of the window, "that you might call it The Boxwood House." + +"Oh, don't call it a wood-house," said Uncle Charley. + +"Call it the wood-box, and be done with it," Frank. + +"I like 'Hall,'" said Patty. "How is Boxwood Hall?" + +"Sounds like Locksley Hall," said Marian. + +"More like Boxley Hall," said Frank. + +"Boxley Hall!" cried Patty. "That's just the thing! I like that." + +"Rather a pretentious name to live up to," said Mr. Fairfield. + +"Never mind," said Patty. "With Pansy Potts for a waitress, we can live +up to any name." + +And so Patty's new home was chosen, and its name was Boxley Hall. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +SHOPPING + + +As Boxley Hall was a sort of experiment, Mr. Fairfield concluded to rent +the place for a year, with the privilege of buying. + +By this time Patty was sure that she wished to remain in Vernondale all +her life; but her father said that women, even very young ones, were +fickle in their tastes, and he thought it wiser to be on the safe side. + +"And it doesn't matter," as Patty said to Marian; "for, when the year is +up, papa will just buy the house, and then it will be all right." + +Having found a home, the next thing was to furnish it; and about this Mr. +Fairfield was very decided and methodical. + +"To-morrow," he said, as they were talking it over at the Elliotts' one +evening, "to-morrow I shall take Patty to New York to select the most +important pieces of furniture. We shall go alone, because it is a very +special occasion, and we can't allow ourselves to be hampered by outside +advices. Another day we shall go to buy prosaic things like tablecloths +and carpet-sweepers; and then, as we know little about such things, we +shall be glad to take with us some experienced advisers." + +And so the next day Patty and her father started for the city to buy +furniture for Boxley Hall. + +"You see, Patty," said her father after they were seated in the train, +"there is a certain proportion to be observed in furnishing a house, +about which, I imagine, you know very little." + +"Very little, indeed," returned Patty; "but, then, how should I know such +things when I've never furnished a house?" + +"I understand that," said Mr. Fairfield; "and so, with my advantages +of age and experience, and your own natural good taste, I think we +shall accomplish this thing successfully. Now, first, as to what we +have on hand." + +"Why, we haven't anything on hand," said Patty; "at least, I have a +few pictures and books, and the afghan grandma's knitting for me; but +that's all." + +"You reckon without your host," said her father, smiling. "I possess some +few objects of value, and during the past year I have added to my +collection in anticipation of the time when we should have our own home." + +"Oh, papa!" cried Patty; "have you a whole lot of new furniture that I +don't know about?" + +"Yes," said Mr. Fairfield; "except, that, instead of being new, it is +mostly old. I had opportunities in the South to pick up bits of fine old +mahogany, and I have a number of really good pieces that will help to +make Boxley Hall attractive." + +"What are they, papa? Tell me all about them. I can't wait another +minute!" + +"To begin with, child, I have several heirlooms; the old sideboard that +was your grandfather Fairfield's, and several old bureaus and tables that +came from the Fairfield estate. Then I have, also, two or three beautiful +book-cases, and an old desk for our library; and to-day we will hunt up +some sort of a big roomy table that will do to go with them." + +"Let's make the library the nicest room in the house, papa." + +"It will make itself that, if you give it half a chance, though we'll do +all we can to help. But I'm so prosaic I would like to have special +attention paid to the comforts of the dining-room; and as to your own +bedroom, Patty, I want you to see to it that it fulfills exactly your +ideal of what a girl's room ought to be." + +"Oh, I know just how I want that; almost exactly like my room at Aunt +Alice's, but with a few more of the sort of things I had in my room at +Aunt Isabel's. I do like pretty things, papa." + +"That's right, my child, I'm glad you do; and I think your idea of pretty +things is not merely a taste for highfalutin gimcracks." + +"No, I don't think it is," said Patty slowly; "but, all the same, you'd +better keep pretty close to me when I pick out the traps for my room. Do +you know, papa, I think Aunt Isabel wants to help us furnish our house. +She wrote that she would meet us in New York some time." + +"That's kind of her," said Mr. Fairfield; "but, do _you_ know, it just +seems to me that we'll be able to manage it by ourselves. Our house is +not of the era of Queen Isabella, but of the Princess Patricia." + +"That sounds like Aunt Isabel. They always called me Patricia there. +Don't you think, papa, now that I'm getting so grown up, I ought to be +called Patricia? Patty is such a baby name." + +"Patty is good enough for me," said Mr. Fairfield. "If you want to be +called Patricia, you must get somebody else to do it. I dare say you +could hire somebody for a small sum per week to call you Patricia for a +given number of times every day." + +"Now, you're making fun of me, papa; but I do want to grow up dignified, +and not be a silly schoolgirl all my life." + +"Take care of your common sense, and your dignity will take care +of itself." + +After they crossed the ferry, and reached the New York side, Mr. +Fairfield took a cab, and they made a round of the various shops, buying +such beautiful things that Patty grew fairly ecstatic with delight. + +"I do think you're wonderful, papa," she exclaimed, after they had +selected the dining-room furnishings. "You know exactly what you want, +and when you describe it, it seems to be the only possible thing that +anybody could want for that particular place." + +"That is a result of decision of character, my child. It is a Fairfield +trait, and I hope you possess it; though I cannot say I have seen any +marked development of it, as yet. But you must have noticed it in your +Aunt Alice." + +"Yes, I have," said Patty; "she is so decided that, with all her +sweetness, I have sometimes been tempted to call her stubborn." + +"Stubbornness and decision of character are very closely allied; but +now, we're going to select the furniture for your own bedroom, and if +you have any decision of character, you will have ample opportunity to +exercise it." + +"Oh, I'll have plenty of decision of character when it comes to that," +said Patty; "you will find me a true Fairfield." + +Aided by her father's judgment and advice, Patty selected the furnishings +for her own room. She had chosen green as the predominant colour, and the +couch and easy-chairs were upholstered in a lovely design of green and +white. The rug was green and white, and for the brass bedstead with its +white fittings, a down comfortable with a pale green cover was found. The +dainty dressing-table was of bird's-eye maple; and for this Mr. Fairfield +ordered a bewildering array of fittings, all in ivory, with Patty's +monogram on them. + +"And I want a little book-case, papa," she said; "a little one, you know, +just for my favouritest books; for, of course, the most of my books will +be down in the library." + +So a dear little book-case was bought, also of bird's-eye maple, and a +pretty little work-table, with a low chair to match. + +"That's very nice," said Patty, with an air of satisfaction, "for, though +I hate to sew, yet sometimes it must be done; and with that little +work-table, I think I could sew even in an Indian wigwam!" + +Patty hadn't much to say regarding the furniture of her father's +bedroom, for Mr. Fairfield attended to that himself, and selected the +things with such rapidity and certainty that it was all done almost +before Patty knew it. + +"Now," said Mr. Fairfield, "there are two guest-chambers to be furnished; +the one you call Marian's room, and the other for the general stranger +within our gates." + +Marian's room was done up in blue, as she had requested, and the other +guest-room was furnished in yellow. + +It was great fun to pick out the furniture, rugs, and curtains for +these rooms; and Patty tried very hard to select such things as her +father would approve of, for she dearly loved to have him commend her +taste and judgment. + +As they were sitting at luncheon, Mr. Fairfield said: "This afternoon, I +think, we will devote to pictures. I'm not sure we will buy any, but we +will look at them, and I will learn what is your taste in art, and you +will leant what is mine." + +"I haven't any," said Patty cheerfully. "I don't know anything about art +and never did." + +"You still have some time, I hope, in which to learn." + +"I've time enough, but I don't believe I could learn. The only pictures I +like are pretty ones." + +"You _are_ hopeless, and that's a fact," said Mr. Fairfield. "Of all +discouraging people, the worst are those who like pretty pictures!" + +"But I'm sure I can learn," said Patty, "if you will teach me." + +"You are more flattering than convincing," said Mr. Fairfield, "but I +will try." + +And so after luncheon they visited several picture shops, and Mr. +Fairfield imported to his daughter what was at least a foundation for an +education in art. + +Back in Vernondale, Patty confided to Marian that she had had a perfectly +lovely time all the morning, but the afternoon wasn't so much fun. "In +fact," she said, "it was very much like that little book we had to study +in school called 'How to Judge a Picture.'" + +The following Saturday another shopping tour was undertaken. This time +Aunt Alice and Marian accompanied the Fairfields, and there was more fun +and less responsibility for Patty. + +Her father insisted upon her undivided attention while Mrs. Elliott +selected table-linen, bed-linen, towels, and other household fittings; +but, as these things were chosen with Fairfield promptness and decision, +Patty had nothing to do but admire and acquiesce. + +"And now," she remarked, after they had chosen two sets of china and a +quantity of glass for the dining-room; "now, if you please, we will buy +me some tea-things to entertain the Tea Club." + +"We will, indeed," said Mr. Fairfield, and both he and Aunt Alice entered +into the selection of the tea-table fittings with as much zest as they +had shown in the other china. + +Dainty Dresden cups were found, lovely plates, and a tea-pot, and +cracker-jar, which made Marian and Patty fairly shriek with delight. + +A three-storied wicker tea-table was found, to hold these treasures, and +Mr. Fairfield added the most fascinating little silver tea-caddy and +tea-ball and strainer. + +"Oh," exclaimed Marian, made quite breathless by the glory of it +all, "the Tea Club will never want to meet anywhere except at your +house, Patty." + +"They'll have to," said Patty. "I don't propose to have them every time." + +"Well, you'll have to have them every other time, anyway," said Marian. + +After the fun of picking out the tea-things, it was hard to come down to +the plainer claims of the kitchen, but Aunt Alice grew so interested in +the selection of granite saucepans and patent coffee-mills that Patty, +too, became enthusiastic. + +"And we must get a rolling-pin," she cried, "for I shall make pumpkin +pies every day. Oh, and I want a farina-kettle and a colander, and a +_bain-marie,_ and a larding-needle, and a syllabub-churn." + +"Why, Patty, child!" exclaimed her father; "what are all those things +for? Are you going to have a French _chef_?" + +"No, papa, but I expect to do a great deal of fancy cooking myself." + +"Oh, you do! Well, then, buy all the contraptions that are necessary, but +don't omit the plain gridirons and frying-pans." + +Then Aunt Alice and Patty put their heads together in a most sensible +fashion, and ordered a kitchen outfit that would have delighted the heart +of any well-organised housekeeper. Not only kitchen utensils, but laundry +fittings, and household furnishings generally; including patent +labour-saving devices, and newly invented contrivances which were +supposed to be of great aid to any housewife. + +"If I can only live up to it all," sighed Patty, as she looked at the +enormous collection of iron, tin, wood, and granite. + +"Or down to it," said Marian. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +SERVANTS + + +"I did think," said Patty, in a disgusted tone, "that we could get +settled in the house in time to eat our Christmas dinner there, but it +doesn't look a bit like it. I was over there this afternoon, and such a +hopeless-looking mess of papering and painting and plumbing I never saw +in my life. I don't believe it will _ever_ be done!" + +"I don't either," said Marian; "those men work as slow as mud-turtles." + +The conversation was taking place at the Elliotts' dinner-table, and +Uncle Charley looked up from his carving to say: + +"It's an ill wind that blows nobody good, and the slower the mud-turtles +are, the longer we shall have our guests with us. For my part, I shall be +very sorry to see pretty Patty go out of this house." + +Patty smiled gaily at her uncle, for they were great friends, and said: + +"Then I shall expect you to visit me very often in my new home,--that is, +if I ever get there." + +"I can't see our way clear to a Christmas dinner in Boxley Hall," said +Mr. Fairfield; "but I think I can promise you, chick, that you can +invite your revered uncle and his family to dine with you there on New +Year's day." + +There were general exclamations of delight at this from all except Patty, +who looked a little bewildered. + +"What's the matter, Patsie?" said her uncle. "Don't you want to entertain +your admiring relatives?" + +"Yes," said Patty, "of course I do; but it scares me to death to think of +it! How can I have a dinner party, when I don't know anything about +anything?" + +"Aunt Alice will tell you something about something," said her father; +"and I'll tell you the rest about the rest." + +"Oh, I know it will be all right," said Patty, quickly regaining +confidence, as she looked at her father. "If papa says the house will be +ready, I know it will be, and if he says we'll have a dinner party on New +Year's day, I know we will; and so I now invite you all, and I expect you +all to accept; and I hope Aunt Alice will come early." + +"I shall come the night before," said Marian, "so as to be sure to be +there in time." + +"I'm not sure that any of us will be there the night before," said Mr. +Fairfield, laughing. "I've guaranteed the house for the dinner, but I +didn't say we would be living there at the time." + +"That's a good idea," said Aunt Alice; "let Patty entertain her first +company there, and then come back here for the reaction." + +"Well, we'll see," said Patty; "but I'd like to go there the first day of +January, and stay there." + +By some unknown methods, Mr. Fairfield managed to stir up the mud-turtle +workmen to greater activity, and the work went rapidly on. The +wall-papers seemed to get themselves into place, and the floors took on +a beautiful polish; bustling men came out from the city and put up +window-shades, and curtains, and draperies; and, under Mr. Fairfield's +supervision, laid rugs and hung pictures. + +The ladies of the Elliott household organised themselves into a most +active sewing-society. + +Grandma, Aunt Alice, Marian, and Patty hemmed tablecloths and napkins +with great diligence, and even little Edith was allowed to help with the +kitchen towels. + +Everybody was so kind that Patty began to feel weighed down with +gratitude. The girls of the Tea Club made the tea-cloth that they had +proposed, and they also brought offerings of pin-cushions, and doilies +and centre-pieces, until Patty's room began to look like a booth at a +fancy bazaar. + +One Saturday morning, as the sewing-circle was hard at work, little +Gilbert came in carrying a paper bag, which evidently contained +something valuable. + +"It's for you, Patty," he said. "I brought it for you, to help keep +house; and its name is Pudgy." + +Depositing the bag in his cousin's lap, little Gilbert knelt beside her. +"You needn't open it," he cried; "it will open itself!" + +And, sure enough, the mouth of the bag untwisted, and a little grey head +came poking out. + +"A kitten!" exclaimed Patty; "a Maltese kitten. Why, that's just the very +thing I wanted! Where did you get it, Gilbert, dear?" + +"From the milkman," said Gilbert proudly. "We always get kitties +from him, and I telled him to pick out a nice pretty one for you. Do +you like it?" + +"I love it," said Patty, cuddling the little bunch of grey fur; "and +Pudgy is just the right name for it. It's the fattest little cat I +ever saw." + +"Yes," said Gilbert gravely; "don't let it get thin, will you?" + +"No, indeed," said Patty; "I'll feed it on strawberries and cream all the +year round!" + +That same afternoon Patty and Aunt Alice started out on a cook-hunting +expedition. A Cook's Tour, Frank called it; and the tourists took it very +seriously. + +"Much of the success of your home, Patty," said Aunt Alice, as they were +going to the Intelligence Office, "depends upon your cook; for she will +be not only a cook, but, in part, housekeeper, and overseer of the whole +place. And while you must, of course, exercise your authority and demand +respect, yet at the same time you will find it necessary to defer to her +judgment and experience on many occasions." + +"I know it, Aunt Alice," said Patty very earnestly; "and I do want to do +what is right. I want to be the head of papa's home, and yet there are a +great many things that my servants will know more about than I do. I +shall have to be very careful about my proportion; but if you and papa +will help me, I think I'll come out all right." + +"I think you will," said Aunt Alice, but she smiled a little at the +assured toss of her niece's head. + +The Intelligence Office proved to be as much misnamed as those +institutions usually are, and varying degrees of unintelligence were +shown in the candidates offered for the position of cook at Boxley Hall; +though, if the applicants seemed unsatisfactory to Patty, in many cases +she was no less so to them. + +One tall, rawboned Irishwoman seemed hopefully good-tempered and capable, +but when she discovered that Patty was to be her mistress, instead of +Mrs. Elliott, as she had supposed, she exclaimed: + +"Go 'way wid yez! Wud I be workin' for the likes of a child like that? +No, mum, I ain't no nurse; I'm a cook, and I want a mistress as has got +past playing wid dolls." + +"I hope you'll find one," said Patty politely; "and I'm afraid we +wouldn't suit each other." + +Another Irish girl, with a merry rosy face and frizzled blonde hair, was +very anxious to go to work for Patty. + +"Sure, it will be fun!" she said. "I'd like to work for such a pretty +little lady; and, sure, we'd have the good times. Could I have all me +afternoons out, miss?" + +"Not if you lived with me," said Patty, laughing. "My house is large, +and there's a great deal of work to be done by somebody. I think my cook +couldn't do her share if she went out every afternoon." + +Many others were interviewed, but each seemed to have more or less +objectionable traits. One would not come unless she were the only +servant; another would not come unless Patty kept five. Most of them +showed such a decided lack of respect to so young a mistress that Aunt +Alice began to despair of finding the kind, capable woman she had +imagined. They went home feeling rather discouraged, but when Patty told +her troubles to her father, he only laughed. + +"Bless your heart, child," he said; "you couldn't expect to engage a +whole cook in one afternoon! It's a long and serious process." + +"But, papa, you said we'd be all settled and ready by the first of +January." + +"Yes, I know, but I didn't say which January." + +"Now, you're teasing," said Patty; but she ran away with a light heart, +feeling sure that somehow a cook would be provided. + +That evening, according to appointment, Pansy Potts appeared for +inspection. The whole Elliott family was present, and observed with much +interest the strange-looking girl. + +But, though ignorant and awkward, Pansy was not embarrassed, and, seeming +to realise that her fate lay in the hands of Mrs. Elliott, Mr. Fairfield, +and Patty, she addressed herself to them. + +Her manner, though untrained, showed respectful deference, and her +expressive black eyes showed quick perception and clever adaptability. + +"She is all right at heart," thought Mr. Fairfield to himself, "but she +knows next to nothing. I wonder if it would be a good plan to let the two +girls help each other out." + +"Have you ever waited at table, Pansy?" he asked, so pleasantly that +Pansy Potts felt encouragement rather than alarm. + +"No, sir; but I could learn, and I would do exactly as I was told." + +"That's the right spirit," said Mr. Fairfield "I think perhaps we'll +have to give you a trial." + +"But don't you know anything of a housemaid's duties?" inquired Aunt +Alice, who was a little dubious in the face of such absolute ignorance. +"For instance, if the door-bell should ring, what would you do?" + +"I would have asked Miss Patty beforehand, ma'am, and I would do whatever +she had told me to." + +"Good enough!" exclaimed Mr. Fairfield. "I think you'll do, Pansy; at any +rate, you'll have nothing to unlearn, and that's a great deal." + +So the waitress was engaged, and it was not long after this that a cook +"dropped from the skies," as Patty expressed it. + +One afternoon a large and amiable-looking coloured woman appeared at Mrs. +Elliott's house, with a note from Mrs. Stevens recommending her as a cook +for Patty. As soon as Patty saw her she liked her, but, remembering +previous experiences, she said: + +"Do you understand that you are to work for me? I'm a very young +housekeeper, you know." + +"Laws, missy, dat's all right. Til do de housekeepin' and you can do de +bossin'. I reckon we'll get along mos' beautiful." + +"That sounds attractive, I'm sure," said Patty, laughing. "What is +your name?" + +"Emancipation Proclamation Jackson," announced the owner of the +name proudly. + +"That's a big name," said Patty; "I couldn't call you all that at once." + +"Co'se I shouldn't expect it. Mancy, mos' folks calls me, and dat's good +enough for me; but I likes my name, my whole name, and it does look +beautiful, wrote." + +"I should think it might," said Aunt Alice. "Can you cook, Mancy?" + +"Oh, yas'm, I kin cook everything what there is to cook, and I can make +things besides. Oh, they won't be no trouble about my cookin'. I know +dat much!" + +"Are you a good laundress?" asked Aunt Alice. + +"Yas'm, I am! Ef I do say it dat shouldn't, you jes' ought to see de +clothes I sends up! Dey's jes' like druvven snow. Oh, dey won't be no +trouble about de laundry work!" + +"And can you sweep?" said Patty. + +"Can I sweep? Law, chile, co'se I kin sweep! What yo' s'pose I want to +hire out for, ef I can't do all dem things? Oh, dey won't be no trouble +about sweepin'!" + +"Well, where _will_ the trouble be, Mancy?" said Patty. + +"Dey moughtn't be any trouble, miss," said the black woman earnestly; +"but if dey is, it'll be 'count o' my bein' spoke cross to. I jes' +nachelly can't stand bein' spoke cross to. It riles me all up." + +"I don't believe there will be any trouble on that score," said Patty, +laughing. "My father and I are the best-natured people in the world." + +"I believe yo', missy; an' dat's why I wants to come." + +"There will be another servant, Mancy," said Aunt Alice; "a young girl +who will be a waitress. She is ignorant and inexperienced, but Very +willing to learn. Do you think you could get along with her?" + +"Is she good-natured?" asked Mancy. + +"I don't know her very well," said Patty; "but I think she is. I'm sure +she will be, if we are." + +"Den dat's all right," said Mancy. "I kin look after you two chilluns, I +'spect, and get my work done, too. When shall I come?" + +"The house isn't quite ready yet," said Patty; "but I hope to go there +to live on New Year's day." + +"I think we'd be glad of Mancy's help a few days before that," said +Aunt Alice. + +And so, subject to Mr. Fairfield's final sanction, Mancy was engaged. And +now Patty's whole establishment, including Pudgy the cat, was made up. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +DIFFERING TASTES + + +A few days before the close of the old year, Patty sat at her desk in the +library of Boxley Hall. + +She was making lists of good things to be ordered for the feast on +New Year's day; and, as it was her first unaided experience with +such memoranda, she wore an air of great importance and a deeply +puckered brow. + +Mancy, with her arms comfortably akimbo, stood before her young mistress +ready to suggest, but tactfully chary of advice. + +They were not yet living in the new home, but all the furniture was in +place, the furnace fire had been started, and the palms arranged in the +little conservatory. + +So Patty spent most of her time there, and some of the Elliotts were +usually there with her. + +But this morning she was alone with Mancy, struggling with the +all-important lists. + +"I'll make the salad myself," she remarked, as she wrote "olive oil" on +her slip of paper. + +"Yas'm," answered Mancy, rolling her eyes with an expression of dubious +approval. "Does yo' know how, missy?" + +"Oh, yes," said Patty confidently; "I can make most beautiful salad +dressing. Only it does take quite a long time, and I shall have a lot to +do Thursday morning. Perhaps I'd better leave it to you this time, Mancy. +Can you make it?" + +"Laws, yes, honey; and yo'd better leave it to me. Yo'll have enough to +do with yo' flowers and fixin's, and dressin' yourself up pretty. I'll +'tend to the food." + +"Well, all right, Mancy; I wish you would. And, now, just help me with +this list. I'll read it to you, and see if you think of anything that +I've forgotten." + +"Yas'm," said Mancy, who was most anxious to help, but who had already +learned that Patty was a little inclined to resent unasked advice. + +They were deep in the fascinating bewilderments of grocers' and +greengrocers' wares, when Pansy Potts appeared in the doorway. + +"Miss Patty," she said, "I've done all the things you told me to do; and +I watered the palms, and I've poked around that bunchy rosebush, but I'm +'most sure it's going to die; and now, if you please, when can I be let +to fix up my own room?" + +"Sure enough, Pansy," said Patty; "we must get at that room of yours, and +we'll fix it up as pretty as we can." + +"Mine, too," said Mancy; "I wants my room fixed up nice. I fetched a lot +of pictures to liven it up some, but I reckon I ain't got no time to put +'em up to-day." + +"Oh, yes, you have, Mancy," said Patty, rising; "and, anyway, we'll go +right up and look at those rooms; then I can tell what we need to get +for them." + +"Mine won't need anything," said Pansy, "except what's in it already, +and what I've got to put in it myself. I brought my decorations over +this morning." + +"Oh, you did?" said Patty. "Well, bring them along, and we'll all go +upstairs together." + +"I'll get mine, too," said Mancy, shuffling toward the kitchen. + +The servants' rooms were in the third story. They had been freshly +papered and neatly and appropriately furnished, though Patty had not, as +yet, added any pictures or ornaments. + +And, apparently, she would have no occasion to do so; for, as she went up +to these rooms, she was immediately followed by their future occupants, +each of whom came with her arms full of what looked like the most +worthless rubbish. + +"What _is_ all that stuff, Pansy?" exclaimed Patty, as she beheld her +young waitress fairly staggering under her load. + +"They're lovely things, Miss Patty, and I hope you don't mind. This is a +hornet's nest, and this is a branch of an apple tree, with a swing-bird's +nest on it." + +"A branch! It's a big limb,--a bough, I should call it. What _are_ you +going to do with it?" + +"I thought I'd put it on the wall, Miss Patty. It makes the room look +outdoorsy." + +"It does, indeed! Put it up, if you like; but will you have room then to +get in yourself?" + +"Oh, yes," said Pansy cheerfully; "and I've got a big tub over home that +I want to bring; it has an orange tree planted in it." + +"With oranges on?" + +"Oh, no, not oranges; indeed, it hasn't any leaves on, but I think maybe +they'll come." + +"It must be beautiful!" said Patty. "But if it hasn't any leaves on, it's +probably dead." + +"Oh, no, Miss Patty, it isn't dead; and it had leaves a-plenty, but my +little brother he picked the leaves all off. That's one reason I wanted +to come here, so's to get my orange tree away from Jack." + +"Well, bring it along," said Patty good-naturedly. "What else are you +going to have? A grape-vine, I suppose, trained over the headboard of +your bed." + +"No, Miss Patty, I haven't got no grapevine, but I've got a +wandering-jew-vine in a pot, that I want to set on the mantel." + +"All right," said Patty, "bring your wandering-jew, and let him wander +wherever he likes. You'll have to keep your door shut, or he'll wander +out and run downstairs. What's in that bag?" + +"Rocks, Miss Patty." + +"Rocks? What in the world are you going to do with those?" + +"I'm going to make a rockery, ma'am, by the window. They're just +beautiful. Miss Powers has one in her parlour, and I always wanted one, +but mother wouldn't let me have it, 'cause she says it clutters." + +"But, what is it?" said Patty. "How do you make it?" + +"Oh, you just pile the stones up in a heap, and you stick dried grasses, +and autumn leaves and things, in them; and, if ever you have any flowers, +you know, you stick them in, too." + +"I see; it must be very effective; and sometimes I can give you flowers +for it, I'm sure." + +"Thank you, Miss Patty; I hope you will. Oh, I'll be so glad to have it; +I've been saving these stones for it for years. You see, they're +beautiful stones." + +Pansy Potts was on her knees arranging the stones, many of which were +jagged pieces of quartz shining here and there with mica scales, into a +symmetrical pile, which somehow had the effect of a Pagan altar. + +"Well," said Patty, as she watched her, "I don't think you'll need any of +the decorations I expected to give you." + +"Oh, Miss Patty," said Pansy earnestly, "please don't make me have +pictures, and pincushions, and vases, and all those things; I like my own +things so much better." + +"You shall fix your room just as you choose," said Patty kindly; "and if +I can help you in any way, I'll be glad to do so. How are _you_ +progressing, Mancy?" + +Patty stepped across the hall to her cook's room, and found its stout +occupant rather precariously perched on a chair, tacking up a picture. +She had evidently improved her time, for many other pictures were already +in place, and, what is unusual in either a public or private art-gallery, +the pictures were all exactly alike. They were large, very highly +coloured, unframed, and, in fact, were nothing more or less than +advertisements of a popular soap. The subject was a broadly-grinning old +coloured woman, washing clothes, that were already snow-white, in a sea +of soapsuds. + +"For goodness' sake, Mancy!" exclaimed Patty. "Who said you might drive +tacks all over these new walls, and where did you get all those pictures +of yourself?" + +"They does favour me, don't they, missy?" exclaimed Mancy, beaming with +delight, as she took another tack from her mouth, and pounded it into +place. "I got 'em from de grocer man, and co'se I has to tack 'em, else +how would dey stay up?" + +"But you have so many of them." + +"Laws, chile, only a dozen; youse got mo'n that on the libr'y wall." + +"But ours are different; these are all alike." + +"Co'se dey's all alike! I des nachelly gets tired of lookin' at different +pitchers. It 'stracts my head." + +"I should think these would distract your head. I feel as if I were in a +kinetoscope." + +"Does that mean art-gal'ry?" + +"Not exactly; but tell me, Mancy, did you get all these pictures because +they looked like you? And was the grocer willing to give you so many?" + +"Yas'm. But I 'spects I'll hab to confess a little about dat, Miss Patty. +You see, I dun tole him I was gwine t' work for yo', and dat's huccome he +guv 'em to me." + +"That's all right, Mancy. After he gets that long order we made out this +morning, I'm sure he'll feel he was justified in favouring us; but get +down out of that chair. In the first place, you'll fall and break your +neck, and if you don't, you'll break the chair. Get down, and I'll tack +up the rest of your pictures." + +"Thank you, missy, do; and I'll hand you the tacks. There's only six +more, anyhow. I 'llowed to have three over the mantel, and two over that +window, and one behind the door." + +"But you can't see it; that door is usually open." + +"No'm; but I'll know it's there jes' the same." + +"All right; here goes, then," and soon Patty had the rest of the gaudy +lithographs tacked into their designated places. + +"Now, Mancy," she said, as she jumped down from the chair for the last +time, "you don't want any other pictures, do you? It would interfere with +the artistic unities to introduce any other school." + +"Laws 'a' massy, chile; I don't want to go to school! Miss Patty, +sometimes you does cert'nly talk like a Choctaw Injun. Leastways, _I_ +can't understand you." + +"It doesn't really matter," said Patty, "and we're even, anyway; for I +can't understand why _you_ want those fearful posters in your room, +instead of the nice little pictures I had planned to give you." + +"Oh, yes; I knows yo' nice little pictures! with a narrow black ban', +jes' about the size ob a sheet of mo'nin' paper! No, thank you, missy, +no black-bordered envelopes hanging on my wall! Give me good reds and +yallers and blues; the kind you can hear with yo' eyes shut. That is, +ef yo' don't mind, missy. Ef yo' does, I'll take 'em all right +slam-bang down." + +"No, no, Mancy; it's all right. In your own room I want you to have just +exactly what you want, and nothing else. Now, let's go and see how +Pansy's getting along." + +The rockery was completed, and was a most imposing structure. Wheat ears +and dried oats were sticking out from between the stones, and pressed +autumn leaves added a touch of colour. At the base of the rockery were a +large pink-lined conch-shell and several smaller shells. On the walls +were various branches of different species of vegetation; among others a +tangle of twigs of the cotton plant, from which depended numerous bolls. + +Pansy was struggling with a lot of evergreen boughs, which she was trying +to crowd into a strange-looking receptacle. + +"How do you like it, Miss Patty?" she asked, as Patty stood in the +doorway and gazed in. + +"I like it very much, for you, Pansy," replied Patty. "If this is the +kind of room you want, I'm very glad for you to have it; only, I don't +know whether to call it 'First Course in Mineralogy,' or 'How to Tell the +Wild Flowers,'" + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +AN UNATTAINED AMBITION + + +To say that Boxley Hall was in readiness for the party would be stating +it very mildly. It was overflowing,--yes, fairly bursting with readiness. + +New Year's day was on Thursday, and Patty had decreed that on that day +none of the Elliotts should go to Boxley Hall until they came as guests. + +Dinner was to be at two o'clock, and in the morning Patty and her father +went over to their new home together. + +"Just think, papa," said Patty, squeezing his hand as they went along, +"how many times we have walked--and run, too, for that matter--from Aunt +Alice's over to our house; but this time it's different. We're going to +stay, to live, really to _reside_ in our own home; and whenever we go to +Aunt Alice's again, it will be to visit or to call. Oh, isn't it +perfectly lovely! If I can only live up to it, and do things just as you +want me to." + +"Don't take it too seriously, Pattikins; I don't expect you to become an +old and experienced housewife all at once. And I don't want you to wear +yourself out trying to become such a personage. Indeed, I shall be +terribly disappointed if you don't make ridiculous mistakes, and give me +some opportunity to laugh at you." + +"You are the dearest thing, papa; that's just the way I want you to feel +about it; and I think I can safely promise to make enough blunders to +keep you giggling a good portion of the time." + +"Oh, don't go out of your way to furnish me with amusement. And now, how +about your party to-day? Is everything in tip-top order?" + +"Yes, except a few thousand things that I have to do this morning, and a +few hundred that I want you to do." + +"I shall see to it, first, that the carving-knife is well sharpened. It's +the first time that I have carved at my own table for a great many years, +and I want the performance to be marked by grace and skill." + +"It will be, if you do it, papa; I'm sure of that," and by this time they +had reached the gate, and Patty was skipping along the path and up the +steps, and into the door of her own home. + +Mancy and Pansy Potts were already there, and, to a casual observer, it +looked as if there was nothing more to do except to admit the guests. + +Patty had set the table the day before, and, to the awestruck admiration +of Pansy Potts, had arranged the beautiful new glass and china with most +satisfactory effects. Pansy had watched the proceedings with intelligent +scrutiny and, when it was finished, had told Patty that the next time she +would be able to do it herself. + +"You'll have a chance to try," Patty had answered, "for in the evening +we'll have supper, and you may set the table all by yourself; and I'll +come out and look it over to make sure it's all right." + +But, as Patty had said, there was yet much to be done on Thursday +morning, even though there were eight hands to make the work light. + +Boxes of flowers had arrived from the florist's, and these had to be +arranged in the various rooms; also, a few potted plants in full bloom +had come for the conservatory, and these so delighted the soul of Pansy +Potts that Patty feared the girl would spend the whole day nursing them. + +"Come, Pansy," she called; "let them grow by themselves for a while; I +want your help in the kitchen." + +"But, oh, Miss Patty, they're daisies! Real white daisies, with +yellow centres!" + +"Well, they'll still be daisies to-morrow, and you'll have more time to +admire them then." + +Patty's ambitions in the culinary line ran to the fanciful and elaborate +confections which were pictured in the cook-books and in the household +periodicals; especially did she incline toward marvellous desserts which +called for spun sugar, and syllabubs, and rare sweetmeats, and patent +freezing processes. + +For her New Year's dinner party she had decided to try the most +complicated recipe of all, and, moreover, intended to surprise +everybody with it. + +Warning her father to keep out of the kitchen on pain of excommunication, +she rolled up her sleeves and tied on a white apron; and with her open +book on the table before her, began her proceedings. + +Pansy Potts was set to whipping cream with a new-fangled syllabub-churn, +and Mancy was requested to blanch some almonds and pound them to a paste +in a very new and very large mortar. + +Though the good-natured Mancy was more than willing to help her young +mistress through what threatened to be somewhat troubled waters, yet she +had the more substantial portions of the dinner to prepare, and there was +none too much time. + +As Patty went on with her work, difficulties of all sorts presented +themselves. The cream wouldn't whip, but remained exasperatingly fluid; +the sugar refused to "spin a thread," and obstinately crystallised +itself into a hard crust; the almonds persisted in becoming a lumpy mass, +instead of a smooth paste; and the gelatine, as Patty despairingly +remarked, "acted like all possessed!" + +But, having attempted the thing, she was bound to carry it through, +though it was with some misgivings that she finally poured a queer and +sticky-looking substance into the patent freezer. + +Pansy Potts had declared herself quite able to accomplish the freezing +process; but, as she was about to begin, she announced in tragic tones +that the extra ice hadn't come. + +"Oh!" exclaimed Patty, in desperation, "everything seems to go wrong +about that dessert! Well, Pansy, you use what ice there is, and I'll +telephone for some more, right away." + +But when Patty called up the ice company she found that their office was +closed for the day, and, hanging up the receiver with an angry little +jerk, she turned to find her father smiling at her. + +"I see you have begun to amuse me," he said; "but never mind about my +entertainment now, Puss; run away and get dressed, or you won't be ready +to receive your guests. It's half-past one now." + +"Oh, papa, is it so late? And I have to get into that new frock!" + +"Well, scuttle along, then, and make all the haste you can." + +Patty scuttled, but during the process of making all the haste she could, +she very nearly lost her temper. + +The new white frock was complicated; the broad white hair-ribbons were +difficult to tie; and, as it was the first time that she had made a +toilette in her new home, it is not at all surprising that many useful or +indispensable little articles were missing. + +"Pansy," she called, as she heard the girl in the dining-room, "do, for +mercy's sake, come up and help me. I can't find my shoe-buttoner, and I +can't button the yoke of this crazy dress without it." + +Pansy came to the rescue, and just as the Elliott family came in at the +front gate, Patty completely attired, but very flushed and breathless +from her rapid exertions--flew downstairs and tucked her arm through her +father's, as he stood in the hall. + +"I'm here," she said demurely, and trying to speak calmly. + +"Oh, so you are," he said. "I thought a white cashmere whirlwind had +struck me. I _hope_ you didn't hurry yourself." + +"Oh, no!" said Patty, meeting his merry smile with another. "I just +dawdled through my dressing to kill time." + +"Yes, you look so," said her father, and just then the doorbell rang. + +"Oh, papa," cried Patty, her eyes dancing with excitement, "_isn't_ it +just grand! That's the first ring at our own doorbell, our _own_ +doorbell, you know; and hasn't it a musical ring? And now it will be +answered by our own Pansy." + +Without a trace of the hurry and fluster that had so affected her young +mistress, Pansy Potts, in neat white cap and apron, opened the door to +the guests. + +Patty nudged her father's arm in glee, as they noted the correct +demeanour of their own waitress, and then all such considerations were +drowned in the outburst of enthusiasm that accompanied the entrance of +the Elliotts. The younger members of the family announced themselves with +wild war-whoops of delight, and the older ones, though less noisy, were +no less enthusiastic. + +"I like Cousin Patty's house," announced Gilbert, sitting down in the +middle of the floor. "I will stay here always. Where is the Pudgy +kitty-cat?" + +"I'll get her for you, right away," said Patty. "She is fatter than ever; +but, first, let me make grandma comfortable." + +Taking Mrs. Elliott's bonnet and wraps, Patty led the old lady to a large +easy-chair, and announced that she must sit there for a few moments and +rest, before she made a tour of inspection around the house. + +Grandma Elliott had not been allowed in the new house while it was being +arranged, lest she should take cold, and so to-day it burst upon her in +all its glory. By this time Frank and Marian were investigating the +conservatory, and little Edith was announcing that Cousin Patty had a +"Crimson Gambler." + +"She means Crimson Rambler!" exclaimed Patty; "or, as Pansy calls it, +'that bunchy rosebush.'" + +Although the guests had been invited to a two-o'clock dinner, yet when +the clock hands pointed to nearly three, the meal had not been announced. + +There was so much to be talked about that the time did not drag, but Aunt +Alice looked at Patty a little curiously. + +Patty caught the glance, and excusing herself, went out into the kitchen. + +"Mancy!" she exclaimed; "it's almost three o'clock. Why don't you +have dinner?" + +"Well, honey, yo' took so much of my time mashin' your old nuts dat my +work got put behind. Dinner'll come on after a while; it's mos' ready." + +Patty went back to the parlour, laughing. + +"If anybody can hurry up Mancy," she said, "they're welcome to try it. I +didn't realise it was so late, and I'm awfully sorry; but I guess we'll +have dinner pretty soon, now." + +"Don't be sorry we're going to have it soon," said Frank; "none of the +rest of us are, I assure you." + +Although served about an hour late, the dinner was a great success. +It had been carefully planned; Mancy's cooking was beyond reproach, +and Pansy Potts proved a neat-handed and quick-witted, if +inexperienced, Phyllis. + +Encouraged by the general excellence of the courses, as they succeeded +one another, Patty began to hope that her gorgeous dessert would turn out +all right after all. + +Seated at the head of her own table, she made a charming little hostess, +and many a glance of happy understanding passed between her and the +gentleman who presided at the other end. + +"I say, Patty, it's right down jolly, you having a house of your own," +said Frank. + +"Except that we miss you awfully over home," added Uncle Charley. + +"I don't see how you can," said Patty, smiling; "as I took breakfast +there this morning, you haven't yet gathered round your lonely board +without me." + +"No, but we shall have to," said Uncle Charley, "and it is that which is +breaking my young heart." + +"Well, _this_ is what's breaking _my_ young heart," said Patty, as she +watched Pansy Potts, who was just entering the room with a dish +containing a most unattractive-looking failure. + +"I may as well own up," she said bravely, as the dessert was placed in +front of her. "My ambition was greater than my ability." + +"Don't say another word," said Aunt Alice. "_I_ understand; those +spun-sugar things are monuments of total depravity." + +Patty gave her aunt a grateful glance, and said, "They certainly are, +Aunt Alice; and I'll never attempt one again until I've made myself +perfect by long practice." + +"Good for you, my Irish Pat," said Frank; "but, do you know, I like them +better this way. There's an attraction about that general conglomeration +that appeals to me more strongly than those over-neat concoctions that +look as if they had sat in a caterer's window for weeks." + +But, notwithstanding Frank's complimentary impulses, the dessert proved +uneatable, and had to be replaced with crackers and cheese and fruit +and bonbons. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A CALLER + + +It was quite late in the evening before the Elliotts left Boxley Hall; +but after they had gone, Patty and her father still lingered in the +library for a bit of cosey chat. + +"Isn't it lovely," said Patty, with a little sigh of extreme content, "to +sit down in our own library, and talk over our own party? And, by the +way, papa, how do you like our library; is it all your fancy painted it?" + +"Yes," said Mr. Fairfield, looking around critically, "the library is all +right; but, of course, as yet it is young and inexperienced. It remains +for us to train it up in the way it should go; and I feel sure, under our +ministrations and loving care, it will grow better as it grows older." + +"We've certainly got good material to work on," said Patty, giving a +satisfied glance around the pretty room. "And now, Mr. Man, tell me what +you think of our first effort at hospitality? How did the dinner party go +off today?" + +"It went off with flying colours, and you certainly deserve a great deal +of credit for your very successful first appearance as a hostess. Of +course, if one were disposed to be critical--" + +"One would say that one's elaborate dessert--" + +"Was a very successful imitation of a complete failure," interrupted Mr. +Fairfield, laughing. "And this is where I shall take an opportunity to +point a moral. It is not good proportion to undertake a difficult and +complicated recipe for the first time, when you are expecting guests." + +"No, I know it," said Patty; "and yet, papa, you wouldn't expect me to +have that gorgeous French mess for dinner when we're all alone, would +you? And so, when could we have it?" + +"Your implication does seem to bar the beautiful confection from our +table entirely; and yet, do you know, it wouldn't alarm me a bit to have +that dessert attack us some night when you and I are at dinner quite +alone and unprotected." + +"All right, papa, we'll have it, and I'm sure, after another trial, I can +make it just as it should be made." + +"Don't be too sure, my child. Self-confidence is a good thing in its +place, but self-assurance is a quality not nearly so attractive. I think, +Patty, girl," and here Mr. Fairfield put his arm around his daughter and +looked very kindly into her eyes; "I think every New Year's day I shall +give you a bit of good advice by way of correcting whatever seems to me, +at the time, to be your besetting sin." + +Patty smiled back at her father with loving confidence. + +"But if you only reform me at the rate of one sin per year, it will be a +long while before I become a good girl," she said. + +"You're a good girl, now," said her father, patting her head. "You're +really a very good girl for your age, and if I correct your faults at the +rate of one a year, I don't think I can keep up with the performance for +very many years. But, seriously, Pattikins, what I want to speak to you +about now is your apparent inclination toward a certain kind of filigree +elaborateness, which is out of proportion to our simple mode of living. I +have noticed that you have a decided admiration for appointments and +services that are only appropriate in houses run on a really magnificent +scale; where the corps of servants includes a butler and other trained +functionaries. Now, you know, my child, that with your present retinue +you cannot achieve startling effects in the way of household glories. Am +I making myself clear?" + +"Well, you're not so awfully clear; but I gather that you thought that +ridiculous pudding I tried to make was out of proportion to Pansy Potts +as waitress." + +"You have grasped my meaning wonderfully well," said her father; "but it +was not only the pudding I had in mind, but several ambitious attempts at +an over-display of grandeur and elegance." + +"Well, but, papa, I like to have things nice." + +"Yes, but be careful not to have them more nice than wise. However, +there is no necessity for dwelling on this subject. I see you understand +what I mean; and I know, now that I have called your attention to it, +your own sense of proportion will guide you right, if you remember to +follow its dictates." + +"But do you imagine," said Patty roguishly, "that such a mild scolding as +that is going to do a hardened reprobate like me any good?" + +"Yes," said her father decidedly, "I think it will." + +"So do I," said Patty. + +Next morning at breakfast Patty could scarcely eat, so enthusiastic was +she over the delightful sensation of breakfasting alone with her father +in their own dining-room. + +Very carefully she poured his coffee for him, and very carefully Pansy +Potts carried the cup to its destination. + +"I didn't ask Marian to stay last night," slid Patty, "because I wanted +our first night and our first breakfast all alone by ourselves." + +"You're a sentimental little puss," said her father. + +"Yes, I think I am," said Patty. "Do you mind?" + +"Not at all; if you keep your sentiment in its proper place, and don't +let it interfere with the somewhat prosaic duties that have of late come +into your life." + +"Gracious goodness' sakes!" said Patty; "that reminds me. What shall I +order from the butcher this morning?" + +"Don't ask me," said Mr. Fairfield. "I object to being implicated in +matters so entirely outside my own domain." + +"Oh, certainly," said Patty; "that's all right. I beg your pardon, +I'm sure. And don't feel alarmed; I'll promise you shall have a +tip-top dinner." + +"I've no doubt of it, and now good-bye, Baby, I must be off to catch my +train. Don't get lonesome; have a good time; and forget that your father +scolded you." + +"As if I minded that little feathery scolding! Come home early, and bring +me something nice from the city. Good-bye." + +Left to herself, Patty began to keep house with great diligence. She +planned the meals for the day, made out orders for market, gave the +flowers in the vases fresh water, and looking in at the conservatory, she +found Pansy Potts digging around the potted daisies with a hairpin. + +"Pansy," she said kindly, "I'm glad to have you take care of the flowers; +but you mustn't spend all your time in here. Have you straightened up in +the dining-room yet?" + +"No, ma'am," said Pansy; "but these little daisies cried so loud to be +looked after that I just couldn't neglect them another minute. See how +they laugh when I tickle up the dirt around their toes." + +"That's all very well, Pansy," said Patty, laughing herself; "but I want +you to do your work properly and at the right time; now leave the daisies +until the dining-room and bedrooms are all in order." + +"Yes, Miss Patty," said Pansy, and, though she cast a lingering farewell +glance at the beloved posies, she went cheerfully about her duties. + +"Now," thought Pansy, "I'll telephone to Marian to come over this +afternoon and stay to dinner, and stay all night; then we can arrange +about having the Tea Club to-morrow. Why, there's the doorbell; perhaps +that's Marian now. I don't know who else it could be, I'm sure." + +In a few moments Pansy Potts appeared, and offered Patty a card on a very +new and very shiny tray. + +"For goodness' sake, who is it, Pansy?" asked Patty, reading the card, +which only said, "Miss Rachel Daggett." + +"I don't know, Miss Patty, I'm sure. She asked for you, and I said you'd +go right down." + +"Very well; I will," said Patty. + +A glance in the mirror showed a crisp fresh shirt-waist, and neatly +brushed hair, so Patty ran down to the library to welcome her guest. + +The guest proved to be a large, tall, and altogether impressive-looking +lady, who spoke with a great deal of firmness and decision. + +"I am Miss Daggett," she said, "and I am your neighbour." + +"Are you?" said Patty pleasantly. "I am very glad to meet you, and I +hope you will like me for a neighbour." + +"I don't know whether I shall or not," said Miss Daggett; "it depends +entirely on how you behave." + +Although Patty was extremely good-natured, she couldn't help feeling a +little inclined to resent the tone taken by her guest, and she returned +rather crisply: + +"I shall try to behave as a lady and a neighbour." + +"Humph!" said Miss Daggett. "You're promising a good deal. If you +accomplish what you've mentioned, I shall consider you the best neighbour +I've ever experienced in my life." + +Patty began to think her strange guest was eccentric rather than +impolite, and began to take a fancy to the somewhat brusque visitor. + +"I live next-door," said Miss Daggett, "and I am by no means social in my +habits. Indeed, I prefer to let my neighbours alone; and I am not in the +habit of asking them to call upon me." + +"I will do just as you like," said Patty politely; "call upon you or +not. It is not my habit to call on people who do not care to see me. But, +on the other hand, I shall be happy to call upon such of my neighbours as +ask me to do so." + +"Oh, people don't have to call upon each other merely because they are +neighbours," said Miss Daggett; "and that's why I came in here to-day, to +let you understand my ideas on this matter. I have lived next-door to +this house for many years, and I have never cared to associate with the +people who have lived in it. I have no reason to think that you will +prove of any more interest to me that any of the others who have lived +here. Indeed, I have reason to believe that you will prove of less +interest to me, because you are so young and inexperienced that I feel +sure you will be a regular nuisance. And I would like you to understand +once for all, that you are not to come to me for advice or assistance +when you make absurd and ridiculous mistakes, as you're bound to do." + +At first Patty had grown indignant at Miss Daggett's conversation, but +soon she felt rather amused at what was doubtless the idiosyncrasy of an +eccentric mind, and she answered: + +"I will promise not to come to you for advice or warning, no matter how +much I may need assistance." + +"That's right," said Miss Daggett very earnestly; "and remember, please, +that your cook is not to come over to my house to borrow anything; not +even eggs, butter, or lemons." + +"I'll promise that, too," said Patty, trying not to laugh; though she +couldn't help thinking that her first caller was an extraordinary one. + +"Well, you really behave quite well," said Miss Daggett; "I am very much +surprised at you. I came over here partly to warn you against interfering +with myself and my household, but also because I wanted to see what +you're like. I had heard that you were going to live in this house, and +that you were going to keep house yourself; and, though I was much +surprised that your father would let you do such a thing, yet I can't +help thinking that you're really quite sensible. Yet, I want you to +understand that you are not to borrow things from my kitchen." + +"I am glad that you think I'm sensible," said Patty, looking earnestly at +her visitor, toward whom she felt somehow drawn in despite of her queer +manners. "And I'll promise not to borrow anything from you under any +circumstances." + +"That is all right," said Miss Daggett, rising; "and that is all I came +to say to you. I will now go home, and if I ever feel that I want you to +return this call, I will let you know. Otherwise, please remember that I +do not care to have it returned." + +Patty showed her guest to the door, and dismissed her with a polite +"Good-bye." + +"Well!" she exclaimed to herself, as Miss Daggett walked out of the front +gate with an air of stalwart dignity. "That's a delightful specimen of a +caller, but I hope I won't have many more like that. She's a queer kind +of a neighbour, but somehow I rather think if I saw her more I should +like her better." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +A PLEASANT EVENING + + +Marian came to dinner, and Frank came with her. As he announced when he +entered, he had had no invitation, but he said he did not hesitate on +that account. + +"I should think not," said Patty. "I expect all the Elliott family to +live at my house, and only go home occasionally to visit." + +So Frank proceeded to make himself at home, and when Mr. Fairfield +arrived a little later and dinner was served, it was a very merry party +of four that sat down to the table. + +As Patty had promised her father, the dinner was excellent, and it +was with a pardonable pride that she dispensed the hospitality of her +own table. + +"What's the dessert going to be, Patty?" asked Frank. "Nightingales' +tongues, I suppose, served on rose-leaves." + +"Don't be rude, Frank," said his sister. "You're probably causing your +hostess great embarrassment." + +"Not at all," said Patty; "I am now such an old, experienced housekeeper, +that I'm not disturbed by such insinuations. I'm sorry to disappoint you, +Frank, but the dessert is a very simple one. However, you are now about +to have a most marvellous concoction called 'Russian Salad.' I was a +little uncertain as to how it would turn out, so I thought I'd try it +tonight, as I knew my guests would be both good-natured and hungry." + +"That's a combination of virtues that don't always go together," said Mr. +Fairfield. "I hope the young people appreciate the compliment. To be +good-natured and hungry at the same time implies a disposition little +short of angelic." + +"So you see," said Marian, "you're not entertaining these angels +unawares." + +"Bravo! pretty good for Mally," said Frank, applauding his sister's +speech. "And if I may be allowed to remark on such a delicate subject, +your salad is also pretty good, Patty." + +"It's more than pretty good," said Marian. "It's a howling, screaming, +shouting success. I am endeavouring to find out what it's made of." + +"You can't do it," said Mr. Fairfield. "I have tried, too; and it seems +to include everything that ever grew on the earth beneath, or in the +waters under the earth." + +"Your guesses are not far out of the way," said Patty composedly. "I will +not attempt to deny that that complicated and exceedingly Frenchified +salad is concocted from certain remainders that were set away in the +refrigerator after yesterday's dinner." + +"Who would have believed it?" exclaimed Frank, looking at his plate with +mock awe and reverence. + +"Materials count for very little in a salad," said Marian, with a wise +and didactic air. "Its whole success depends on the way it is put +together." + +"Now, that's a true compliment," said Patty; "and it is mine, for I made +this salad all myself." + +After dinner they adjourned to the library, and the girls fell to making +plans for the Tea Club, which was to meet there next day. + +"I do think," said Marian, "it's awfully mean of Helen Preston to insist +on having a bazaar. They're so old-fashioned and silly; and we could get +up some novel entertainment that would make just as much money, and be a +lot more fun besides." + +"I know it," said Patty. "I just hate bazaars; with their everlasting +Rebeccas at the Well, and flower-girls, and fish-ponds, and gipsy-tents. +But, then, what could we have?" + +"Why, there are two or three of those little acting shows that Elsie +Morris told us about. I think they would be a great deal nicer." + +"What sort of acting shows are you talking about, my children; and what +is it all to be?" asked Mr. Fairfield, who was always interested in +Patty's plans. + +"Why, papa, it's the Tea Club, you know; and we're going to have an +entertainment to make money for the Day Nursery--oh, you just ought to +see those cunning little babies! And they haven't room enough, or nurses +enough, or anything. And you know the Tea Club never has done any good in +the world; we've never done a thing but sit around and giggle; and so we +thought, if we could make a hundred dollars, wouldn't it be nice?" + +"The hundred dollars would be very nice, indeed; but just how are you +going to make it? What's this about an acting play?" + +"Oh, not a regular play,--just a sort of dialogue thing, you know; and +we'd have it in Library Hall, and Aunt Alice and a lot of her friends +would be patronesses." + +"It would seem to me," said Frank, "that Miss Patty Fairfield, now +being an old and experienced housekeeper, could qualify as a +patroness herself." + +"No, thank you," said Patty. "I'm housekeeper for my father, and in my +father's house, but to the great outside world I'm still a shy and +bashful young miss." + +"You don't look the part," said Frank; "you ought to go around with your +finger in your mouth." + +"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" said Patty. "I shall begin to cultivate +the habit at once." + +"Do," said Marian; "I'm sure it would be becoming to you, but perhaps +hard on your gloves." + +"Well, there's one thing certain," said Patty: + +"I would really rather put my finger in my mouth than to crook out my +little finger in that absurd way that so many people do. Why, Florence +Douglass never lifts a cup of tea that she doesn't crook out her little +finger, and then think she's a very pattern of all that's elegant." + +"I know it," said Marian. "I think it's horrid, too; it's nothing but +airs. I know lots of people who do it when they're all dressed up, but +who never think of such a thing when they are alone at home." + +"I wonder what the real reason is?" said Patty thoughtfully. + +"It is an announcement of refinement," said Mr. Fairfield, falling in +with his daughter's train of thought; "and, as we all know, the +refinement that needs to be announced is no refinement at all. We +therefore see that the conspicuously curved little finger is but an +advertisement of a specious and flimsy imitation of aristocracy." + +"Papa, you certainly do know it all," said Patty. "I haven't any words by +me just now, long enough to answer you with, but I quite agree with you +in spirit." + +"That's all very well," said Frank, "for a modern, twentieth-century +explanation, but the real root of the matter goes far back into the +obscure ages of antiquity. The whole habit is a relic of barbarism. +Probably, in the early ages, only the great had cups to drink from. These +few, to protect themselves from their envious and covetous brethren, +stuck out their little fingers to ward off possible assaults upon their +porcelain property. This ingrained impulse the ages have been unable to +eradicate. Hence we find the Little Finger Crooks upon the earth to-day." + +"What an ingenious boy you are," said Patty, looking at her cousin with +mock admiration. "How did you ever think of all that?" + +"That isn't ingenuity, miss, it's historic research, and you'll probably +find that Florence Douglass can trace her ancestry right back to the +aforesaid barbarians." + +"I suppose most of us are descended from primitive people," said Marian. + +And then the entrance of Elsie Morris and her brother Guy put an end to +the discussion of little fingers. + +"I'm so glad to see you," said Patty, welcoming her callers. "Come right +into the library, you are our first real guests." + +"Then I think we ought to have the Prize for Promptness," said Elsie, as +she took off her wraps. "But don't you count Frank and Marian?" + +"Not as guests," replied Patty; "they're relatives, and you know your +relatives--" + +"Are like the poor," interrupted Frank, "because they're always +with you." + +"Then, we are really your first callers?" said Guy Morris. + +"No, not quite," said Patty, laughing. "I spoke too hastily when I said +that, and forgot entirely a very distinguished personage who visited me +this morning." + +"Who was it?" + +"My next-door neighbour, Miss Daggett." + +"What! Not Locky Ann Daggett!" exclaimed Elsie, laughing merrily. + +"It was Miss Rachel Daggett. I don't know why you call her by that queer +name," said Patty. + +"Oh, I've known her ever since I was a baby, and mother always calls her +Locky Ann Daggett, and grandmother did before her. You know Locky is a +nickname for Rachel." + +"I didn't know it," said Patty. "What an absurd nickname." + +"Yes, isn't it? How did you like her?" + +"It isn't a question of liking," answered Patty. "She doesn't want me to +like her. All she seemed to care about was to have me promise not to +interfere with her." + +"Oh, she's afraid of you," said Guy. "You don't seem so very terrifying, +now, but I suppose when you're engaged in the housekeeping of your house +you're an imposing and awe-inspiring sight." + +"I dare say I am," said Patty; "but my neighbour, Miss Daggett, I'm sure, +would be imposing at any hour of the day or night." + +"She's a queer character," said Elsie. "Have you never seen her before?" + +"No; I never even heard of her until she sent up her card." + +"Why, how funny," said Marian; "I've always heard of Locky Ann Daggett, +but I never knew anything about her, except that she's very old and +very queer." + +"She's a sort of humourous character," said Guy Morris; "strong-minded, +you know, and eccentric, but not half bad. I quite like the old lady, +though I almost never see her." + +"No; she doesn't seem to care to see people," said Patty. "She seems to +have no taste for society. Why, I don't suppose she'd care to take part +in our play, even if we invited her." + +"Oh, what about the play?" said Elsie. "Have you really decided to have +a play, instead of that stupid old fair?" + +"We haven't decided anything," said Patty, "we can't until the club meets +to-morrow." + +"Oh, do have a play," said Frank, "and then us fellows can take part. We +couldn't do anything at a bazaar, except stand around and buy things." + +"And we're chuck-full of histrionic talent," put in Guy. "You ought to +see me do Hamlet." + +"Yes," said Frank, "Guy's Hamlet is quite the funniest thing on the face +of the earth. I do love comedy." + +"So do I," said Guy, "I just love to play a side-splitting part +like Hamlet." + +"Then you may have a chance," said Marian, "for one of the plays we're +thinking about--and it isn't exactly a play either--brings in a whole lot +of tragic characters in a humourous way. It's a general mix-up, you know: +Hamlet, and Sairy Gamp, and Rip Van Winkle, and Old Mother Hubbard, and +everybody." + +"Yes, that's a good one," said Marian; "it's called 'Shakespeare at the +Seashore.'" + +"The name is enough to condemn that piece," said Mr. Fairfield; "not one +of you can say it straight." + +And sure enough, though numerous attempts were made, and much laughter +ensued, none entirely successful. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +PREPARATIONS + + +With the instincts of a true hostess, Patty had slipped from the room +unobserved, and had held a short Confab with her two trusty servitors in +the kitchen. + +"But, Miss Patty," expostulated Mancy, "dey ain't nuffin' fit to set +befo' dem fren's ob yo's. Dey ain't nuffin' skacely in de house, ceptin' +some bits ob candies an' cakaroons le' from yo' las' night's supper." + +"Well, that's all right," said Patty; "let Pansy arrange those nicely on +the dining-room table. Use the silver dishes, Pansy, and fix them just as +I told you." + +"Yes, Miss Patty," said Pansy, "but there aren't very many left." + +"Well, then, Mancy, I'll tell you what: you make us a nice pot of +chocolate, and fix us some thin bread and butter, and cut up some of the +fruit cake to put with those little fancy cakes; won't that do?" + +"Yas'm, I spec' so; but it's a mighty slim layout, 'specially for dem +hearty young chaps. But you go 'long, honey, I'll fix it somehow." + +And, sure enough, she did fix it somehow; for when, a little later, Patty +invited her young friends out into the dining-room, the thin bread and +butter had doubled itself up into most attractive and satisfying +chicken-sandwiches, and there was also a plate of delicious toasted +crackers and cheese. + +Mr. Fairfield added a box of candy which he had brought home from New +York, and the unpretentious little feast proved most enjoyable to all +concerned. + +"I should think you would feel all the time as if you were acting a play +yourself, Patty," said Elsie Morris, taking her seat at the prettily +laid table. + +"I do," said Patty as she took her own place at the head; "it's awfully +hard to realise that I am monarch of all I survey." + +"But you have someone to dispute your right," said her father. + +"And I'm glad of it," said Patty. "Whatever should I do living here all +alone just with my rights?" + +"By her rights, she means her cousins," put in Frank. + +"Yes," said Patty; "they're about as right as anything I know." + +And so the evening passed in merry chaff and good-natured fun; and at its +close the young guests all went away except Marian, who was going to +spend the night at Boxley Hall. + +After her cousin had gone upstairs to her pretty blue bedroom, Patty +lingered a moment in the library for a word with her father. + +"How am I getting along, papa?" she said. "How about the proportion +to-night?" + +"The market seems pretty strong on proportion to-day, Patty, dear; your +housekeeping is beginning wonderfully well. That little dinner you gave +us was first-class in every respect, and the simple refreshments you had +this evening were very pretty and graceful." + +"Don't praise me too much, papa, or I'll grow conceited." + +"You'll get praise from me, my lady, just when you deserve it, and at no +other time. Now, skip along to bed, or you'll have too great a proportion +of late hours." + +With a good-night kiss Patty went singing upstairs, feeling sure that she +was the happiest and most fortunate little girl in the world. + +So impressed was she with her realisation of this fact that she announced +it to Marian. + +Marian looked at her curiously. + +"You _are_ fortunate in some ways," she said; "but the real reason +you're always so happy, I think, is because of your happy disposition. A +great many girls with no mother or brother or sister, who had all the +care and responsibility of a big house, and whose father was away all +day, would think they had a pretty miserable life. But that never seems +to occur to you." + +"No," said Patty contentedly; "and I don't believe it ever will." + +The next morning Patty devoted all her energy to getting ready for the +Tea Club. She declined Marian's offers of help, saying: + +"No, I really don't need any help. If I can keep Pansy out of the +conservatory, we three can accomplish all there is to be done; so you go +and sit by the library fire, and toast your toes and read, or play with +the cat, or do whatever you please. Remember, whenever you come here, +you're one of the family." + +So Marian went off by herself and played on the piano, and read, and had +various kinds of good times, scrupulously keeping out of the way of her +busy and preoccupied cousin. + +"Now, Pansy," said Patty, as she captured that culprit in the +conservatory, and led her off to the kitchen, "I want you to try +especially hard to-day to do just as I want you to, and to help me in +every possible way." + +"Can I fix the flowers, Miss Patty?" said Pansy Potts, her eyes sparkling +with delight. + +"Where are there any flowers to fix? You've fussed over those in the +conservatory until you've nearly worn them all out." + +"Oh, Miss Patty, they're thriving beautifully. But I mean that big box +of flowers that just came up from the flower man's. He said Mr. +Fairfield sent it." + +"Oh!" exclaimed Patty, "did papa really send me up flowers for the Tea +Club? How perfectly lovely! I meant to order some myself, but I know his +will be nicer." + +By this time Patty was diving into the big box and scattering tissue +paper all about. + +"They're beautiful," she exclaimed, "and what lots of them! Yes, Pansy, +you may arrange them; you really do it better than I do. Keep all the +pink ones for the dining-room, and put the others wherever you like. Now, +Mancy," she went on, "we'll discuss what to eat." + +"Yas'm, and I s'pose it'll be some ob dem highfalutin fandangoes ob yo's, +what nobody can't eat." + +"You guessed right the very first time," said Patty, smiling back at +the good-natured old cook, whose bark was so much worse than her bite. +"You see, Mancy, this is my own party, and so I can have just what I +like at it. Not even papa can object to the things that I have for my +own Tea Club." + +"Dat's so, chile, but co'se yo' knows you'se mighty likely to spoil dem +good t'ings befo' yo' get 'em made." + +"Oh, I don't think I will this time," said Patty, with that assured +little toss of her head which always meant perfect confidence in her +own ability. + +Mancy said nothing, but grunted somewhat doubtfully as Patty went on to +describe the beautiful things she intended to have. + +"I want rissoles," she said, as she turned over the cookery-book, and +looked in the index for R. "They're awfully good." + +"What's dem, missy? I never heard tell of 'em." + +"I forget what they are," said Patty, "but we had them at Delmonico's one +day, when papa and I were there at lunch, and I remember thinking then +they'd be nice for the Tea Club. They were either some little kind of a +cake, or else a sort of croquette. Either would be nice, you know. Why, +they're not here. What a silly book not to have them in! Oh, well, never +mind, here's 'Richmond Maids of Honour.' We used to have those at Aunt +Isabel's, and they're the loveliest things. I'll make those, Mancy; and +while I'm doing it you make me some wine jelly and some Bavarian cream, +and then I can put them together with _marrons_ and candied cherries and +whipped cream and things, and make a Royal Diplomatic Pudding." + +"'Pears like yo's makin' things fine enough for a weddin'," +growled Mancy. + +"Well, now, look here, last night you thought the things I had for my +evening company were too plain, and now you're grumbling because they're +too fancy." + +"Laws, honey, can't you see no diffunce 'tween plain bread and butter and +a lot of pernicketty gimcracks that never turns out right nohow?" + +A haunting doubt regarding the proportion between her elaborate plans and +the simple Tea Club hovered round Patty's mind, but she resolutely put it +aside, thinking to herself, "I don't care, it's my first function, and +I'm going to have it just as nice as I can." + +Patty always felt particularly grand and grown up when she used the word +_function_, and now that she had mentally applied it to the Tea Club +meeting, that simple affair seemed to take on a gigantic amplitude and +fairly seemed to cry out for elaborate devices of all sorts. + +"Never you mind, Mancy," she said, "you just go ahead and do as I tell +you. Get the jelly and cream ready, and I'll do the rest." + +"But ain't yo' gwine to have no solidstantial kind o' food?" + +"Oh, yes, of course. I want a _croustade_ of chicken and +club-sandwiches." + +"Humph," said Mancy, her patience giving out at this, "ef yo' does, yo'll +hab to talk English." + +Patty laughed. "You must get used to these names, Mancy, because these +are the kind of things I like. Well, you just boil a couple of chickens, +and cut them up small, and see that there are two loaves of bread ready, +those long round, crimply ones, you know, and then I'll put it all +together and all you'll have to do is to brown it. And I'll show you how +to make the club-sandwiches after lunch. You might as well learn once for +all, you know. There's bacon in the house, isn't there?" + +"No, dey ain't; is yo' fren's gwine stay ter breakfus'?" + +"Oh, no, I'd want the bacon for the club-sandwiches. Don't worry, Mancy, +they'll all come out right." + +"Dey mought and den again dey moughtn't," grumbled the old woman, but +undaunted Patty went on measuring and weighing with a surety of success +that is found only in the young and inexperienced. + +At one o'clock Marian walked out into the kitchen. + +"Good gracious, Patty Fairfield," she exclaimed, "what are you doing? And +what are all those things? Do you expect the Democratic Convention to be +entertained here, or are you going to give the Sunday-school a picnic? +And are we never to have lunch? I'm simply starving!" + +Patty turned a flushed face to her cousin, and looked dazed and +bewildered. + +"Two and five-eighths ounces of sugar," she said, "spun to a thread; add +chopped nuts and the well-beaten whites of six eggs; brown with a +salamander. Marian, I haven't any salamander!" + +The tragic tone of Patty's awful avowal was too much for Marian, and she +dropped into a kitchen chair and went off into peals of laughter. + +"Patty," she cried, "you goose! What are you doing? Just making up the +whole recipe-book, page by page? I believe you're crazy!" + +"It's for the Tea Club," exclaimed Patty, "and I want things to be nice." + +"H'm," said Marian, "and _are_ they nice?" + +She glanced at some of the completed delicacies on the table, and Patty, +seeing the look, turned red again, but this time it was not the effect of +the kitchen range. + +"Well," she said, "some of them aren't quite right, but I think the +others will be." + +"And I think you're working too hard," said Marian kindly. "You come +away with me now, and rest a little bit; and, Mancy, you put a little +lunch for us on the dining-room table, won't you? Just anything will do, +you know." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +A TEA CLUB TEA + + +Patty rebelled at being overruled in this manner, but Marian had some +Fairfield firmness of her own, and taking her cousin's arm led her to the +library and plumped her down upon the couch in a reclining position, +while she vigorously jammed pillows under her head. + +"There, miss," she announced, "you will please stay there until luncheon +is announced." + +"But, Marian," pleaded Patty, seeing that resistance was useless, "I've +such a lot of things to do, and the girls will be here before I get them +all done." + +"Let them come," said the hard-hearted Marian, "it won't hurt them a bit, +and you've got enough things done now to feed the Russian army." + +"But they're not finished," said Patty, "and they'll spoil standing." + +"You'll more likely spoil them by finishing them. Now you stay right +where you are." + +So Patty rested, until Pansy came and called them to a most appetising +little lunch spread very simply on the dining-table. + +The two hungry girls did full justice to it, and then Patty said: + +"Now, Marian, you're a duck, and you mean well, I know; but this is my +house and my tea-party, and now you must clear out and leave me to fix it +up pretty in my own way." + +"All right," said Marian, "I rescued you once, now this time I'll +leave you to your fate; but I'll give you fair warning that those Tea +Club girls would rather have a few nice little things like we had at +lunch, than all those ridiculous contraptions that you've got out +there half baked." + +"Oh me, oh me!" sighed Patty, in mock despair. "Nobody appreciates me; +nobody realises or cares for my one great talent. I believe I'll go and +drown myself." + +"Do," said Marian, "drown yourself in that tub of wine-jelly, for it +will never stiffen. I can tell that by looking at it." + +"Bye, bye," said Patty, pushing Marian out of the dining-room, "run along +now, and take a little nap like a good little girl. Cousin Patty must set +the table all nice for the pretty ladies." + +"Goose!" was the only comment Marian vouchsafed as she walked away. + +Then Patty, with the assistance of Pansy Potts, proceeded to lay the +table. Elaborate decoration was her keynote and she kept well in tune. +Along the centre of the table over the damask cloth, she spread a rich +lace "runner" and over this, crossed bands of wide, pink, satin ribbon +ran the entire diagonal length of the table. In the centre was a large +cut-glass bowl of pink roses, and at each corner slender vases of a +single rose in each. Also single roses with long stems and leaves were +laid at intervals on the cloth. Asparagus fern was lavishly used, and +pink-shaded candles in silver candlesticks adorned the table. Small +silver dishes of almonds, olives, and confectionery were dotted about, +and finger-bowls with plates were set out on the side-table. + +Certainly it was all very beautiful, and Patty surveyed it with feelings +of absolute satisfaction. + +"We will have tea at five o'clock, Pansy," she said, "and just before +that, you light the candles and fill the glasses and see that everything +is ready." + +"Yes, Miss Patty," said Pansy, who adored her young mistress, and who was +especially quick in learning to do exactly what was expected of her. + +The afternoon was slipping away, and Patty suddenly discovered that she +had only time to get dressed before the girls would arrive. + +So she announced to Mancy that she must finish up such things as were not +finished, and without waiting to hear the old woman's remarks of +disapproval, Patty ran up to her room. + +There she found that Marian had kindly laid out her dress and ribbons for +her, and was ready to help do her hair. + +"You're a good old thing, Marian," she said, as she dropped into a chair +in front of her toilet mirror, "I'm as tired as a bicycle wheel, and +besides, I do love to have somebody do my hair. Sometimes Pansy does it, +but to-day she's too busy." + +"Taking days as they go," said Marian in an impersonal manner, "I don't +think I ever saw a more busy one than to-day has seemed to be. The Tea +Club does seem to make a most awful amount of fluster in a new house." + +"Yes, it _is_ exacting, isn't it?" said Patty, who caught her cousin's +eye in the mirror and looked very demure, though she refused to smile. + +"There are some of the girls coming in at the front gate now," said +Marian as she tied the big white bow on Patty's pretty, fluffy hair. +"Didn't I time this performance just right?" + +"You did indeed," said Patty, and kissing her cousin, she ran gaily +downstairs. + +How the Tea Club girls did chatter that afternoon! there was so much to +see and talk about in Patty's new home, and there were also other weighty +matters to be discussed. + +The proposed entertainment was an engrossing subject, and as various +opinions were held, the arguments were lively and outspoken. + +"You can talk all you like," said Helen Preston, "but you'll find that a +bazaar will be the most sensible thing after all. You're sure to make a +lot of money, and the boys will help, and we all know exactly what to do +and how to go about it." + +"It may be sensible," said Laura Russell, "but it won't be a bit of fun. +Stupid, poky, old chestnut; nobody wants to come to buy things, they only +come because they think they have to. Now if we had a play--" + +"Yes," said Elsie Morris, "a play would be the very nicest thing. I've +brought two books for us to look over. One's that Shakespeare thing, and +the other is called 'A Reunion at Mother Goose's.' It's awfully funny; I +think it's better than the Shakespeare." + +"I think Mother Goose things are silly," said Ethel Holmes. "Who wants to +go around dressed up like Little Bo-peep, and say 'Ba, ba, black sheep,' +all the time?" + +"Yes, or who wants to be Red Riding Hood's wolf and eat up Mary's +little lamb?" + +"Oh, it isn't like that; it's a reunion, you know, and all the Mother +Goose children are grown up, and they talk about old times." + +"It does sound nice," said Patty, "let's read it." + +They read both the plays, and so interested were they in the reading and +discussing them that before they knew it the afternoon slipped away, and +Pansy Potts came in to announce that the tea was ready. + +"Goodness," cried Patty, "I forgot all about it! Come on, girls, we can +discuss the play just as well at the table." + +"Yes, and better," said Elsie. + +Such a shout of exclamation as went up from the Tea Club girls when they +saw Patty's table. + +"Why didn't you tell us there was to be a wedding?" said Ethel, "and we +would have brought presents." + +"Is it an African jungle?" said Laura, "or is it only Smith's flower +store moved up here bodily?" + +"I think it looks like a page out of the _Misses' Home Guide_" said +Polly Stevens. "You ought to have this table photographed, it would take +the first prize! But where are we going to eat? Surely you don't expect +us to sit down at this Louis XlV. gimcrack?" + +"Nonsense," said Patty. "I fixed it up pretty because I thought it would +please you. If you don't like it--" + +"Oh, we like it," cried Christine Converse, "we love it! We want to take +it home with us and put it under a glass case." + +"Stop your nonsense, girls," said Marian, who had noticed Patty's rising +colour, "and take your places. It's a beautiful party, and a lot too good +for such ungrateful wretches! If you can read writing, you'll find your +names on your cards." + +"I can read writing," said Lillian Desmond, "but not such elegant gold +curlycues as these. Won't you please spell it out for me, Miss +Fairfield?" + +"Oh, take any place you choose," said Patty, laughing good-naturedly. She +didn't really mind their chaff, but she began to think herself that she +had been a little absurd. + +Then Pansy brought in the various dishes that Patty had worked so hard +over, and perhaps you will not be surprised to learn that they were +almost uneatable, or, at least, very far from the dainty perfection they +ought to have shown. + +On discovering this, the girls, who were really well-bred, in spite of +their love of chaffing, quite changed their manner and, ignoring the +situation, began merrily to discuss the play. + +But as the various viands proved a continuous succession of failures, +Patty became really embarrassed and began to make apologies. + +"Don't say a word," said Marian; "it was all my fault. I insisted on +spending the day here, and I nearly bothered the life out of my poor +cousin. Indeed, I carried her off bodily from the kitchen just at a dozen +critical moments." + +"No, it wasn't that," said honest Patty, "but I did just what I'm always +doing, trying to make a lot of things I don't know anything about" + +"Well," said Elsie, "if you couldn't try them on us girls, I don't know +who you could try them on; I'm more than willing to be a martyr to the +cause, and I say three cheers for our noble President!" + +The cheers were given with a will, and Patty's equanimity being restored, +she was her own merry self again, and they all laughed and chatted as +only a lot of happy girls can. + +And that's how it happened that when Mr. Fairfield reached home at about +six o'clock he heard what sounded like a general pandemonium in the +dining-room. As he appeared in the doorway he was greeted by a merry +ovation, for most of the Tea Club members knew and liked Patty's pleasant +and genial father. + +Then the girls, realising how late it was, began to take their leave. +Marian went with them, and Patty, after the last one had gone, returned +to the dining-room, to find her father regarding the table with a look of +comical dismay. + +It was indeed a magnificent ruin. Besides the dishes of almost untasted +delicacies, the flowers had been pushed into disarray, one small vase had +been upset and broken; owing to improper adjustment the candles had +dripped pink wax on the table-cloth; and the ice cream, which Pansy had +mistakenly served on open-work plates, had melted and run through. + +Patty didn't say a word, indeed there was nothing to say. She went and +stood very close to her father, as if expecting him to put his arm around +her, which he promptly did. + +"You see, Pitty-Pat," he said, "it wouldn't have made any difference at +all--not _any_ difference at all, _except_ that I have brought my friend +Mr. Hepworth, the artist, home to dinner; and you see, misled by the +experiences of last night, I promised him we would find a tidy little +dinner awaiting us." + +"Oh, papa," cried Patty, "I _am_ sorry. If I had only known! I wouldn't +have failed you for worlds." + +"I know it, my girl, and though this Lucullus feast does seem out of +proportion to a young misses' Tea Club, yet we won't say a word about +that now. We'll just get snow shovels and set to work and clear this +table and let Mancy get a simple little dinner as quickly as she can." + +"But, papa," and here Patty met what was, perhaps, so far, the hardest +experience of her life, "I forgot to order anything for dinner at all!" + +"Why, Patty Fairfield! consider yourself discharged, and I shall suit +myself at once with another housekeeperess!" + +"You are the dearest, best, sweetest father!" she exclaimed. "How can you +be so good-natured and gay when my heart is breaking?" + +"Oh, don't let your heart break over such prosaic things as dinners! +We'll crawl out of this hole somehow." + +"But what can we do, papa? It's after six o'clock, and all the markets +are shut up, and there isn't a thing in the house except those horrible +things I tried to make." + +"Patty," said her father, struck by a sudden thought, "to-morrow is +Sunday. Do you mean to say you haven't ordered for over Sunday?" + +"No, I haven't," said Patty, aghast at the enormity of her offence. + +Mr. Fairfield laughed at the horror-stricken look on his daughter's face. + +"I always thought you couldn't keep house," he said, with an air of +resignation. "On Monday I shall advertise for a housekeeper." + +"Oh, please don't," pleaded Patty. "Give me one more trial. I've had a +good lesson, and truly I'll profit by it. Let me try again." + +"But you can't try again before Monday, and by that time we'll all be +dead of starvation." + +"Of course we will," said Patty despairingly. "I wish we were Robinson +Crusoes and could eat bark or something." + +"Well, baby, I think you _have_ had a pretty good lesson, and we can't +put old heads on young shoulders all at once, so I'll help you out this +time, and then, the next time you go back on me in this heartless +fashion, I'll discharge you." + +"Papa, you're a _dear_! But what can we do?" + +"Well, the first thing for you to do is to go and brush your hair and +make yourself tidy, then come down and meet Mr. Hepworth; and then we'll +all go over to the hotel for dinner. Meanwhile I'll call in the Street +Cleaning Department to attend to this dining-room." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A NEW FRIEND + + +"Patty," said her father, a week or two later, "Mr. Hepworth has invited +us to a tea in his studio in New York tomorrow afternoon, and if you care +to go, I'll take you." + +"Yes, I'd love to go; I've always wanted to go to a studio tea. It's very +kind of Mr. Hepworth to ask us after the way he was treated here." + +Mr. Fairfield laughed, but Patty looked decidedly sober. She still felt +very much crestfallen to think that the first guest her father brought +home should be obliged to dine at the hotel, or at a neighbour's. Aunt +Alice had invited them to dinner on that memorable Sunday, and though she +said she had expected to ask the Fairfields anyway, still Patty felt +that, as a housekeeper, she had been weighed in the balances and found +sadly wanting. + +According to arrangement, she met her father in New York the day of the +tea, and together they went to Mr. Hepworth's studio. + +It gave Patty a very grown-up feeling to find herself amongst such +strange and unaccustomed surroundings. + +The studio was a large room, on the top floor of a high building. It was +finished in dark wood and decorated with many unframed pictures and dusty +casts. Bits of drapery were flung here and there, quaint old-fashioned +chairs and couches were all about, and at one side of the room was a +raised platform. A group of ladies and gentlemen sat in one corner, +another group surrounded a punch bowl, and many wise and learned-looking +people were discussing the pictures and drawings. + +Patty was enchanted. She had never been in a scene like this before, and +the whole atmosphere appealed to her very strongly. + +The guests, though kind and polite to her, treated her as a child, and +Patty was glad of this, for she felt sure she never could talk or +understand the artistic jargon in which they were conversing. But she +enjoyed the pictures in her own way, and was standing in delighted +admiration before a large marine, which was nothing but the varying +blues of the sea and sky, when she heard a pleasant, frank young voice +beside her say: + +"You seem to like that picture." + +"Oh, I do!" she exclaimed, and turning, saw a pleasant-faced boy of about +nineteen smiling at her. + +"It is so real," she said. "I never saw a realer scene, not even down at +Sandy Hook; why, you can fairly feel the dampness from it." + +"Yes, I know just what you mean," said the boy; "it's a jolly picture, +isn't it? They say it's one of Hepworth's best." + +"I don't know anything about pictures," said Patty frankly, "and so I +don't like to express definite opinions." + +"It's always wiser not to," said the boy, still smiling. + +"That's true," said Patty, "I only did express an opinion once this +afternoon, and then that lady over there, in a greenish-blue gown, looked +at me through her lorgnette and said: + +"Oh, I thought you were temperamental, but you're only an +imaginative realist." + +"Now, what could she have meant by that?" said the boy, laughing. "But +you're very imprudent. How do you know that lady isn't my--my sister, or +cousin, or something?" + +"Well, even if she is," said Patty, "I haven't said anything +unkind, have I?" + +"No more you haven't; but as I don't see anyone just now at leisure to +introduce us, suppose we introduce ourselves? They say the roof is an +introduction, but I notice it never pronounces names very distinctly. +Mine is Kenneth Harper." + +"And mine is Patricia Fairfield, but I'm usually called Patty." + +"I should think you would be, it suits you to a dot. Of course the boys +call me Ken. I'm a Columbia student." + +"Oh, are you?" said Patty. "I've never known a college boy, and I've +always wanted to meet one." + +"Well, you see in me a noble specimen of my kind," said young Harper, +straightening up his broad shoulders and looking distinctly athletic. + +"You must be," said Patty; "you look just like all the pictures of +college boys I've ever seen." + +"And I flattered myself that my beauty was something especial and +individual." + +"You ought to be thankful that you're beautiful," said Patty, "and not be +so particular about what kind of beauty it is." + +"But some kinds of beauty are not worth having," went on young Harper; +"look at that man over there with a lean pale face and long lank hair. +That's beauty, but I must say I prefer a strong, brave, manly type, like +this good-looking chap just coming toward us." + +"Oh, you do?" said Patty. "Well, as that good-looking chap happens to be +my father, I'll take pleasure in introducing you." + +"I am glad to see you, sir," said Kenneth Harper, as Patty presented him +to her father, "and I may as well own up that I was just making remarks +on your personal appearance, which accounts for my blushing +embarrassment." + +"I won't inquire what they were," said Mr. Fairfield, "lest I, too, +should become embarrassed. But, Patty, my girl, if we're going back to +Vernondale on the six-o'clock train, it's time we were starting." + +"Oh, do you live in Vernondale?" inquired Kenneth. "I have an +aunt there. I wonder if you know her. Her name is Daggett--Miss +Rachel Daggett." + +"Indeed I do know her," said Patty. "She is my next-door neighbour." + +"Is she really? How jolly! And don't you think she's an old dear? I'm +awfully fond of her. I run out to see her every chance I can get, though +I haven't been much this winter, I've been digging so hard." + +"She _is_ a dear," said Patty. "I've only seen her once, but I know I +shall like her as a neighbour." + +"Yes, I'm sure you will, but let me give you a bit of confidential +advice. Don't take the initiative, let her do that; and the game will be +far more successful than if _you_ make the overtures." + +Patty smiled. "Miss Daggett told me that herself," she said; "in fact, +she was quite emphatic on the subject." + +"I can well believe it," said Kenneth, "but I'm sure you'll win her +heart yet." + +"I'm sure she will too," said Mr. Fairfield, with an approving glance at +his pretty daughter; "and whenever you are in Vernondale, Mr. Harper, I +hope you will come to see us." + +"I shall be very glad to," answered the young man, "and I hope to run out +there soon." + +"Come out when we have our play," said Patty; "it's going to be +beautiful." + +"What play is that?" + +"We don't know yet, we haven't decided on it." + +"I know an awfully good play. One of the fellows up at college wrote it, +and so it isn't hackneyed yet." + +"Oh, tell me about it," said Patty. "Papa, can't we take the next later +train home?" + +"Yes, chick, I don't mind if you don't; or, better still, if Mr. Harper +can go with us, I'll take both of you children out to dinner in some +great, glittering, noisy hotel." + +"Oh, gorgeous!" cried Patty. "Can you go, Mr. Harper?" + +"Indeed I can, and I shall be only too glad. College boys are not +overcrowded with invitations, and I am glad to say I have no other for +to-night." + +"You'll have to telephone to Emancipation Proclamation, papa," +said Patty, "or she'll get out all the bell-ringers, and drag the +river for us." + +"So she will," said Mr. Fairfield. "I'll set her mind at rest the +first thing." + +"That's our cook," explained Patty. + +"It's a lovely name," observed Kenneth, "but just a bit lengthy for +every-day use." + +"Oh, it's only for Sundays and holidays," said Patty; "other days we +contract it to Mancy." + +Seated at table in a bright and beautiful restaurant, Patty and her new +friend began to chatter like magpies while Mr. Fairfield ordered dinner. + +"Now tell me all about your friend's play," said Patty, "for I feel sure +it's going to be just what we want" + +"Well, the scene," said Kenneth, "is on Mount Olympus, and the characters +are all the gods and goddesses, you know, but they're brought up to date. +In fact, that's the name of the play, 'Mount Olympus Up to Date.' Aurora, +you know, has an automobile instead of her old-fashioned car." + +"But you don't have the automobile on the stage?" + +"Oh, no! Aurora just comes in in her automobile rig and talks about her +'bubble.' Mercury has a bicycle; he's a trick rider, and does all sorts +of stunts. And Venus is a summer girl, dressed up in a stunning gown and +a Paris hat. And Hercules has a punching-bag--to make himself stronger, +you know. And Niobe has quantities of handkerchiefs, dozens and dozens of +them; she's an awfully funny character." + +"Oh, I think it would be lovely!" said Patty. "Where can we get +the book?" + +"I'll send you one to-morrow, and you can see if you like it; and then if +you do, you can get more." + +"Oh, I'm sure the girls will all like it; and will you come out to see +it?" + +"Yes, I'd be glad to. I was in it last winter. I was Mercury." + +"Oh, can you do trick work on bicycles?" + +"Yes, a little," said Kenneth modestly. + +"I wish you'd come out and be Mercury in our play." + +"Aren't you going ahead rather fast, Patty, child?" said her father. +"Your club hasn't decided to use this play yet." + +"I know it, papa, and of course I mean if we _do_ use it; but anyway, I'm +president of the club, and somehow, if I want a thing, the rest of the +girls generally seem to want it too." + +"That's a fine condition of affairs that any president might be glad to +bring about. You ought to be a college president." + +"Perhaps I shall be some day," said Patty. + +The dinner hour flew by all too quickly. Patty greatly enjoyed the +sights and sounds of the brilliant, crowded room. She loved the lights +and the music, the flowers and the palms, and the throngs of gaily +dressed people. + +Kenneth Harper enjoyed it too, and thought he had rarely met such +attractive people as the Fairfields. + +When he took his leave he thanked Mr. Fairfield courteously for his +pleasant evening, and promised soon to call upon them at Boxley Hall. + +They reached home by a late train, and Patty went up to her pretty +bedroom, with her usual happy conviction that she was a very fortunate +little girl and had the best father in the world. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE NEIGHBOUR AGAIN + + +Kenneth Harper did send the book, and, as Patty confidently expected, the +girls of the club quite agreed with her that it was the best play for +them to use. + +At a meeting at Marian's, plans were made and parts were chosen. The +goddesses were allotted to the members of the club, and the gods were +distributed among their brothers and friends. + +Guy Morris, being of gigantic mould, was cast for Hercules, and Frank +Elliott for Ajax. When Patty told the girls that Kenneth Harper could do +trick riding on a bicycle, they unanimously voted to invite him to take +part in their entertainment. + +It was decided to have the play about the middle of February, and the +whole Tea Club grew enthusiastic over the plans for the wonderful +performance. + +One morning Patty sat in the library studying her part. She was very +happy. Of course, Patty always was happy, but this morning she was +unusually so. Her housekeeping was going on smoothly; the night before +her father had expressed himself as being greatly pleased with the system +and order which seemed everywhere noticeable in the house. It was +Saturday morning, and she didn't have to go to school. + +Moreover, she was very much interested in the play and in her own part in +it, and had already planned a most beautiful gown, which the dressmaker, +Madame LaFayette, was to make for her. + +Patty's part in the play was that of Diana, and her costume was to be a +beautiful one of hunter's green cloth with russet leather leggings and a +jaunty cap. Being up-to-date, instead of being a huntress she was to +represent an agent of the S.P.C.A. + +This suited Patty exactly, for she had a horror of killing live things, +and very much preferred doing all she could to prevent such slaughter. +Moreover, the humour of the thing appealed to her, and the funny effect +of the huntress Diana going around distributing S.P.C.A. leaflets, and +begging her fellow-Olympians not to shoot, seemed to Patty very humourous +and attractive. + +This Saturday, then, she had settled down in the library to study her +lines all through the long cosey morning, when, to her annoyance, the +doorbell rang. + +"I hope it's none of the girls," she thought. "I did want this morning +to myself." + +It wasn't any of the girls, but Pansy announced that a messenger had come +from Miss Daggett's, and that Miss Daggett wished Miss Fairfield to +return her call at once. + +Patty smiled at the unusual message, but groaned at the thought of her +interrupted holiday. + +However, Miss Daggett was not one to be ignored or lightly set aside, so +Patty put on her things and started. + +Although Miss Daggett's house was next door to Boxley Hall, yet it was +set in the middle of such a large lot, and was so far back from the +street, and so surrounded by tall, thick trees, that Patty had never had +a really good view of it. + +She was surprised, therefore, to find it a very large, old-fashioned +stone house, with broad veranda and steps guarded by two stone lions. + +Patty rang the bell, and the door was opened very slightly. A small, +quaint-looking old coloured man peeped out. + +"Go 'way," he said, "go 'way at once! We don't want no tickets." + +"I'm not selling tickets," said Patty, half angry and half amused. + +"Well, we don't want no shoelacers, nor lead pencils, nor nuffin! You +_must_ be selling something." + +"I am not selling anything," said Patty. "I came over because Miss +Daggett sent for me." + +"Laws 'a' massy, child, why didn't you say so before you spoke? Be you +Miss Fairfield?" + +"Yes," said Patty; "here's my card." + +"Oh, never mind the ticket; if so be you's Miss Fairfield, jes' come +right in, come right in." + +The door was flung open wide and Patty entered a dark, old-fashioned +hall. From that she was led into a parlour, so dark that she could +scarcely see the outline of a lady on the sofa. + +"How do you do, Miss Daggett?" she said, guessing that it was probably +her hostess who seemed to be sitting there. + +"How do you do?" said Miss Daggett, putting out her hand, without +rising. + +"I'm quite well, thank you," said Patty, and her eyes having grown a +little accustomed to the dark, she grasped the old lady's hand, although, +as she told her father afterwards, she was awfully afraid she would tweak +her nose by mistake. + +"And how are you, Miss Daggett?" + +"Not very well, child, not very well, but you won't stay long, will you? +I sent for you, yes, I sent for you on an impulse. I thought I'd like to +see you, but I'd no sooner sent than I wished I hadn't. But you won't +stay long, will you, dearie?" + +"No," said Patty, feeling really sorry for the queer old lady. "No, I +won't stay long, I'll go very soon; in fact, I'll go just as soon as you +tell me to. I'll go now, if you say so." + +"Oh, don't be silly. I wouldn't have sent for you if I'd wanted you to go +right away again. Sit down, turn your toes out, and answer my questions." + +"What are your questions?" said Patty, not wishing to make any +rash promises. + +"Well, first, are you really keeping that big house over there all alone +by yourself?" + +"I'm keeping house there, yes, but I'm not all alone by myself. My +father's there, and two servants." + +"Don't you keep a man?" + +"No; a man comes every day to do the hard work, but he doesn't +live with us." + +"Humph, I suppose you think you're pretty smart, don't you?" + +"I don't know," said Patty slowly, as if considering; "yes, I think I'm +pretty smart in some ways, and in other ways I'm as stupid as an owl." + +"Well, you must be pretty smart, because you haven't had to borrow +anything over here yet." + +"But I wouldn't borrow anything here, anyway, Miss Daggett; you +specially asked me not to." + +Miss Daggett's old wrinkled face broke into a smile. + +"And so you remember that. Well, well, you are a nice little girl; you +must have had a good mother, and a good bringing-up." + +"My mother died when I was three, and my father brought me up." + +"He did, hey? Well, he made a fairly good job of it. Now, I guess you can +go; I'm about tired of talking to you." + +"Then I will go. But, first, Miss Daggett, let me tell you that I met +your nephew the other day." + +"Kenneth! For the land's sake! Well, well, sit down again. I don't want +you to go yet; tell me all about him. Isn't he a nice boy? Hasn't he fine +eyes? And gentlemanly manners? And oh, the lovely ways with him!" + +"Yes, Miss Daggett, he is indeed a nice boy; my father and I both think +so. His eyes and his manners are fine. He says he wants to come out to +see you soon." + +"Bless his heart, I hope he'll come! I do hope he'll come." + +"Then you like to have him come to see you?" said Patty, a little +roguishly. + +"Yes, and I like to have you, too. Land, child! you mustn't mind my +quick ways." + +"I don't mind how quick you are," said Patty; "but when you tell me to be +sure and not come to see you, of course I don't come." + +"Oh, that's all right," said Miss Daggett, "that's all right; I'll always +send for you when I want you. + +"But perhaps I can't always come," said Patty. "I may be busy with my +housekeeping." + +"Now, wouldn't that be annoying!" said Miss Daggett. "I declare that +would be just my luck. I always do have bad luck." + +"Perhaps it's the way you look at it," said Patty. "Now, I have some +things that seem like bad luck, at least, other people think they do; but +if I look at them right--happy and cheerful, you know--why, they just +seem like good luck." + +"Really," said Miss Daggett, with a curious smile; "well now, you _are_ a +queer child, and I'm not at all sure but I'd like to have you come again. +Do you want to see around my house?" + +"I'd like to very much, but it's so dark a bat couldn't see things in +this room." + +"But I can't open the shades, the sun would fade all the furniture +coverings." + +"Well, then, you could buy new ones," said Patty; "that would be better +than living in the dark." + +"Dark can't hurt anybody," said Miss Daggett gloomily. + +"Oh, indeed it can," said Patty earnestly. "Why, darkness--I mean +darkness in the daytime--makes you all stewed up and fidgety and horrid; +and sunshine makes you all gay and cheerful and glad." + +"Like you," said Miss Daggett. + +"Yes, like me," said Patty; "I am cheerful and glad always. I like to +be." + +"I would like to be, too," said Miss Daggett. + +"Do you suppose if I opened the shutters I would be?" + +"Let's try it and see," said Patty, and running to the windows, she flung +open the inside blinds and flooded the room with sunshine. + +"Oh, what a beautiful room!" she exclaimed, as she turned around. "Why, +Miss Daggett, to think of keeping all these lovely things shut up in the +dark. I believe they cry about it when you aren't looking." + +Already the old lady's face seemed to show a gentler and sunnier +expression, and she said: + +"Yes, I have some beautiful things, child. Would you like to look through +this cabinet of East Indian curiosities?" + +"I would very much," said Patty, "but I fear I can't take the time this +morning; I have to study my part in a play we're going to give. It's a +play your nephew told us about," she added quickly, feeling sure that +this would rouse the old lady's interest in it. + +"One of Kenneth's college plays?" she said eagerly. + +"Yes, that's just what it is. A chum of his wrote it, and oh, Miss +Daggett, we're going to invite Mr. Harper to come to Vernondale the night +of the play, and take the same part that he took at college last year; +you see, he'll know it, and he can just step right in." + +"Good for you! I hope he'll come. I'll write at once and tell him how +much I want him. He can stay here, of course, and perhaps he can come +sooner, so as to be here for one or two rehearsals." + +"That would be a good help. I hope he will do that; he could coach the +rest of us." + +"I don't know just what coach means, but I'm sure Kenneth can do it, he's +a very clever boy; he says he can run an automobile, but I don't believe +it. Run away home now, child, I'm tired of having company; and besides I +want to compose my mind so I can write a letter to Kenneth." + +"And will you leave your blinds open till afternoon?" said Patty, who was +beginning to learn her queer old neighbour. + +"Yes, I will, if I don't forget it. Clear out, child, clear out now; run +away home and mind you're not to borrow anything and you're not to come +back till I send for you." + +"All right," said Patty. "Good-bye, and mind, you're to keep bright and +cheerful, and let the sunlight in all the time." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +BILLS + + +Patty's plans for systematic housekeeping included a number of small +Russia-leather account books, and she looked forward with some eagerness +to the time when the first month's bills should come in, and she could +present to her father a neat and accurate statement of the household +expenses for the month. + +The 1st of February was Sunday, but on Monday morning the postman brought +a sheaf of letters which were evidently bills. + +Patty had no time to look at these before she went to school, so she +placed them carefully in her desk, determined to hurry home that +afternoon and get her accounts into apple-pie order before her father +came home. After school she returned to find a supplementary lot of bills +had been left by the postman, and also Mancy presented her with a number +of bills which the tradesmen had left that morning. + +Patty took the whole lot to her desk, and with methodical exactness noted +the amounts on the pages of her little books. She and her father had +talked the matter over, more or less, and Patty knew just about what Mr. +Fairfield expected the bills to amount to. + +But to her consternation she discovered, as she went along, that each +bill was proving to be about twice as large as she had anticipated. + +"There must be some mistake," she said to herself, "we simply _can't_ +have eaten all those groceries. Anybody would think we ran a branch +store. And that butcher's bill is big enough for the Central Park +menagerie! They must have added it wrong." + +But a careful verification of the figures proved that they were added +right, and Patty's heart began to sink as she looked at the enormous +sum-totals. + +"To think of all that for flowers! Well, papa bought some of them, that's +a comfort; but I had no idea I had ordered so many myself. I think bills +are perfectly horrid! And here's my dressmaker's bill. Gracious, how +Madame LaFayette has gone up in her prices! I believe I'll make my own +clothes after this; but the market bills are the worst I don't see how we +_could_ have eaten all these things. Mancy must be a dreadful waster, but +it isn't fair to blame her; if that's where the trouble is, I ought to +have looked after it myself. Hello, Marian, is that you? I didn't hear +you come in. Do come here, I'm in the depths of despair!" + +"What's the matter, Patsie? and what a furious lot of bills! You look +like a clearinghouse." + +"Oh, Marian, it's perfectly fearful! Every bill is two or three times as +much as I thought it would be, and I'm so sorry, for I meant to be such a +thrifty housekeeper." + +"Jiminetty Christmas!" exclaimed Marian, looking at some of the papers, +"I should think these bills _were_ big! Why, that's more than we pay a +month for groceries, and look at the size of our family." + +"I know it," said Patty hopelessly. "I don't see how it happened." + +"You are an extravagant little wretch, Patty, there's no doubt about it." + +"I suppose I am; at least, I suppose I have been, but I'm not going to be +any more. I'm going to reform, suddenly and all at once and very +thoroughly! Now, you watch me. We're not going to have any more fancy +things, no more ice cream from Pacetti's. Why, that caterer's bill is +something fearful." + +"And so you're going to starve poor Uncle Fred?" + +"No, that wouldn't be fair, would it? The economy ought to fall entirely +on me. Well, I've decided to make my own clothes after this, anyway." + +"Oh, Patty, what a goose you are! You couldn't make them to save your +neck, and after you made them you couldn't wear them." + +"I could, too, Marian Elliott! Just you wait and see me make my summer +dresses. I'm going to sew all through vacation." + +"All right," said Marian, "I'll come over and help you, but you can't +make any dresses this afternoon, so put away those old bills and get +ready for a sleigh ride. It's lovely out, and father said he'd call for +us here at four o'clock." + +"All right, I will, if we can get back by six. I want to be here when +papa comes home." + +"Yes, we'll be back by six. I expect Uncle Fred will shut you up in a +dark room and keep you on bread and water for a week when he sees +those bills." + +"That's just the worst of it," said Patty forlornly. "He's so good and +kind, and spoils me so dreadfully that it makes me feel all the worse +when I don't do things right." + +A good long sleigh ride in the fresh, crisp winter air quite revived +Patty's despondent spirits. She sat in front with Uncle Charley, and he +let her drive part of the way, for it was Patty's great delight to drive +two horses, and she had already become a fairly accomplished little +horsewoman. + +"Fred tells me he's going to get horses for you this spring," said Uncle +Charley. "You'll enjoy them a lot, won't you, Patty?" + +"Yes, indeed--that is--I don't know whether we'll have them or not." + +For it just occurred to Patty that, having run her father into such +unexpected expense in the household, a good way to economise would be to +give up all hopes of horses. + +"Oh, yes, you'll have them all right," said Uncle Charley, in his gay, +cheery way, having no idea, of course, what was in Patty's mind. "And you +must have a little pony and cart of your own. It would give you a great +deal of pleasure to go out driving in the spring weather." + +"I just guess it would," said Patty, "and I'm sure I hope I'll have it." + +She began to wonder if she couldn't find some other way to economise +rather than on the horses, for she certainly did love to drive. + +Promptly at six o'clock Uncle Charley left her at Boxley Hall, and as she +entered the door Patty felt that strange sinking of the heart that always +accompanies the resuming of a half-forgotten mental burden. + +"I know just how thieves and defaulters and forgers feel," she said to +herself, as she took off her wraps. "I haven't exactly stolen, but I've +betrayed a trust, and that's just as bad. I wonder what papa will say?" + +At dinner Patty was subdued and a little nervous. + +Mr. Fairfield, quick to notice anything unusual in his daughter, surmised +that she was bothered, but felt sure that in her own time she would tell +him all about it, so he endeavoured to set her at her ease by chatting +pleasantly about the events of his day in the city, and sustaining the +burden of the conversation himself. + +But after dinner, when they had gone into the library, as they usually +did in the evening, Patty brought out her fearful array of paper bugbears +and laid them before her father. + +"What are these?" said Mr. Fairfield cheerily. "Ah, yes, I see. The 1st +of the month has brought its usual crop of bills." + +"I do hope it isn't the usual crop, papa; for if they always come in like +this, we'll have to give up Boxley Hall and go to live in the +poor-house." + +"Oh, I don't know. We haven't overdrawn our bank account yet Whew! +Pacetti's is a stunner, isn't it?" + +"Yes," said Patty, in a meek little voice. + +"And Fisher & Co. seem to have summed up quite a total; and Smith's +flower bill looks like a good old summer time." + +"Oh, papa, please scold me; I know I deserve it. I ought to have looked +after these things and kept the expenses down more." + +"Why ought you to have done so, Patty? We have to have food, don't we?" + +"Yes; but, papa, you know we estimated in the beginning, and these old +bills come up to about twice as much as our estimate." + +"That's a fact, baby, they do," said Mr. Fairfield, looking over the +statements with a more serious air. "These are pretty big figures to +represent a month's living for just you and me and our small retinue of +servants." + +"Yes; and, papa, I think Mancy is rather wasteful. I don't say this to +blame her. I know it is my place to see about it, and be careful that +she utilises all that is possible of the kitchen waste." + +Patty said this so exactly with the air of a _Young Housekeeper's Guide_ +or _Cooking School Manual_, that Mr. Fairfield laughed outright. + +"Chickadee," he said, "you'll come out all right. You have the true +elements of success. You see where you've fallen into error, you're +willing to admit it, and you're ready to use every means to improve in +the future. I'm not quite so surprised as you are at the size of these +bills; for, though we made our estimates rationally, yet we have been +buying a great many things and having a pretty good time generally. I +foresaw this experience at the end of the month, but I preferred to wait +and see how we came out rather than interfere with the proceedings; and +another thing, Patty, which may comfort you some, is the fact that I +quite believe that some of these tradespeople have taken advantage of +your youth and inexperience and padded their bills a little bit in +consequence." + +"But, papa, just look at Madame LaFayette's bill. I don't think she +ought to charge so much." + +"These do seem high prices for the simple little frocks you wear; but +they are always so daintily made, and in such good taste, that I think +we'll have to continue to employ her. Dressmakers, you know, are +acknowledged vampires." + +"I like the clothes she makes, too," said Patty, "but I had concluded +that that was the best way for me to economise, and I thought after this +I would make my own dresses." + +"I don't think you will, my child," said Mr. Fairfield decidedly. "You +couldn't make dresses fit to be seen, unless you took a course of +instruction in dressmaking, and I'm not sure that you could then; and you +have quite enough to do with your school work and your practising. When +did you propose to do this wonderful sewing?" + +"Oh, I mean in vacation--to make my summer dresses." + +"No; in vacation you're to run out of doors and play. Don't let me hear +any more about sewing." + +"All right," said Patty, with a sigh of relief. "I'm awfully glad not to, +but I wanted to help somehow. I thought I'd make my green cloth costume +for Diana in the play." + +"Yes, that would be a good thing to begin on," said Mr. Fairfield. +"Broadcloth is so tractable, so easy to fit; and that tailor-made effect +can, of course, be attained by any well-meaning beginner." + +Patty laughed. "I know it would look horrid, papa," she said, "but as I +am to blame for all this outrageous extravagance, I want to economise +somewhere to make up for it." + +"And do you call it good proportion to buy a great deal too much to eat +and then go around in botchy, home-made clothes to make up for it?" + +"No," said Patty, "I don't believe it is. What can I do? I want to do +something, and I don't--oh, papa, I _don't_ want to give up those horses +that you said you'd buy." + +"Well, we'll fix it up this way, Patty, girl; we'll just pay off all +these bills and start fresh. The extra expense we'll charge to experience +account--experience is an awfully high-priced commodity, you know--and +next month, while we won't exactly scrimp ourselves, we'll keep our eye +on the accounts and watch them as they progress. As I've told you before, +my darling, I don't expect you to become perfect, or even proficient, in +these things all at once. You will need years of experience before the +time can come when your domestic machinery will run without a flaw, if, +indeed, it ever does. Now, never think of these January bills again. They +are things of the past. Go and get your play-book, and let me hear you +speak your piece." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +A SUCCESSFUL PLAY + + +Mr. Hepworth came again to visit Boxley Hall, and while there heard about +the play, and became so interested in the preparations that he offered to +paint some scenery for it. + +Patty jumped for joy at this, for the scenery had been their greatest +stumbling-block. + +And so the Saturday morning before the performance the renowned New York +artist, Mr. Egerton Hepworth, walked over to Library Hall, escorted by a +dozen merry young people of both sexes. + +As a scenic artist Mr. Hepworth proved a great success and a rapid +workman beside, for by mid-afternoon he had completed the one scene +that was necessary--a view of Mount Olympus as supposed to be at the +present date. + +Though the actual work was sketchily done, yet the general effect was +that of a beautiful Grecian grove with marble temple and steps, and +surrounding trees and flowers, the whole of which seemed to be a sort of +an island set in a sea of blue sky and fleecy clouds. + +At least, that is the way Elsie Morris declared it looked, and though Mr. +Hepworth confessed that that was not the idea he had intended to convey, +yet if they were satisfied, he was. The young people declared themselves +more than satisfied, and urged Mr. Hepworth so heartily to attend the +performance--offering him the choicest seats in the house and as many as +he wanted--that he finally consented to come if he could persuade his +friends at Boxley Hall to put him up for the night. Patty demurely +promised to try her best to coax her father to agree to this arrangement, +and though she said she had little hope of succeeding, Mr. Hepworth +seemed willing to take his chances. + +At last the great day arrived, and Patty rose early that morning, for +there were many last things to be attended to; and being a capable little +manager, it somehow devolved on Patty to see that all the loose ends +were gathered up and all the minor matters looked after. + +Kenneth Harper had been down twice to rehearsals, and had already become +a favourite with the Vernondale young people. Indeed, the cheery, +willing, capable young man couldn't help getting himself liked wherever +he went. He stayed with his aunt, Miss Daggett, when in Vernondale, which +greatly delighted the heart of the old lady. + +The play was to be on Friday night, because then there would be no school +next day; and Friday morning Patty was as busy as a bee sorting tickets, +counting out programmes, making lists, and checking off memoranda, when +Pansy appeared at her door with the unwelcome announcement that Miss +Daggett had sent word she would like to have Patty call on her. +Unwelcome, only because Patty was so busy, otherwise she would have been +glad of a summons to the house next-door, for she had taken a decided +fancy to her erratic neighbour. + +Determining she would return quickly, and smiling to herself as she +thought that probably she would be asked to do so, she ran over to Miss +Daggett's. + +"Come in, child, come in," called the old lady from the upper hall, "come +right up here. I'm in a terrible quandary!" + +Patty went upstairs, and then followed Miss Daggett into her bedroom. + +"I've decided," said the old lady, with the air of one announcing a +decision the importance of which would shake at least two continents, +"I've decided to go to that ridiculous show of yours." + +"Oh, have you?" said Patty, "that's very nice, I'm sure." + +"I'm glad you're pleased," said the old lady grimly, "though I'm not +going for the sake of pleasing you." + +"Are you going to please your nephew, Mr. Harper?" said Patty, not being +exactly curious, but feeling that she was expected to inquire. + +"No, I'm not," said Miss Daggett curtly. "I'm going to please myself; and +I called you over here to advise me what to wear. Here are all my best +dresses, but there's none of them made in the fashions people wear +nowadays, and it's too late to have them fixed over. I wish you'd tell +me which one you think comes nearest to being right." + +Patty looked in amazement at the great heap of beautiful gowns that lay +upon the bed. They were made of the richest velvets and satins and +laces, but were all of such an antiquated mode that it seemed impossible +to advise anyone to wear them without remodeling. But, as Miss Daggett +was very much in earnest, Patty concluded that she must necessarily make +some choice. + +Accordingly, she picked out a lavender moire silk, trimmed with soft +white lace at the throat and wrist. Although old-fashioned, it was plain +and very simply made, and would, Patty thought, be less conspicuous than +the more elaborate gowns. + +"That's just the one I had decided on myself," said Miss Daggett, "and I +should have worn that anyway, whatever you had said." + +"Then why did you call me over?" said Patty, moved to impatience by this +inconsistency. + +"Oh, because I wanted your opinion, and I wanted to ask you about some +other things. Kenneth is coming to-night, you know." + +"Yes, I know it," said Patty, "and I am very glad." + +This frank statement and the clear, unembarrassed light in Patty's eyes +seemed to please Miss Daggett, and she kissed the pretty face upturned to +hers, but she only said: "Run along now, child, go home, I don't want +company now." + +"I'm glad of it," Patty thought to herself, but she only said: "Good-bye, +then, Miss Daggett; I'll see you this evening." + +"Wait a minute, child; come back here, I'm not through with you yet." + +Patty groaned in spirit, but went back with a smiling face. + +Miss Daggett regarded her steadily. + +"You're pretty busy, I suppose, to-day," she said, "getting ready for +your play." + +"Yes, I am," said Patty frankly. + +"And you didn't want to take the time to come over here to see me, did +you?" + +"Oh, I shall have time enough to do all I want to do," said Patty. + +"Don't evade my question, child. You didn't want to come, did you?" + +"Well, Miss Daggett," said Patty, "you are often quite frank with me, so +now I'll be frank with you, and confess that when your message came I did +wish you had chosen some other day to send for me; for I certainly have a +lot of little things to do, but I shall get them all done, I know, and I +am very glad to learn that you are coming to the entertainment." + +"You are a good girl," said Miss Daggett; "you are a good girl, and I +like you very much. Good-bye." + +"Good-bye," said Patty, and she ran downstairs and over home, determined +to work fast enough to make up for the time she had lost. + +She succeeded in this, and when her father came home at night, bringing +Mr. Hepworth with him, they found a very charming little hostess awaiting +them and Boxley Hall imbued throughout with an air of comfortable +hospitality. + +After dinner Patty donned her Diana costume and came down to ask her +father's opinion of it. He declared it was most jaunty and becoming, +and Mr. Hepworth said it was especially well adapted to Patty's style, +and that he would like to paint her portrait in that garb. This seemed +to Mr. Fairfield a good idea, and they at once made arrangements for +future sittings. + +Patty was greatly pleased. + +"Won't it be fine, papa?" she said. "It will be an ancestral portrait to +hang in Boxley Hall and keep till I'm an old lady like Miss Daggett." + +When they reached Library Hall, where the play was to be given, Patty, +going in at the stage entrance, was met by a crowd of excited girls who +announced that Florence Douglass had gone all to pieces. + +"What do you mean?" cried Patty. "What's the matter with her?" + +"Oh, hysterics!" said Elsie Morris, in great disgust. "First she giggles +and then she bursts into tears, and nobody can do anything with her." + +"Well, she's going to be Niobe, anyway," said Patty, "so let her go on +the stage and cut up those tricks, and the audience will think it's +all right." + +"Oh, no, Patty, we can't let her go on the stage," said Frank Elliott; +"she'd queer the whole show." + +"Well, then, we'll have to leave that part out," said Patty. + +"Oh, dear!" wailed Elsie, "that's the funniest part of all. I hate to +leave that part out." + +"I know it," said Patty; "and Florence does it so well. I wish she'd +behave herself. Well, I can't think of anything else to do but omit it. I +might ask papa; he can think of things when nobody else can." + +"That's so," said Marian, "Uncle Fred has a positive genius for +suggestion." + +"I'll step down in the audience and ask him," said Frank. + +In five minutes Frank was back again, broadly smiling, and Mr. Hepworth +was with him. + +"It's all right," said Frank. "I knew Uncle Fred would fix it. All he +said was, 'Hepworth, you're a born actor, take the part yourself'; and +Mr. Hepworth, like the brick he is, said he'd do it." + +"I fairly jumped at the chance," said the young artist, smiling down into +Patty's bright face. "I was dying to be in this thing anyway. And they +tell me the costume is nothing but several hundred yards of Greek +draperies, so I think it will fit me all right." + +"But you don't know the lines," said Patty, delighted at this solution of +the dilemma, but unable to see how it could be accomplished. + +"Oh, that's all right," said Mr. Hepworth merrily. "I shall make up my +lines as I go along, and when I see that anyone else wants to talk, I +shall stop and give them a chance." + +It sounded a little precarious, but as there was nothing else to do, +and Florence Douglass begged them to put somebody--anybody--in her +place and let her go home, they all agreed to avail themselves of Mr. +Hepworth's services. + +And it was fortunate they did, for though the rest of the characters were +bright and clever representations, yet it was Mr. Hepworth's funny +impromptu jokes and humourous actions in the character of Niobe that +made the hit of the evening. Indeed, he and Kenneth Harper quite carried +off the laurels from the other amateurs; but so delighted were the +Vernondale young people at the success of the whole play that they were +more than willing to give the praise where it belonged. + +Perhaps the only one in the audience who failed to appreciate Mr. +Hepworth's clever work was Miss Rachel Daggett. She had eyes only for her +beloved nephew, with an occasional side glance for her pretty young +neighbour. + +After the entertainment there was a little dance for the young people; +and Patty, as president of the club, received so many compliments and so +much congratulation that it's a wonder her curly head was not turned. +But as she walked home between her father and Mr. Hepworth, she declared +that the success of the evening was in no way consequent upon her +efforts, but depended entirely on the talents of the two travelling +comedians from the city. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +ENTERTAINING RELATIVES + + +Spring and summer followed one another in their usual succession, and +as the months went by, Boxley Hall became more beautiful and more +attractively homelike, both inside and out. Mr. Fairfield bought a +pair of fine carriage horses and a pony and cart for Patty's own use. +A man was engaged to take care of these and also to look after the +lawn and garden. + +Patty, learning much from experience and also from Aunt Alice's +occasional visits, developed into a sensible and capable little +housekeeper. So determined was she to make the keeping of her father's +house a real success that she tried most diligently to correct all her +errors and improve her powers. + +Patty had a natural aptitude for domestic matters, and after some rough +places were made smooth and some sharp corners rounded off, things went +quite as smoothly as in many houses where the presiding genius numbered +twice Patty's years. + +With June came vacation, and Patty was more than glad, for she was +never fond of school, and now could have all her time to devote to her +beloved home. + +And, too, she wanted very much to invite her cousins to visit her, which +was only possible in vacation time. + +"I think, papa," she said, as they sat on the veranda one June evening +after dinner, "I think I shall have a house party. I shall invite all my +cousins from Elmbridge and Philadelphia and Boston and we'll have a grand +general reunion that will be most beautiful." + +"You'll invite your aunts and uncles, too?" said Mr. Fairfield. + +"Why, I don't see how we'd have room for so many," said Patty. + +"And, of course," went on her father, "you'd invite the whole Elliott +family. It wouldn't be fair to leave them out of your house-party just +because they happen to live in Vernondale." + +Then Patty saw that her father was laughing at her. + +"I know you're teasing me now, papa," she said, "but I don't see why. +Just because I want to ask my cousins to come here and return the visits +I made to them last year." + +"But you didn't visit them all at once, my child, and you certainly could +not expect to entertain them here all at once. Your list of cousins is a +very long one, and even if there were room for them in the house, the +care and responsibility of such a house party would be enough to land you +in a sanitarium when it was over, if not before." + +"There are an awful lot of them," said Patty. + +"And they're not altogether congenial," said her father. "Although I +haven't seen them as lately as you have, yet I can't help thinking, from +what you told me, that the Barlows and the St. Clairs would enjoy +themselves better if they visited here at different times, and I'm sure +the same is true of your Boston cousins." + +"You're right," said Patty, "as you always are, and I don't believe I'd +have much fun with all that company at once, either. So I think we'll +have them in detachments, and first I'll just invite Ethelyn and Reginald +down for a week or two. I don't really care much about having them, but +Ethelyn has written so often that she wants to come that I don't see how +I can very well get out of it." + +"If she wants to come, you certainly ought to ask her. You visited there +three months, you know." + +"Yes, I know it, and they were very kind to me. Aunt Isabel had parties, +and did things for my pleasure all the time. Well, I'll invite them right +away. Perhaps I ought to ask Aunt Isabel, too." + +"Yes, you might ask her," said Mr. Fairfield, "and she can bring the +children down, but she probably will not stay as long as they do." + +So Patty wrote for her aunt and cousins, and the first day of July +they arrived. + +Mrs. St. Clair, who was Patty's aunt only by marriage, was a very +fashionable woman of a pretty, but somewhat artificial, type. She liked +young people, and had spared no pains to make Patty's visit to her a +happy one. But it was quite evident that she expected Patty to return her +hospitality in kind, and she had been at Boxley Hall but a few hours +before she began to inquire what plans Patty had made for her +entertainment. + +Now, though Patty had thought out several little pleasures for her +cousins, it hadn't occurred to her that Aunt Isabel would expect parties +made for her. + +She evaded her aunt's questions, however, and waited for an opportunity +to speak alone with her father about it. + +"Why, papa," she exclaimed that evening after their guests had gone to +their rooms, "Aunt Isabel expects me to have a tea or reception or +something for her." + +"Nonsense, child, she can't think of such a thing." + +"Yes, she does, papa, and what's more, I want to do it. She was very +kind to me and I'd rather please her than Ethelyn. I don't care much for +Ethelyn anyway." + +"She isn't just your kind, is she, my girl?" + +"No, she isn't like Marian nor any of the club girls. She has her head +full of fashions, and beaux, and grown-up things of all sorts. She is +just my age, but you'd think she was about twenty, wouldn't you?" + +"Yes, she does look almost as old as that, and she acts quite as old. +Reginald is a nice boy." + +"Yes, but he's pompous and stuck-up. He always did put on grand airs. +Aunt Isabel does, too, but she's so kind-hearted and generous nobody can +help liking her." + +"Well, have a party for her if you want to, chicken. But don't take the +responsibility of it entirely on yourself. I should think you might make +it a pretty little afternoon tea. Get Aunt Alice to make out the +invitation list; she knows better than you what ladies to invite, and +then let Pacetti send up whatever you want for the feast. I've no doubt +Pansy will be willing to attend to the floral decoration of the house." + +"I've no doubt she will," said Patty, laughing. "The trouble will be to +stop her before she turns the whole place into a horticultural exhibit." + +"Well, go ahead with it, Patty. I think it will please your aunt very +much, but don't wear yourself out over it." + +Next morning at breakfast Patty announced her plan for an afternoon tea, +and Aunt Isabel was delighted. + +"You dear child," she exclaimed, "how sweet of you! I hate to have you go +to any trouble on my account, but I shall be so pleased to meet the +Vernondale ladies. I want to know what kind of people my niece is growing +up among." + +"I'm sure you'll like them, Aunt Isabel. Aunt Alice's friends are lovely. +And then I'll ask the mothers of the Tea Club girls, and my neighbour, +Miss Daggett, but I don't believe she'll come." + +"Is that the rich Miss Daggett?" asked Aunt Isabel curiously; "the +queer one?" + +"I don't know whether she's rich or not," said Patty. "I dare say she +is, though, because she has lovely things; but she certainly can be +called queer. I'm very fond of her, though; she's awfully nice to me, and +I like her in spite of her queerness." + +"But you'll ask some young ladies, too, won't you?" said Ethelyn. "I +don't care very much for queer old maids and middle-aged married ladies." + +"Oh, this isn't for you, Ethel," said Patty. "I'll have a children's +party for you and Reginald some other day." + +"Children's party, indeed," said Ethelyn, turning up her haughty little +nose. "You know very well, Patty, I haven't considered myself a child +for years." + +"Nor I," said Reginald. + +"Well, I consider myself one," said Patty. "I'm not in a bit of hurry to +be grown-up; but we're going to have a lovely sailing party, Ethelyn, on +Fourth of July, and I'm sure you'll enjoy that." + +"Are any young men going?" said Ethelyn. + +"There are a lot of boys going," said Patty. "But the only young men +will be my father and Uncle Charley and Mr. Hepworth." + +"Who is Mr. Hepworth?" + +"He's an artist friend of papa's, who comes out quite often, and who +always goes sailing with us when we have sailing parties." + +Aunt Alice was more than willing to help Patty with her project, and the +result was a very pretty little afternoon tea at Boxley Hall. + +"I'm so glad I brought my white crepe-de-chine," said Aunt Isabel, as she +dressed for the occasion. + +"I'm glad, too," said Patty; "for it's a lovely gown and you look +sweet in it." + +"I've brought a lot of pretty dresses, too," said Ethelyn, "and I suppose +I may as well put on one of the prettiest to-day, as there's no use in +wasting them on those children's parties you're talking about." + +"Do just as you like, Ethelyn," said Patty, knowing that her cousin was +always overdressed on all occasions, and therefore it made little +difference what she wore. + +And, sure enough, Ethelyn arrayed herself in a most resplendent gown +which, though very beautiful, was made in a style more suited to a belle +of several seasons than a young miss of sixteen. + +Patty wore one of her pretty little white house dresses; and Aunt Alice, +in a lovely gray gown, assisted her to receive the guests, and to +introduce Mrs. St. Clair and her children. + +Among the late arrivals was Miss Daggett. Her coming created a sensation, +for, as was well known in Vernondale, she rarely attended social affairs +of any sort. But, for some unknown reason, she chose to accept Patty's +invitation, and, garbed in an old-fashioned brown velvet, she was +presented to Mrs. St. Clair. + +"I'm so glad to see you," said the latter, shaking hands effusively. + +"Humph!" said Miss Daggett. "Why should you be glad to see me, pray?" + +"Why, because--because--" Mrs. St. Clair floundered a little, and +seemed really unable to give any reason. + +"Because you've heard that I'm rich and old and queer?" said Miss +Daggett. + +This was exactly true, but Mrs. St. Clair did not care to admit it, so +she said: "Why, no, not that; but I've heard my niece speak of you so +often that I felt anxious to meet you." + +"Well, I'm not afraid of anything Patty Fairfield said about me; she's a +dear little girl; I'm very fond of her." + +"Why do you call her little girl?" said Mrs. St. Clair. "Patty is in her +seventeenth year; surely that is not quite a child." + +"But she is a child at heart," said Miss Daggett, "and I am glad of it. I +would far rather see her with her pretty, sunshiny childish ways than to +see her like that overdressed little minx standing over there beside her, +whoever she may be." + +"That's my daughter," said Mrs. St. Clair, without, however, looking as +deeply offended as she might have done. + +"Oh, is it?" said Miss Daggett, sniffing. "Well, I see no reason to +change my opinion of her, if she is." + +"No," said Mrs. St. Clair, "of course we are each entitled to our own +opinion. Now, I think my daughter more appropriately dressed than my +niece. And I think your nephew will agree with me," she added, smiling. + +"My nephew!" snapped Miss Daggett. "Do you know him?" + +"Oh, yes, indeed; we met Mr. Harper at a reception in New York not long +ago, and he was very much charmed with my daughter Ethelyn." + +"He may have seemed so," said Miss Daggett scornfully. "He is a very +polite young man. But let me tell you, he admires Patty Fairfield more +than any other girl he has ever seen. He told me so himself. And now, go +away, if you please, I'm tired of talking to you." + +Mrs. St. Clair was not very much surprised at this speech, for Patty had +told her of Miss Daggett's summary method of dismissing people; and so, +with a sweet smile and a bow, the fashionable matron left the eccentric +and indignant spinster. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A SAILING PARTY + + +After Aunt Isabel had gone home, Patty devoted herself to the +entertainment of her young cousins. And they seemed to require a great +deal of entertainment--both Ethelyn and Reginald wanted something done +for their pleasure all the time. They did not hesitate to express very +freely their opinions of the pleasures planned for them, and as they were +sophisticated young persons, they frequently scorned the simple gaieties +in which Patty and her Vernondale companions found pleasure. However, +they condescended to be pleased at the idea of a sailing party, for, as +there was no water near their own home, a yacht was a novelty to them. At +first Ethelyn thought to appear interesting by expressing timid doubts as +to the safety of the picnic party, but she soon found that the +Vernondale young people had no foolish fears of that sort. + +Fourth of July was a bright, clear day, warm, but very pleasant, with a +good stiff breeze blowing. Patty was up early, and when Ethelyn came +downstairs, she found her cousin, with the aid of Mancy and Pansy, +packing up what seemed to be luncheon enough for the whole party. + +"Doesn't anybody else take anything?" she inquired. + +"Oh, yes," said Patty, "they all do. I'm only taking cold chicken and +stuffed eggs. You've no idea what an appetite sailing gives you." + +Ethelyn looked very pretty in a yachting suit of white serge, while +Patty's sailor gown was of more prosaic blue flannel, trimmed with +white braid. + +"That's a sweet dress, Ethelyn," said Patty, "but I'm awfully afraid +you'll spoil it. You know we don't go in a beautiful yacht, all white +paint and polished brass; we go in a big old schooner that's roomy and +safe but not overly clean." + +"Oh, it doesn't matter," said Ethelyn; "I dare say I shall spoil it, but +I've nothing else that's just right to wear." + +"All aboard!" shouted a cheery voice, and Kenneth Harper's laughing face +appeared in the doorway. + +"Oh, good-morning!" cried Patty, smiling gaily back at him; "I'm so glad +to see you. This is my cousin, Miss St. Clair. Ethelyn, may I present +Mr. Harper?" + +Immediately Ethelyn assumed a coquettish and simpering demeanour. + +"I've met Mr. Harper before," she said; "though I dare say he doesn't +remember me." + +"Oh, yes, indeed I do," said Kenneth gallantly. "We met at a reception in +the city, and I am delighted to see you again, especially on such a jolly +occasion as I feel sure to-day is going to be." + +"Do you think it is quite safe?" said Ethelyn, with what she considered +a charming timidity. "I've never been sailing, you know, and I'm not +very brave." + +"Oh, pshaw! of course it's safe, barring accidents; but you're always +liable to those, even in an automobile. Hello! here comes Hepworth. Glad +to see you, old chap." + +Mr. Hepworth received a general storm of glad greetings, was presented to +the strangers, and announced himself as ready to carry baskets, boxes, +rugs, wraps, or whatever was to be transported. + +Mr. Fairfield, as general manager, portioned out the luggage, and then, +each picking up his individual charge, they started off. On the way they +met the Elliott family similarly equipped and equally enthusiastic, and +the whole crowd proceeded down to the wharf. There they found about +thirty young people awaiting them. All the girls of the Tea Club were +there; and all the boys, who insisted on calling themselves honorary +members of the club. + +"It's a beautiful day," said Guy Morris, "but no good at all for sailing. +The breeze has died down entirely, and I don't believe it will come up +again all day." + +"That's real cheerful, isn't it?" said Frank Elliott. "I should be +inclined to doubt it myself, but Guy is such a weatherwise genius, and he +almost never makes a mistake in his prognostications." + +"Well, it remains to be seen what the day will bring forth," said Uncle +Charley; "but in the meantime we'll get aboard." + +The laughing crowd piled themselves on board the big schooner, stowed +away all the baskets and bundles, and settled themselves comfortably in +various parts of the boat; some sat in the stern, others climbed to the +top of the cabin, while others preferred the bow, and one or two +adventurous spirits clambered out to the end of the long bowsprit and sat +with their feet dangling above the water. Ethelyn gave some affected +little cries of horror at this, but Frank Elliott reassured her by +telling her that it was always a part of the performance. + +"Why, I have seen your dignified cousin Patty do it; in fact, she +generally festoons herself along the edge of the boat in some precarious +position." + +"Don't do it to-day, will you, Patty?" besought Ethelyn, with a +ridiculous air of solicitude. + +"No, I won't," said Patty; "I'll be real good and do just as you +want me to." + +"Noble girl!" said Kenneth Harper. "I know how hard it is for you +to be good." + +"It is, indeed," said Patty, laughing; "and I insist upon having +due credit." + +As a rule the Vernondale parties were exciting affairs. The route was +down the river to the sound; from the sound to the bay; and, if the +day were very favourable, out into the ocean, and perhaps around +Staten Island. + +Patty had hoped for this most extended trip today, in order that Ethelyn +and Reginald might see a sailing party at its very best. + +But after they had been on board an hour they had covered only the few +miles of river, and found themselves well out into the sound, but with no +seeming prospect of going any farther. The breeze had died away entirely, +and as the sun rose higher the heat was becoming decidedly uncomfortable. + +Ethelyn began to fidget. Her pretty white serge frock had come in contact +with some muddy ropes and some oily screws, and several unsightly spots +were the result. This made her cross, for she hated to have her costume +spoiled so early in the day; and besides she was unpleasantly conscious +that her fair complexion was rapidly taking on a deep shade of red. She +knew this was unbecoming, but when Reginald, with brotherly frankness, +informed her that her nose looked like a poppy bud, she lost her temper +and relapsed into a sulky fit. + +"I don't see any fun in a sailing party, if this is one," she said. + +"Oh, this isn't one," said Guy Morris good-humoredly; "this is just a +first-class fizzle. We often have them, and though they're not as much +fun as a real good sailing party, yet we manage to get a good time out of +them some way." + +"I don't see how," said Ethelyn, who was growing very ill-tempered. + +"We'll show you," said Frank Elliott kindly; "there are lots of things to +do on board a boat besides sail." + +There did seem to be, and notwithstanding the heat and the sunburn--yes, +even the mosquitoes--those happy-go-lucky young people found ways to have +a real good time. They sang songs and told stories and jokes, and showed +each other clever little games and tricks. One of the boys had a camera +and he took pictures of the whole crowd, both singly and in groups. Mr. +Hepworth drew caricature portraits, and Kenneth Harper gave some of his +funny impersonations. + +Except for the responsibility of her cousin's entertainment, Patty +enjoyed herself exceedingly; but then she was always a happy little girl, +and never allowed herself to be discomfited by trifles. + +Everybody was surprised when Aunt Alice announced that it was time for +luncheon, and though all were disappointed at the failure of the sail, +everybody seemed to take it philosophically and even merrily. + +"What is the matter?" said Ethelyn. "Why don't we go?" + +"The matter is," said Mr. Fairfield, "we are becalmed. There is no +breeze and consequently nothing to make our bonny ship move, so she +stands still." + +"And are we going to stay right here all day?" asked Ethelyn. + +"It looks very much like it, unless an ocean steamer comes along and +gives us a tow." + +Aunt Alice and the girls of the party soon had the luncheon ready, and +the merry feast was made. As Frank remarked, it was a very different +thing to sit there in the broiling sun and eat sandwiches and devilled +eggs, or to consume the same viands with the yacht madly flying along in +rolling waves and dashing spray. + +The afternoon palled a little. Youthful enthusiasm and determined good +temper could make light of several hours of discomfort, but toward three +o'clock the sun's rays grew unbearably hot, the glare from the water was +very trying, and the mosquitoes were something awful. + +Guy Morris, who probably spent more of his time in a boat than any of the +others, declared that he had never seen such a day. + +Mr. Fairfield felt sorry for Ethelyn, who had never had such an +experience before, and so he exerted himself to entertain her, but she +resisted all his attempts, and even though Patty came to her father's +assistance, they found it impossible to make their guest happy. + +Reginald was no better. He growled and fretted about the heat and other +discomforts and he was so pompous and overbearing in his manner that it +is not surprising that the boys of Vernondale cordially disliked him. + +"As long as we can't go sailing," said Ethelyn, "I should think we +would go home." + +"We can't get home," said Patty patiently. She had already explained this +several times to her cousin. "There is no breeze to take us anywhere." + +"Well, what will happen to us, then? Shall we stay here forever?" + +"There ought to be a breeze in two or three days," said Kenneth Harper, +who could not resist the temptation to chaff this ill-tempered young +person. "Say by Tuesday or Wednesday, I should think a capful of wind +might puff up in some direction." + +"It is coming now," said Frank Elliott suddenly; "I certainly feel +a draught." + +"Put something around you, my boy," said his mother, "I don't want you +to take cold." + +"Let me get you a wrap," said Frank, smiling back at his mother, who was +fanning herself with a folded newspaper. + +"The wind is coming," said Guy Morris, and his serious face was a sharp +contrast to the merry ones about him, "and it's no joke this time. Within +ten minutes there'll be a stiff breeze, and within twenty a howling gale, +or I'm no sailor." + +As he spoke he was busily preparing to reef the mainsail, and he +consulted hurriedly with the sailors. + +At first no one could believe Guy's prophecies would come true, but in a +few moments the cool breeze was distinctly felt, the sun went under a +cloud, and the boat began to move. It was a sudden squall, and the clouds +thickened and massed themselves into great hills of blackness; the water +turned dark and began to rise in little threatening billows, the wind +grew stronger and stronger, and then without warning the rain came. +Thunder and lightning added to the excitement of the occasion, and in +less than fifteen minutes the smooth sunny glare of water was at the +mercy of a fearful storm. + +The occupants of the boat seemed to know exactly how to behave in these +circumstances. Mrs. Elliott and the girls of the party went down into the +little cabin, which held them all, but which was very crowded. + +Guy Morris took command, and the other boys, and men, too, for that +matter, did exactly as he told them. + +Ethelyn began to cry. This was really not surprising, as the girl had +never before had such an experience and was exceedingly nervous as well +as very much frightened. + +Mrs. Elliott appreciated this, and putting her arm around the sobbing +child, comforted her with great tact and patience. + +The storm passed as quickly as it came. There had been danger, both real +and plentiful, but no bad results attended, except that everybody was +more or less wet with the rain. + +The boys were more and the girls less, but to Ethelyn's surprise, they +all seemed to view the whole performance quite as a matter of course, and +accepted the situation with the same merry philosophy that they had shown +in the morning. + +The thermometer had fallen many degrees, and the cold wind against damp +clothing caused a most unpleasant sensation. + +"It's an ill wind that blows nobody good," said Guy. "This breeze will +take us home, spinning." + +"I'm glad of it," said Ethelyn snappishly; "I've had quite enough of the +sailing party." + +Frank confided to Patty afterward that he felt like responding that the +sailing party had had quite enough of her, but instead he said politely: + +"Oh, don't be so easily discouraged! Better luck next time." + +To which Ethelyn replied, still crossly, "There'll be no next time for +me." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +MORE COUSINS + + +Patty was not sorry when her Elmbridge cousins concluded their visit, and +the evening after their departure she sat on the veranda with her father, +talking about them. + +"It's a pity," she said, "that Ethelyn is so ill-tempered; for she's so +pretty and graceful, and she's really very bright and entertaining when +she is pleased. But so much of the time she is displeased, and then +there's no doing anything with her." + +"She's selfish, Patty," said her father; "and selfishness is just about +the worst fault in the catalogue. A selfish person cannot be happy. You +probably learned something to that effect from your early copybooks, but +it is none the less true." + +"I know it, papa, and I do think that selfish ness is the worst fault +there is; and though I fight against it, do you know I sometimes think +that living here alone with you, and having my own way in everything, is +making me rather a selfish individual myself." + +"I don't think you need worry about that," said a hearty voice, and +Kenneth Harper appeared at the veranda steps. "Pardon me, I wasn't +eavesdropping, but I couldn't help overhearing your last remark, and I +think it my duty to set your mind at rest on that score. Selfishness is +not your besetting sin, Miss Patty Fairfield, and I can't allow you to +libel yourself." + +"I quite agree with you, Ken," said Mr. Fairfield. "My small daughter may +not be absolutely perfect, but selfishness is not one of her faults. At +least, that's the conclusion I've come to, after observing her pretty +carefully through her long and checkered career." + +"Well, if I'm not selfish, I will certainly become vain if so many +compliments are heaped upon me," said Patty, laughing; "and I'm sure I +value very highly the opinions of two such wise men." + +"Oh, say a man and a boy," said young Harper modestly. + +"All right, I will," said Patty, "but I'm not sure which is which. +Sometimes I think papa more of a boy than you are, Ken." + +"Now you've succeeded in complimenting us both at once," said Mr. +Fairfield, "which proves you clever as well as unselfish." + +"Well, never mind me for the present," said Patty; "I want to talk about +some other people, and they are some more of my cousins." + +"A commodity with which you seem to be well supplied," said Kenneth. + +"Indeed I am; I have a large stock yet in reserve, and I think, papa, +that I'll ask Bob and Bumble to visit me for a few weeks." + +"Do," said Mr. Fairfield, "if you would enjoy having them, but not +otherwise. You've just been through a siege of entertaining cousins, and +I think you deserve a vacation." + +"Oh, but these are so different," said Patty. "Bob and Bumble are nothing +like the St. Clairs. They enjoy everything, and they're always happy." + +"I like their name," said Kenneth. "Bumble isn't exactly romantic, but +it sounds awfully jolly." + +"She is jolly," said Patty, "and so is Bob. They're twins, about sixteen, +and they're just brimming over with fun and mischief. Bumble's real name +is Helen, but I guess no one ever called her that. Helen seems to mean a +fair, tall girl, slender and graceful, and rather willowy; and Bumble is +just the opposite of that: she's round and solid, and always tumbling +down; at least she used to be, but she may have outgrown that habit now. +Anyway, she's a dear." + +"And what is Bob like?" asked her father. "I haven't seen him since he +was a baby." + +"Bob? Oh, he's just plain boy; awfully nice and obliging and good-hearted +and unselfish, but I don't believe he'll ever be President." + +"I think I shall like your two cousins," said Kenneth, with an air of +conviction. "When are they coming?" + +"I shall ask them right away, and I hope they'll soon come. How much +longer shall you be in Vernondale?" + +"Oh, I think I'm a fixture for the summer. Aunt Locky wants me to spend +my whole vacation here, and I don't know of any good reason why I +shouldn't." + +"I'm very glad; it will be awfully nice to have you here when the +twins are, and perhaps somebody else will be here, too. I'm going to +ask Nan Allen." + +"Who is she?" inquired Mr. Fairfield. + +"Oh, papa, don't you remember about her? She is a friend of the Barlows, +and lives near them in Philadelphia, and she was visiting them down at +Long Island when I was there last summer. She's perfectly lovely. She's a +grown-up young lady, compared to Bumble and me--she's about twenty-two, I +think--and I know Kenneth will lose his heart to her. He'll have no more +use for schoolgirls." + +"Probably not," said Kenneth; "but I'm afraid the adorable young lady +will have no use for me. She won't if Hepworth's around, and he usually +is. He's always cutting me out." + +"Nothing of the sort," said Patty staunchly. "Mr. Hepworth is very nice, +but he's papa's friend," + +"And whose friend am I?" said young Harper. + +"You're everybody's friend," said Patty, smiling at him. "You're just +'Our Ken.'" + +Miss Nan Allen was delighted to accept an invitation to Boxley Hall, and +it was arranged that she and the Barlow twins should spend August there. + +"A month is quite a long visit, Pattikins," said her father. + +"Yes, but you see, papa, I stayed there three months. Now, if three of +them stay here one month, it will be the same proportion. And, +besides, I like them, and I want them to stay a good while. I shan't +get tired of them." + +"I don't believe you will, but you may get tired of the care of +housekeeping, with guests for so long a time. But if you do, I shall pick +up the whole tribe of you and bundle off for a trip of some sort." + +"Oh, papa, I wish you would do that. I'd be perfectly delighted. I'll do +my best to get tired, just so you'll take us." + +"But if I remember your reports of your Barlow cousins, it seems to me +they would not make the most desirable travelling companions. Aren't they +the ones who were so helter-skelter, never were ready on time, never knew +where things were, and, in fact, had never learned the meaning of the +phrase 'Law and order'?" + +"Yes, they're the ones, and truly they are something dreadful. Don't you +remember they had a party and forgot to send out the invitations? And the +first night I reached there, when I went to visit them, they forgot to +have any bed in my room." + +"Yes, I thought I remembered your writing to me about some such doings; +and do you think you can enjoy a month with such visitors as that?" + +"Oh, yes, papa, because they won't upset _my_ house; and, really, they're +the dearest people. Oh, I'm awfully fond of Bob and Bumble I And Nan +Allen is lovely. Nobody can help liking her. She's not so helter-skelter +as the others, but down at the Hurly-Burly nobody could help losing +their things. Why, I even grew careless myself." + +"Well, have your company, child, and I'll do all I can to make it +pleasant for you and for them." + +"I know you will, you dear old pearl of a father. Sometimes I think you +enjoy my company as much as I do myself, but I suppose you don't really. +I suppose you entertain the young people and pretend to enjoy it just to +make me happy." + +"I am happy, dear, in anything that makes you happy; though sixteen is +not exactly an age contemporary with my own. But I enjoy having Hepworth +down, and I like young Harper a great deal. Then, of course, I have my +little friends, Mr. and Mrs. Elliott, to play with--so I am not entirely +dependent on the kindergarten." + +The Barlow twins and Nan Allen were expected to arrive on Thursday +afternoon at four o'clock, and everything at Boxley Hall was in readiness +for the arrival of the guests. + +"Not that it's worth while to have everything in such spick-and-span +order," said Patty to herself, "for the Barlows won't appreciate it, and +what's more they'll turn everything inside out and upside down before +they've been in the house an hour." + +But, notwithstanding her conviction, she made her preparations as +carefully as if for the most fastidious visitors and viewed the result +with great satisfaction after it was finished. + +She went down in the carriage to meet the train, delighted at the thought +of seeing again her Barlow cousins, of whom she was really very fond. + +"I wish Aunt Grace and Uncle Ted were coming, too," she said to herself; +"but I suppose I couldn't take care of so many people at once. It would +be like running a hotel." + +The train had not arrived when they reached the station, so, telling the +coachman to wait, Patty left the carriage and walked up and down the +station platform. + +"Hello, Patty, haven't your cousins come yet?" + +"Why, Kenneth, is that you? No, they haven't come; I think the train +must be late." + +"Yes, it is a little, but there it is now, just coming into sight around +the curve. May I stay and meet them? Or would you rather fall on their +necks alone?" + +"Oh, stay, I'd be glad to have you; but you'll have to walk back, there's +no room in the carriage for you." + +"Oh, that's all right. I have my wheel, thank you." + +The train stopped, and a number of passengers alighted. But as the train +went on and the small crowd dispersed, Patty remarked in a most +exasperated tone: + +"Well, they didn't come on that train. I just knew they wouldn't. They +are the most aggravating people! Now, nobody knows whether they were on +that train and didn't know enough to get off, or whether they missed it +at the New York end. What time is the next train?" + +"I'm not sure," said Kenneth; "let's go in the station and find out." + +The next train was due at 4.30, but the expected guests did not arrive +on that either. + +"There's no use in getting annoyed," said Patty, laughing, "for it's +really nothing more nor less than I expected. The Barlows never catch the +train they intend to take." + +"And Miss Allen? Is she the same kind of an 'Old Reliable'?" + +"No, Nan is different; and I believe that, left to herself, she'd be on +time, though probably not ahead of time. But I've never seen her except +with the Barlows, and when she was down at the Hurly-Burly she was just +about as uncertain as the rest of them." + +"Is the Hurly-Burly the Barlow homestead?" + +"Well, it's their summer home, and it's really a lovely place. But its +name just expresses it. I spent three months there last summer, and I had +an awfully good time, but no one ever knew what was going to happen next +or when it would come off. But everybody was so good-natured that they +didn't mind a bit. Well, I suppose we may as well drive back home. +There's no telling when these people will come. Very likely not until +to-morrow." + +Just then a small messenger boy came up to Patty and handed her a +telegram. + +"Just as I thought!" exclaimed Patty. "They've done some crazy thing." + +Opening the yellow envelope, she read: + +"Took wrong train. Carried through to Philadelphia. Back this +evening. BOB." + +"Well, then, they can't get here until that nine-o'clock train comes in," +said Kenneth, "so there's no use in your waiting any longer now." + +"No, I suppose not," said Patty; "I'm awfully disappointed. I wish they +had come." + +An east-bound train had just come into the station, and Patty and Kenneth +stood idly watching it, when suddenly Patty exclaimed: + +"There they are now! Did you ever know such ridiculous people?" + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +A FAIR EXCHANGE + + +"We didn't have to go to Philadelphia after all," explained Bob, after +greetings had been exchanged. "We found we could get off at New Brunswick +and come back from there." + +"Why didn't you find out that before telegraphing?" laughed Patty. + +"Never once thought of it," said Bob, "You know the Barlows are not noted +for ingenuity." + +"Well, they're noted for better things than that," said Patty, as she +affectionately squeezed Bumble's plump arm. + +"We wouldn't have thought of it at all," said honest Bob, "if it hadn't +been for Nan. She suggested it." + +"Well, I was sent along with instructions to look after you two +rattle-pated youngsters," said Nan, "and so I had to do something to live +up to my privileges; and now, Bob, you look after the luggage, will you?" + +"Let me help," said Kenneth. "Where are your checks, Miss Allen?" + +"Here are the checks for the trunks, and there are three suit-cases; the +one that hasn't any name on is mine, and you tell it by the fact that it +has an extra handle on the end. I'm very proud of that handle; I had it +put on by special order, and it's so convenient, and it is identification +besides. I didn't want my name painted on. I think it spoils a brand-new +suit-case to have letters all over it." + +"We'll find them all right; come on, Barlow," said Kenneth, and the two +young men started off. + +They returned in a few moments with the three suit-cases, Bob bringing +his own and his sister's, while Kenneth Harper carefully carried the +immaculate leather case with the handle on the end. These were deposited +in the Fairfield carriage. Patty and her guests were also tucked in, and +they started for the house, while Kenneth followed on his wheel. + +"Come over to-night," Patty called back to him, as they left him behind; +and though his answer was lost in the distance, she had little doubt as +to its tenor. + +"What a nice young fellow!" said Nan. "Who is he?" + +"He's the nephew of our next-door neighbour," said Patty; "and he's +spending his vacation with his aunt." + +"He's a jolly all-round chap," said Bob. + +"Yes, he's just that," said Patty. "I thought you'd like him. You'll like +all the young people here. They're an awfully nice crowd." + +"I'm so glad to see _you_ again," said Bumble, "I don't care whether I +like the other young people or not. And I want to see Uncle Fred, too. I +haven't seen him for years and years." + +"Oh, he's one of the young people," said Patty, laughing; "he goes 'most +everywhere with us. I tell him he's more of a boy than Ken." + +As they drove up to the house, Bumble exclaimed with delight at the +beautiful flowers and the well-kept appearance of the whole place. + +"What a lovely home!" she cried. "I don't see how you ever put up with +our tumble-down old place, Patty." + +"Nonsense!" said Patty. "I had the time of my life down at the +Hurly-Burly last summer." + +"Well, we're going to have the time of our life at Boxley Hall this +summer, I feel sure of that," said Bob, as he sprang out of the carriage +and then helped the others out. + +"I hope you will," said Patty. "You are very welcome to Boxley Hall, and +I want you just to look upon it as your home and conduct yourselves +accordingly." + +"Nan can do that," said Bumble, "but I'm afraid, if Bob and I did it, +your beautiful home would soon lose its present spick-and-span effect." + +"All right, let it lose," said Patty. "We'll have a good time anyhow. And +now," she went on, as she took the guests to their rooms, "there'll be +just about an hour before dinner time but if you get ready before that +come down. You'll probably find me on the front veranda, if I'm not in +the kitchen." + +Bob was the first one to reappear, and he found Patty and her father +chatting on the front veranda. + +"How do you do, Uncle Fred?" he said. "You may know my name, but I doubt +if you remember my features." + +"Hello, Bob, my boy," said Mr. Fairfield, cordially grasping the hand +held out to him. "As I last saw you with features of infantile vacancy, I +am glad to start fresh and make your acquaintance all over again." + +"Thank you, sir," said Bob, as he seated himself on the veranda railing. +"I didn't know you as an infant, but I dare say you were a very +attractive one." + +"I think I was," said Mr. Fairfield; "at least I remember hearing my +mother say so, and surely she ought to know." + +Just then Bumble came out on the porch with her hair-ribbon in her hand. + +"Please tie this for me, Patty," she said. "I cannot manage it myself, +and get it on quick before Uncle Fred sees me." + +"But I am so glad to see you, my dear Bumble," said Mr. Fairfield, "that +even that piece of pretty blue ribbon can't make me any gladder." + +Bumble smiled back at him in her winning way, and Patty tied her cousin's +hair-ribbon with a decided feeling of relief that in all other respects +Bumble's costume was tidy and complete. + +"Where's Nan?" she inquired; "isn't she ready yet?" + +"Why, it's the funniest thing," said Bumble, "I tapped at her door as I +came by, but she told me to go on and not wait for her, she would come +down in a few minutes." + +Just as Pansy appeared to announce dinner, Nan did come down, and Patty +stared at her in amazement. Bob whistled, and Bumble exclaimed: + +"Well, for goodness gracious sakes! What are you up to now?" + +For Nan, instead of wearing the pretty gown which Bumble knew she had +brought in her suitcase, was garbed in the complete costume of a trained +nurse. A white pique skirt and linen shirt-waist of immaculate and +starched whiteness, an apron with regulation shoulder-straps, and a cap +that betokened a graduate of St. Luke's Hospital, formed her surprising, +but not at all unbecoming, outfit. + +Nan's roguish face looked very demure under the white cap, and she smiled +pleasantly when Patty at last recovered her wits sufficiently to +introduce her father. + +"Nan," she said, "if this is really you, let me present my father; and, +papa, this is supposed to be Miss Nan Allen, but I never saw her look +like this before." + +"I am very glad to meet you, Miss Allen," said Mr. Fairfield, "and though +we are all apparently very well at present, one can never tell how soon +there may be need of your professional services." + +"I hope not very soon," said Nan, laughing; "for my professional +knowledge is scarcely sufficient to enable me to adjust this costume +properly." + +"It seems to be on all right," said Patty, looking at it critically; "but +where in the world did you get it? And what have you got it on for? We're +not going to a masquerade." + +"I put it on," said Nan, "because I couldn't help myself. I wanted to +change my travelling gown, and when I opened my suit-case this is all +there was in it, except some combs and brushes and bottles." + +"Whew!" said Bob. "When I picked up that suit-case I wasn't quite sure I +had the right one. You know I went back for it after we left the train at +New Brunswick, and you said it was the only one in the world with a +handle on the end." + +"I thought it was," said Nan, "but it seems somebody else was clever +enough to have an end-handle too, and she was a trained nurse, +apparently." + +"Many of the new suit-cases have handles on the end," said Mr. Fairfield, +"though not common as yet I have seen a number of them. But just imagine +how the nurse feels who is obliged to wear your dinner gown instead of +her uniform." + +"I hope she won't spoil it," exclaimed Bumble. "It was that lovely light +blue thing, one of the prettiest frocks you own." + +"I can imagine her now," said Bob: "she is probably bathing the brow of a +sleepless patient, and the lace ruffles and turquoise bugles are helping +along a lot. In fact, I think she's looking rather nice going around a +sick-room in that blue bombazine." + +"It isn't bombazine, Bob," said his sister; "it's beautiful, lovely +light-blue chiffon." + +"Well, beautiful, lovely light-blue chiffon, then; but anyway, I'm +sure the nurse is glad of a chance to wear it instead of her own +plain clothes." + +"But her own plain clothes are not at all unpicturesque, and are very +becoming to Miss Allen," said Mr. Fairfield. "But haven't your trunks +come?" he added, as they all went out to dinner. + +"No," said Bob; "Mr. Harper and I investigated the baggage-room, but +they weren't there." + +"Oh, call him Kenneth," said Patty. "You boys are too young for such +formality." + +"I may be," said Bob, "but he isn't. He's a college man." + +"He's a college boy," said Patty; "he's only nineteen, and you're sixteen +yourself." + +"Going on seventeen," said Bob proudly, "and so is Bumble." + +"Twins often are the same age," observed Mr. Fairfield, "and after a few +years, Bob, you'll have to be careful how you announce your own age, +because it will reveal your sister's." + +"Pooh! I don't care," said Bumble. "I'd just as lieve people would know +how old I am. Nan is twenty-two, and she doesn't care who knows it." + +"You look about fifty in those ridiculous clothes," said Patty. + +"Do I?" said Nan, quite unconcernedly. "I don't mind that a bit, but I +don't think I can keep them at this stage of whiteness for many days. +Can anything be done to coax our trunks this way?" + +"We might do some telephoning after dinner," said Mr. Fairfield. "What is +the situation up to the present time?" + +"Why, you see it was this way," said Bumble. "When the carriage came to +take us to the station, the trunks weren't quite ready, and mamma said +for us to go on and she'd finish packing them and send them down in time +to get that train or the next." + +"And did they come for that train?" + +"No, they didn't, and so, of course, they must have been sent on the next +one; but even so, they ought to be here now, because, you know, we went +on through and came back." + +"But how did you get your checks if your trunks weren't put on the +train?" + +"Oh, the baggageman knows us," explained Bob, "and he gave us our checks +and kept the duplicates to put on our trunks when they came down to the +station. He often does that." + +"Yes," said Bumble, "we've never had our trunks ready yet when the man +came for them." + +"Nan's was ready," put in Bob, who was a great stickler for justice, +"but, of course, hers couldn't go till ours did. Oh, I guess they'll turn +up all right." + +They did turn up all right twenty-four hours later, but the exchange of +suit-cases was not so easily effected. + +However, after more or less correspondence between Nan and the nurse who +owned the uniform, the transfer was finally made, and Nan recovered her +pretty blue gown, which certainly bore no evidence of having been worn in +a sickroom. + +"But I bet she wore it, all the same," said Bob. "She probably +neglected her patient and went to a party that night just because she +had the frock." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +A GOOD SUGGESTION + + +August at Boxley Hall proved to be a month of fun and frolic. The Barlow +cousins were much easier to entertain than the St. Clairs. In fact, they +entertained themselves, and as for Nan Allen, she entertained everybody +with whom she came in contact. Mr. Fairfield expressed himself as being +delighted to have Patty under the influence of such a gracious and +charming young woman, and Aunt Alice quite agreed with him. Marian adored +Nan, and though she liked Bumble very much indeed, she took more real +pleasure in the society of the older girl. + +But they were a congenial crowd of merry young people, and when Mr. +Hepworth came down from the city, as he often did, and Kenneth Harper +drifted in from next-door, as he very often did, the house party at +Boxley Hall waxed exceeding merry. + +And there was no lack of social entertainment. The Vernondale young +people were quite ready to provide pleasures for Patty's guests, and the +appreciation shown by Nan and the Barlows was a decided and very pleasant +contrast to the attitude of Ethelyn and Reginald. + +Sailing parties occurred often, and these Nan enjoyed especially, for she +was passionately fond of the water, and dearly loved sailing or rowing. + +The Tea Club girls all liked Nan, and though she was older than most of +them, she enjoyed their meetings quite as much as Bumble, Marian, or +Patty herself. + +Bob soon made friends with the "Tea Club Annex," as the boys of Patty's +set chose to call themselves. Though not a club of any sort, they were +always invited when the Tea Club had anything special going on, and many +times when it hadn't. + +One afternoon the Tea Club was holding its weekly meeting at Marian's. + +"Do you know," Elsie Morris was saying, "that the Babies' Hospital is in +need of funds again? Those infants are perfect gormandisers. I don't see +how they can eat so much or wear so many clothes." + +"Babies always wear lots of clothes," said Lillian Desmond, with an air +of great wisdom. "I've seen them; they just bundle them up in everything +they can find, and then wrap more things around them." + +"Well, they've used up all their wrappings," said Elsie Morris, "and +they want more. I met Mrs. Greenleaf this morning in the street, and +she stopped me to ask if we girls wouldn't raise some more money for +them somehow." + +"Oh, dear!" said Florence Douglass. "They just want us to work all the +time for the old hospital; I'm tired of it." + +"Why, Florence!" said Patty. "We haven't done a thing since we had that +play last winter. I think it would be very nice to have some +entertainment or something and make some money for them again. We could +have some summery outdoorsy kind of a thing like a lawn party, you know." + +"Yes," said Laura Russell, "and have it rain and spoil everything; and +soak all the Chinese lanterns, and drench all the people's clothes, and +everybody would run into the house and track mud all over. Oh, it would +be lovely!" + +"What a cheerful view you do take of things, Laura," said Elsie Morris. +"Now, you know it's just as likely not to rain as to rain." + +"More likely," said Nan. "It doesn't rain twice as often as it rains. Now +I believe it would be a beautiful bright day, or moonlight night, +whichever you have the party, and nobody will get their clothes spoiled, +and the lanterns will burn lovely, and you will have a big crowd, and it +would be a howling success, and you'd make an awful lot of money." + +"That picture sounds very attractive," said Polly Stevens, "and I say +let's do it. But somehow I don't like a lawn party--it's so tame. Let's +have something real novel and original. Nan, you must know of something." + +"I don't," said Nan. "I'm stupid as an owl about such things. But if you +can decide on something to have, I'll help all I can with it." + +"And Nan's awful good help!" put in Bumble. "She works and works and +works, and never gets tired. I'll help, too; I'd love to, only I'm not +much good." + +"We'll take all the help that's offered," said Elsie Morris, "of any +quality whatsoever. But what can the show be?" + +No amount of thinking or discussion seemed to suggest any novel +enterprise by which a fortune could be made at short notice, and at last +Nan said: "I should think, Patty, that Mr. Hepworth could help. He's +always having queer sorts of performances in his studio. Don't you know +the Mock Art exhibition he told us about?" + +"Oh, yes," said Patty; "he'd be sure to know of something for us to do; +and I think he's coming out with papa to-night. I'll ask him." + +"Do," said Elsie; "and tell him it must be something that's heaps of fun, +and that we'll all like, and that's never been done here before." + +"All right," said Patty. "Anything else?" + +"Yes; it must be something to appeal to the popular taste and draw a big +crowd, so we can make a lot of money for the babies." + +"Very well," said Patty; "I'll tell him all that, and I'm sure he'll +suggest just the right thing." + +Mr. Hepworth did come down that night, and when the girls asked him for +suggestions he very willingly began to think up plans for them. + +"I should think you might make a success," he said, "of an entertainment +like one I attended up in the mountains last summer. It was called a +'County Fair,' and was a sort of burlesque on the county fairs or state +fairs that used to be held annually, and are still, I believe, in some +sections of the country." + +"It sounds all right so far," said Patty. "Tell us more about it." + +"Well, you know you get everybody interested, and you have a committee +for all the different parts of it." + +"What are the different parts of it?" + +"Oh, they're the domestic department, where you exhibit pies and +bed-quilts and spatter-work done by the ladies in charge." + +"Of course, these exhibits aren't real, you know, Patty," said her +father; "and you girls would probably be tempted to put up gay jokes on +each other. For instance, that rockery arrangement of Pansy's might be +exhibited as your idea of art work." + +"I wouldn't mind the joke on myself, papa," said Patty, "but it might not +please Pansy. But we can get plenty of things to exhibit in the domestic +department. That will be easy enough. I'll borrow Miss Daggett's pumpkin +bed-quilt to exhibit as my latest achievement in the line of applied art, +and I'll make a pie and label it Laura Russell's, which will take the +first prize; but what other departments are there, Mr. Hepworth?" + +"Well, the horticulture department can be made very humourous, as well as +lucrative. At this fair I went to, the ladies had a beautiful table full +of pin-cushions and other gimcracks, in the shape of fruits and +vegetables." + +"Oh, yes," said Bumble, "I know how to make those. I can make bananas and +potatoes and Nan can make lovely strawberries." + +"And I can make paper flowers," said Bob, "honest, I can! Great big +sunflowers and tiger lilies, and you can use them for lampshades if +you like." + +"Yes, the horticulture booth will be easy enough," said Nan. "I'll help a +lot with that. Now, what else?" + +"Then you can have an art gallery, if you like. Burlesque, of course, +with ridiculous pictures and statues. I know where I can borrow a lot for +you in New York." + +"Gorgeous!" cried Patty, clapping her hands. "What a trump you are! +What else?" + +"A loan exhibition is of real interest," said Mr. Hepworth. "If you've +never had one of those here, I think one or two of your members could +arrange a very effective little exhibit by borrowing objects of interest +from their friends about town." + +"I'm sure of it," said Patty. "Miss Daggett has lovely things, and so has +Mrs. Greenleaf, and Aunt Alice, and lots of people. We'll let Florence +Douglass and Lillian Desmond look after that. It's just in their line." + +"And then you must have side shows, you know; funny performances, like +'Punch and Judy,' and a fortune-telling gipsy. And then all the people +who take part in it must wear fancy or grotesque costumes. And the great +feature of the whole show is a parade of these people in their eccentric +garb. Some walk, while others ride on decorated steeds, or in queer +vehicles. Of course, there's lots of detail and lots of work about it, +but if you go into the thing with any sort of enthusiasm, I'm sure you +can make a big success of it." + +They did go into the thing with all sorts of enthusiasm, and they did +make a big success of it. + +The Tea Club girls declared the scheme a fine one, and the Boys' Annex +announced themselves as ready to help in any and every possible way. +Committees were appointed to attend to the different departments, and as +these committees were carefully selected with a view to giving each what +he or she liked best to do, the whole work went on harmoniously. + +The site chosen for the county fair was the old Warner place. As this was +still unoccupied, it made a most appropriate setting for the projected +entertainment. When Mr. Hepworth saw it he declared it was ideal for the +purpose, and immediately began to make plans for utilising the different +rooms of the old house. + +A loan exhibition was to be held in one; and, as Patty had foreseen, many +old relics and heirlooms of great interest were borrowed from willing +lenders around town. In another room was the domestic exhibition, and in +another the horticultural show was held. + +One room was devoted to amusing the children, and contained a Punch and +Judy show, fish pond, and various games. + +There was a candy kitchen, where white-capped cooks could make candy and +sell it to immediate purchasers. + +It had been decided to hold the fair during the afternoon and evening of +two consecutive days. As Nan had prophesied, these days showed weather +beyond all criticism. Not too warm to be pleasant, but with bright +sunshine and a gentle breeze. + +At three o'clock the grand parade began, and the spectators watched with +glee the grotesque figures that passed them in line. + +Patty, whose special department was the candy kitchen, was dressed as the +Queen of Hearts who made the renowned tarts. Mr. Hepworth had designed +her dress, and though it was of simple white cheese-cloth, trimmed with +red-and-gold hearts, it was very effective and becoming. She wore a gilt +crown, and carried a gilt sceptre, and rode in her own little pony cart, +which had been so gaily decorated for the occasion that it was quite +unrecognisable. Kenneth Harper, as the Knave of Hearts, who wickedly +stole the tarts, sat by her side and drove the little chariot. + +Nan was dressed as a gipsy. She had a marvellous tent in which to tell +fortunes, and in the parade she rode on a much-bedecked donkey. + +Marian was a dame of olden time, and Bumble was a Japanese lady of +high degree. + +There were quaint and curious costumes of all sorts, each of which +provoked much mirth or admiration from the enthusiastic audience. + +After the parade, the fair was announced open, and the patrons were +requested to spend their money freely for the benefit of the hospital. + +So well did they respond that, as a result of their efforts, the Tea Club +girls were able to present Mrs. Greenleaf with the sum of five hundred +dollars toward her good work. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +AT THE SEASHORE + + +Toward the end of August the Barlows' visit drew toward its close. +Although Patty was sorry to have her cousins go, yet she looked forward +with a certain sense of relief to being once more alone with her father. + +"It's lovely to have company," she confided to her Aunt Alice one day, +"and I do enjoy it ever so much, only somehow I get tired of ordering and +looking after things day after day." + +"All housekeepers have that experience, Patty, dear," said Aunt Alice, +"but they're usually older than you before they begin. It is a great deal +of care for a girl of sixteen, and though you get along beautifully, I'm +sure it has been rather a hard summer for you." + +So impressed was Mrs. Elliott with these facts that she talked to Mr. +Fairfield about the matter, and advised him to take Patty away somewhere +for a little rest and change before beginning her school year again. + +Mr. Fairfield agreed heartily to this plan, expressed himself as willing +to take Patty anywhere, and suggested that some of the Elliotts go, too. + +When Patty's opinion was asked, she said she would be delighted to go +away for a vacation, and that she had the place all picked out. + +"Well, you are an expeditious young woman," said her father. "And where +is it that you want to go?" + +"Why, you see, papa, the 1st of September, when Bob and Bumble go home +from here, Nan isn't going back with them; she's going down to Spring +Lake. That's a place down on the New Jersey coast, and I've never been +there, and she says it's lovely, and so I want to go there." + +"Well, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't," said Mr. Fairfield. "It +would suit me well enough, if Nan is willing we should follow in her +footsteps." + +"I'm delighted to have you," said Nan, who was in a hammock at the other +end of the veranda when this conclave was taking place. + +"I wish we could go with the crowd," said Bob, who was perched on the +veranda railing. + +"I wish so, too," said Bumble; "but wishing doesn't do any good. After +that letter father wrote yesterday, I think the best thing for us to do +is to scurry home as fast as we can." + +So the plans were made according to Patty's wish, and a few days after +the Barlow twins returned to their home, a merry party left Vernondale +for Spring Lake. + +This party consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Elliott and Marian, Mr. Fairfield, +Patty, and Nan. + +They had all arranged for rooms in the same hotel to which Nan was going, +and where her parents were awaiting her. + +Marlborough House was its name, and very attractive and comfortable it +looked to the Vernondale people as they arrived about four o'clock one +afternoon in early September. + +Mr. and Mrs. Allen proved to be charming people who were more than ready +to show any courtesies in their power to the Fairfields, who had so +kindly entertained Nan. + +Although an older couple than the Elliotts, they proved to be congenial +companions, and after a day or two the whole party felt as if they had +known each other all their lives. Acquaintances ripen easily at the +seashore, and Patty soon came to the conclusion that she was beginning +what was to be one of the pleasantest experiences of her life. + +And so it proved; although Mr. Fairfield announced that Patty had come +down for a rest, and that there was to be very little, if any, gaiety +allowed, yet somehow there was always something pleasant going on. + +Every day there was salt-water bathing, and this was a great delight to +Patty. The summer before, at her uncle's home on Long Island, she had +learned to swim, and though it was more difficult to swim in the surf, +yet it was also more fun. Nan was an expert swimmer, and Marian knew +nothing of the art, but the three girls enjoyed splashing about in the +water, and were never quite ready to come out when Aunt Alice or Mrs. +Allen called to them from the beach. + +In the afternoons there were long walks or drives along the shore, and +the exercise and salt air soon restored to Patty the robust health and +strength which her father feared she had lost during the summer. + +In the evening there was dancing--sometimes hops, but more often informal +dancing among the young people staying at the hotel. All three of our +girls were fond of dancing, and excelled in the art, but Patty was +especially graceful and skillful. + +The first Saturday night after their arrival at Marlborough House, a +large dance was to be held, and this was really Patty's first experience +at what might be termed a ball. + +She was delighted with the prospect, and her father had ordered her a +beautiful new frock from New York, which proved to be rather longer than +any she had as yet worn. + +"I feel so grown up in it," she exclaimed, as she tried it on to show her +father. "I think I'll have to do up my hair when I wear this grand +costume; It doesn't seem just right to have it tied up with a little +girl hair-ribbon." + +"Patty, my child, I do believe you're growing up!" said her father. + +"I do believe I am, papa; I'm almost seventeen, and I'm taller than Aunt +Alice now, and a lot taller than Marian." + +"It isn't only your height, child, you always were a big girl. But you +seem to be growing up in other ways, and I don't believe I like it I +was glad when you were no longer a child, but I like to have you a +little girl, and I don't believe I'll care for you a bit when you're a +young woman." + +"Now, isn't that too bad!" said Patty, pinching her father's cheek. "I +suppose I'll have to suit myself with another father--I'm sure I couldn't +live with anybody who didn't like me a bit. Well, perhaps Uncle Charley +will adopt me; he seems to like me at any age." + +"Oh, I'll try and put up with you," said her father, kissing her. "And +meantime, what's this talk about piling up your hair on top of your head. +Is it really absolutely necessary to do so, if you wear this frippery +confection of dry-goods?" + +"Oh, not necessary, perhaps, but I think it would look better. At any +rate, I'll just try it." + +"Well, you don't seem to be standing with very _reluctant_ feet," said +her father. "I believe you're rather anxious to grow up, after all; but +run along, chicken, and dress your hair any way you please. I want you to +have a good time at your first ball." + +As Frank Elliott and Kenneth Harper and Mr. Hepworth came down to Spring +Lake to stay over Sunday, the party of friends at Marlborough House was +considerably augmented. When the young men arrived the girls were lazily +basking on the sand, and Nan was pretending to read a book to the other +two. Only pretending, however, for Patty kept interrupting her with +nonsensical remarks, and Marian teased her by slowly sifting sand through +her fingers onto the pages of the book. + +"I might as well try to read to a tribe of wild Indians as to you two +girls," said Nan at last. "Don't you _want_ your minds improved?" + +"Do you think our superior minds _can_ be improved by that trash you're +reading?" said Patty. "I really think some of your instructive +conversation would benefit us more greatly." + +"You're an ungrateful pair," said Nan, "and you don't deserve that I +should waste my valuable conversation upon you. And you don't deserve, +either, that I should tell you to turn your heads around to see who's +coming--but I will." + +Her hearers looked round quickly, and saw three familiar figures coming +along the board walk. + +"Goody!" cried Patty, and scrambling to her feet, she ran with +outstretched hands to meet them. + +She didn't look very grown up then, in her blue-serge beach dress and her +hair in a long thick braid down her back, and curling round her temples +in windblown locks; but to Mr. Hepworth's artist eye she looked more +beautiful than he had ever seen her. + +Kenneth Harper, too, looked admiringly at the graceful figure flying +toward them across the sand, but Frank shouted: + +"Hello, Patty, don't break your neck! we're coming down there. +Where's Marian?" + +"She's right here," answered Patty; "we're all right here. Your mother's +up on the veranda. Oh, I'm so glad to see you! This is the loveliest +place, and we're having the beautifullest time; and now that you boys +have come, it will be better than ever. And there's going to be a hop +tonight! Isn't that gay? Oh, how do you do, Mr. Hepworth?" + +Though Patty's manner took on a shade more of dignity in addressing the +older man, it lost nothing in cordiality, and he responded with words of +glad greeting. + +Hearing the laughter and excitement, Aunt Alice and Mrs. Allen came down +from the veranda to sit on the sand by the young people. Soon Mr. +Fairfield and Mr. Allen and Mr. Elliott, returning from a stroll, joined +the party. + +The newcomers produced divers and sundry parcels, which they turned over +to the ladies, and which proved to contain various new books and +magazines and delicious candies and fruits. + +"It's just like Christmas!" exclaimed Patty. "I do love to have things +brought to me." + +"You're certainly in your element now, then," said Mr. Fairfield, looking +at his daughter, who sat with a fig in one hand and a chocolate in the +other, trying to open a book with her elbows. + +"I certainly am," she responded. "The only flaw is that I suppose it's +about time to go in to dinner. I wish we could all sit here on the +sand forever." + +"You'd change your mind when you reached my age," said Mrs. Allen. "I'm +quite ready to go in now and find a more comfortable chair." + +Later that evening Patty, completely arrayed for the dance, came to her +father for inspection. + +"You look very sweet, my child," he said after gazing at her long and +earnestly; "and with your hair dressed that way you look very much like +your mother. I'm sorry you're growing up, my baby, I certainly am; but I +suppose it can't be helped unless the world stops turning around. And if +it's any satisfaction to you, I'd like to have you know that your father +thinks you the prettiest and sweetest girl in all the country round." + +"And aren't you going to tell me that if I only behave as well as I look, +I'll do very nicely?" + +"You seem to know that already, so I hardly think it's necessary." + +"Well, I'll tell it to you, then; for you do look so beautiful in +evening clothes that I don't believe you _can_ behave as well as you +look. Nobody could." + +"I see your growing up has taught you flattery," said her father, "a +habit you must try to overcome." + +But Patty was already dancing down the long hall to Aunt Alice's room, +and a few moments later they all went down to the parlours. + +When Kenneth first saw Patty that evening, he stood looking at her with a +funny, stupefied expression on his face. + +"What's the matter?" said Patty, laughing. "Just because I'm wearing a +few extra hairpins you needn't look as if you'd lost your last friend." + +"I--I feel as if I ought to call you Miss Fairfield." + +"Well, call me that if you like, I don't mind. Call me Miss Smith or Miss +Brown, if you want to--I don't care what you call me, if you'll only ask +me to dance." + +"Come on, then," said Kenneth; and in a moment they were whirling in the +waltz, and the boy's momentary embarrassment was entirely forgotten. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +AMBITIONS + + +"There!" said Kenneth, after the dance was over, "you look more like your +old self now." + +"I haven't lost any hairpins, have I?" said Patty, putting up her hands +to her fluffy topknot. + +"No, but you've lost that absurd dressed-up look." + +"I'm getting used to my new frock. Don't you like it?" + +"Yes, of course I do. I like everything you wear, because I like you. In +fact, I think I like you better than any girl I ever saw." + +Kenneth said this in such a frank, boyish way that he seemed to be +announcing a mere casual preference for some matter-of-fact thing. + +At least it seemed so to Patty, and she answered carelessly: + +"You _think_ you do! I'd like you to be sure of it, sir." + +"I am sure of it," said Ken, and then, a little more diffidently: "Do you +like me best?" + +"Why, yes, of course I do," said Patty, smiling, "that is, after papa and +Aunt Alice and Marian and Uncle Charley and Frank and Mancy and +Pansy--and Mr. Hepworth." + +Patty might not have added the last name if she had not just then seen +that gentleman coming toward her. + +He looked at Patty with an especial kindliness in his eyes, and +said gently: + +"Miss Fairfield, may I see your card?" + +Patty flushed a little and her eyes fell. + +"Please don't talk like that," she said. "I'm not grown up, if I am +dressed up. I'm only Patty, and if you call me anything else I'll +run away." + +"Don't run away," said Mr. Hepworth, still looking at her with that grave +kindliness that seemed to have about it a touch of sadness. "I will call +you Patty as long as you will stay with me." + +Then Patty smiled again, quite her own merry little self, and gave him +her card, saying: + +"Put your name down a lot of times, please; you are a beautiful dancer, +and I like best to dance with the people I know best." + +"I wish I had a rubber stamp," said Mr. Hepworth; "it's very fatiguing to +write one's name on every line." + +"Oh, good gracious!" cried Patty, "don't take them all. I want to save a +lot for Frank and Ken--" + +"And your father," said Mr. Hepworth. + +"Papa? He doesn't dance--at least, I never saw him." + +"But he did dance that last waltz, with Miss Allen." + +"With Nan? Well, then, I rather think he can dance with his own +daughter. Don't take any more; I want all the rest for him, and please +take me to him." + +"Here he comes now. Mr. Fairfield, your daughter wishes a word with you." + +"Papa Fairfield!" exclaimed Patty, "you never told me you could dance!" + +"You never asked me; you took it for granted that I was too old to frisk +around the ballroom." + +"And aren't you?" asked Patty teasingly. + +"Try me and see," said her father, as he took her card. + +The trial proved very satisfactory, and Patty declared that she must have +inherited her own taste for dancing from her father. + +The evening passed all too swiftly. Pretty Patty, with her merry ways and +graceful manners, was a real belle, and Aunt Alice was besieged by +requests for introductions to her niece and daughter. But Marian, though +a sweet and charming girl, had a certain shyness which always kept her +from becoming an immediate favourite. Patty's absolute lack of +self-consciousness and her ready friendliness made her popular at once. + +Mr. Fairfield and Nan Allen were speaking of this, as they stood out on +the veranda and looked at Patty through the window. + +"She's the most perfect combination," Miss Allen was saying, "of the +child and the girl. She has none of the silly affectations of +young-ladyhood, and yet she has in her nature all the elements that go to +make a wise and sensible woman." + +"I think you're right," said Mr. Fairfield, as he looked fondly at his +daughter. "She is growing up just as I want her to, and developing the +traits I most want her to possess. A frank simplicity of manner, a happy, +fun-loving disposition, and a gentle, unselfish soul." + +Meantime Patty and Mr. Hepworth were sitting on the stairs. + +"Now my cup of happiness is full," remarked Patty. "I have always thought +it must be perfect bliss to sit on the stairs at a party. I don't know +why, I'm sure, but all the information I have gathered from art and +literature have led me to consider it the height of earthly joy." + +"And is it proving all your fancy painted it?" asked Mr. Hepworth, who +was sitting a step below. + +"Yes--that is, it's almost perfect." + +"And what is the lacking element?" + +"Oh, I wouldn't like to tell you," said Patty, and Mr. Hepworth was not +quite certain whether her confusion were real or simulated. + +"May I guess?" he asked. + +"Yes, if you'll promise not to guess true," said Patty. "If you did, I +should be overcome with blushing embarrassment." + +"But I am going to guess, and if I guess true I will promise to go and +bring you the element that will complete your happiness." + +"That sounds so tempting," said Patty, "that now I hope you _will_ guess +true. What is the missing joy?" + +"Kenneth Harper," said Mr. Hepworth, looking at Patty curiously. + +Without a trace of a blush Patty broke into gay laughter. + +"Oh, you are ridiculous!" she said. "I have _you_ here, why should I +want him?" + +"Then what is it you do want?" and Mr. Hepworth looked away as he evaded +her question. + +"Since you make me confess my very prosaic desires, I'll own up that I'd +like a strawberry ice." + +"Well, that's just what I'm dying for myself," said Mr. Hepworth gaily; +"and if you'll reserve this orchestra chair for me, I'll go and forage +for it. It looks almost impossible to get through that crowd, but I'll +return either with my shield or on it. Unless you'd rather I'd send +Harper back with the ice?" + +"Do just as you please," said Patty, with a sudden touch of coquetry in +her smiling eyes; "it doesn't matter a bit to me." + +But though a willing messenger, Mr. Hepworth found it impossible to +accomplish his errand with any degree of rapidity, and when he +returned, successful but tardy, he found young Harper waiting where he +had left Patty. + +"She's gone off to dance with Frank Elliott," explained the boy +cheerfully, "and she said you and I could divide the ices between us." + +"All right," said the artist; "here's your share." + +The next morning Patty, Nan, and Marian went down to the beach for a +quiet chat. + +"Let's shake everybody," said Patty, "and just go off by ourselves. I'm +tired of a lot of people." + +"You're becoming such a belle, Patty," said Nan, "that I'm afraid you'll +be bothered with a lot of people the rest of your life." + +"No, I won't," said Patty. "Lots of people are all very well when you +want them, but I'm going to cultivate a talent for getting rid of them +when you don't want them." + +"Can you cultivate a talent, if you have only a taste to start with?" +said Marian, with more seriousness than Patty's careless remark seemed +to call for. + +"If you have the least little scrap of a mustard-seed of taste, and +plenty of will-power, you can cultivate all the talents you want," +said Patty, with the air of an oracle, "Why, what do you want to do +now, Marian?" + +Marian's ambitions were a good deal of a joke in the Elliott family. At +one time she had determined to become a musician, and had spent, +unsuccessfully, many hours and much money in her endeavours, but at last +she was obliged to admit that her talents did not lie in that +direction. Later on she had tried painting, and notwithstanding +discouraging results, she had felt sure of her artistic ability for a +long time, until at last she had proved to her own satisfaction that she +was not meant to make pictures; and now, when she asked the above +question in a serious tone, Patty felt sure that some new scheme was +fermenting in her cousin's brain. + +"What's up, Marian?" she said. "Out with it, and we'll promise to help +you, if it's only by wise discouragement." + +"I think," said Marian, unmoved by her cousin's attitude, "I think I +should like to be an author." + +"Do," said Patty; "that's the best line you've struck yet, because it's +the cheapest. You see, Nan, when Marian goes in for painting and +sculpture and music, her whims cost Uncle Charley fabulous sums of money. +But this new scheme is great! The outlay for a fountain pen and a few +sheets of stamps can't be so very much, and the scheme will keep you out +of other mischief all winter." + +"It does sound attractive," said Nan. "Tell us more about it. Are you +going to write books or stories?" + +"Books," said Marian calmly. + +"Lovely!" cried Patty. "Do two at once, won't you? So you can dedicate +one to Nan and one to me at the same time; I won't share my dedication +with anybody." + +"You can laugh all you like," said Marian; "I don't mind a speck, for I'm +sure I can do it; I've been talking to Miss Fischer, she's written lots +of books, you know, and stories, too, and she says it's awfully easy if +you have a taste for it." + +"Of course it is," said Patty; "that's just what I told you. If you have +a taste--good taste, you know--and plenty of will-power and stamps, you +can write anything you want to; and I believe you'll do it. Go in and +win, Marian! You can put me in your book, if you want to." + +"Willpower isn't everything, Patty," said Nan, whose face had assumed a +curious and somewhat wistful look; "at least, it may be in literature, +but it won't do all I want it to." + +"What do you want, girlie?" said Patty. "I never knew you had an +ungratified ambition gnawing at your heart-strings." + +"Well, I have; I want to be a singer." + +"You do sing beautifully," said Marian. "I've heard you." + +"Yes, but I mean a great singer." + +"On the stage?" inquired Patty. + +"Yes, or in concerts; I don't care where, but I mean to sing wonderfully; +to sing as I feel I could sing, if I had the opportunity." + +"You mean a musical education and foreign study and all those things?" +said Patty. + +"Yes," said Nan. + +"But after all that you might fail," said Marian, remembering her own +experiences. + +"Yes, I might, and probably I should. It's only a dream, you know, but we +were talking about ambitions, and that's mine." + +"And can't you accomplish it?" + +"I don't see how I can; my parents are very much opposed to it. They hate +anything like a public career, and they think I sing quite well enough +now without further instructions." + +"I think so, too," said Patty. "I'd rather hear you sing those quaint +little songs of yours than to hear the most elaborate trills and frills +that any prima donna ever accomplished." + +"Your opinion is worth a great deal to me, Patty, as a friend, but +technically, I can't value it so highly." + +"Of course, I don't know much about music," said Patty, quite unabashed; +"but papa thinks so too. He said your voice is the sweetest voice he +ever heard." + +"Did he?" said Nan. + +"What is your ambition, Patty?" said Marian, after a moment's pause. "Nan +and I have expressed ourselves so frankly you might tell us yours." + +"My ambition?" said Patty. "Why, I never thought of it before, but I +don't believe I have any. I feel rather ashamed, for I suppose every +properly equipped young woman ought to have at least one ambition, and I +don't seem to have a shadow of one. Really great ones, I mean. Of course, +I can sing a little; not much, but it seems to be enough for me. And I +can play a little on the piano and on the banjo, and I suppose it's +shocking; but really I don't care to play any better than I do. I can't +paint, and I can't write stories, but I don't want to do either." + +"You can keep house," said Marian. + +Patty's eyes lighted up. + +"Yes," she said; "isn't it ridiculous? But I do really believe that's my +ambition. To keep house just perfectly, you know, and have everything go +not only smoothly but happily." + +"You ought to have been a _chatelaine_ of the fourteenth century," said +Nan. + +"Yes," said Patty eagerly; "that's just my ambition. What a pity it's +looking backward instead of forward. But I would love to live in a great +stone castle, all my own, with a moat and drawbridge and outriders, and +go around in a damask gown with a pointed bodice and big puffy sleeves +and a ruff and a little cap with pearls on it, and a bunch of keys +jingling at my side." + +"They usually carry the keys in a basket," observed Marian; "and you +forgot to mention the falcon on your wrist." + +"So I did," said Patty, "but I think the falcon would be a regular +nuisance while I was housekeeping, so I'd put him in the basket, and set +it up on the mantelpiece, and keep my keys jingling from my belt." + +"Well, it seems," said Nan, "that Patty has more hopes of realising her +ambition than either of us." + +"Speak for yourself," said Marian. + +"I think I have," said Patty. "I have all the keys I want, and I'm quite +sure papa would buy me a falcon if I asked him to." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +AN AFTERNOON DRIVE + + +The next Saturday Mr. Fairfield proposed that they all go for a drive +to Allaire. + +"What's Allaire?" said Patty. + +"It's a deserted village," replied her father. "The houses are empty, the +old mill is silent, the streets are overgrown; in fact, it's nothing but +a picturesque ruin of a once busy hamlet." + +"They say it's a lovely drive," said Nan. "I've always wanted to +go there." + +"The boys will be down by noon," said Mr. Elliott, "and we can get off +soon after luncheon. Do you suppose, Fred, we can get conveyances enough +for our large and flourishing family?" + +"We can try," said Mr. Fairfield. "I'll go over to the stables now and +see what I can secure." + +On his return he found that Hepworth, Kenneth, and Frank had arrived. + +"Well, Saturday's children," he said, "I'm glad to see you. I always +know it's the last day of the week when this illustrious trio bursts +upon my vision." + +"We're awfully glad to burst," said Frank; "and we hope your vision can +stand it." + +"Oh, yes," said Mr. Fairfield; "the sight of you is good for the eyes. +And now I'll tell you the plans for the afternoon." + +"What luck did you have with the carriages, papa?" asked impatient Patty. + +"That's what I'm about to tell you, my child, if you'll give me half a +chance. I secured four safe, and more or less commodious, vehicles." + +"Four!" exclaimed Marian. "We'll be a regular parade." + +"Shall we have a band?" asked Nan. + +"Of course," said Kenneth; "and a fife-and-drum corps besides." + +"You won't need that," said Patty, "for there'll be no 'Girl I Left +Behind Me.' We're all going." + +"Of course we're all going," said Mr. Fair-field; "and as we shall +have one extra seat, you can invite some girl who otherwise would be +left behind." + +"If Frank doesn't mind," said Patty, with a mischievous glance at her +cousin, "I'd like to ask Miss Kitty Nelson." + +They all laughed, for Frank's admiration for the charming Kitty was an +open secret. + +Frank blushed a little, but he held his own and said: + +"Are they all double carriages, Uncle Fred?" + +"No, my boy; there are two traps and two victorias." + +"All right, then, I'll take one of the traps and drive Miss Nelson." + +"Bravo, boy! if you don't see what you want, ask for it. Miss Allen, will +you trust yourself to me in the other trap?" + +"With great pleasure, Mr. Fairfield," replied Nan; "and please +appreciate my amiability, for I think they're most jolty and +uncomfortable things to ride in." + +"I speak for a seat in one of the victorias," said Aunt Alice; "and I +think it wise to get my claim in quickly, as the bids are being made +so rapidly." + +"I don't care how I go," said Patty, "or what I go in. I'm so amiable, a +child can play with me to-day. I'll go in a wheelbarrow, if necessary." + +"I had hoped to drive you over myself," said Mr. Hepworth, who sat next +to her, speaking in a low tone; "but I'll push you in a wheelbarrow, if +you prefer." + +"You go with me, Patty, in one of the traps, won't you?" said Kenneth, +who sat on the veranda railing at her other side. + +Patty's face took on a comical smile of amusement at these two requests, +but she answered both at once by merrily saying: + +"Then it all adjusts itself. Mr. and Mrs. Allen and Mr. and Mrs. Elliott +shall have the most comfortable carriage, and Marian and Mr. Hepworth and +Ken and I will go in the other." + +That seemed to be the, best possible arrangement, and about three +o'clock the procession started. + +Patty and Marian took the back seat of the open carriage, Mr. Hepworth +and Kenneth Harper sat facing them. + +As Marian had already become very much interested in her new fad of +authorship, and as under Miss Fischer's tuition she was rapidly +developing into a real little blue-stocking, it is not strange that the +conversation turned in that direction. + +"I looked in all the bookshops in the city for your latest works, Miss +Marian," said Mr. Hepworth, "but they must have been all sold out, for I +couldn't find any." + +"Too bad," said Marian. "I'm afraid you'll have to wait until a new +edition is printed." + +"You're not to tease Marian," said Patty reprovingly. "She's been as +patient as an angel under a perfect storm of chaff, and I'm not going to +allow any more of it." + +"I don't mind," said Marian. "I think, if one is really in earnest, one +oughtn't to be annoyed by good-natured fun." + +"Quite right," said Kenneth; "and ambition, if it's worth anything, +ought to rise above comment of any sort." + +"It ought to be strengthened by comment of any sort," said Mr. Hepworth. + +"Of any sort?" asked Marian thoughtfully. + +"Yes, for comment always implies recognition, and that in itself means +progress." + +"Have you an ambition, Mr. Hepworth?" said Patty suddenly. "But you have +already achieved yours. You are a successful artist." + +"A man may have more than one ambition," said Mr. Hepworth slowly, "and I +have _not_ achieved my dearest one." + +"I suppose you want to paint even better than you do," said Patty. + +"Yes," said the artist, smiling a little, "I hope I shall always want to +paint better than I do. What's your ambition, Harper?" + +"To build bridges," said Kenneth. "I'm going to be a civil engineer, but +my ambition is to be a bridge-builder. And I'll get there yet," he added, +with a determined nod of his head. + +"I think you will," said Mr. Hepworth, "and I'm sure I hope so." + +Then the talk turned to lighter themes than ambition, and merry laughter +and jest filled up the miles to Allaire. + +All were delighted with the place. Aside from the picturesque ruined +buildings and the eerie mysterious-looking old mill, there was a novel +interest in the strange silent air of desertion that seemed to invest the +place with an almost palpable loneliness. + +"I don't like it," said Patty. "Come on, let's go home." + +But to Marian's more romantic imagination it all seemed most attractive, +so different was her temperament from that of her sunshiny, +merry-hearted cousin. + +At last they did go home, and Patty chattered gaily all the way in +order, as she said, to drive away the musty recollections of that +forlorn old place. + +"How did you like it, Nan?" she asked, when they were all back at +the hotel. + +"I thought it beautiful," said Nan, smiling. + +That evening there was a small informal dance in the parlours. Not a +large hop, like the one given the week before, but Patty declared the +small affair was just as much fun as the other. + +"I always have all the fun I can possibly hold, anyway," she said; "and +what more can anybody have?" + +Toward the close of the evening Mr. Fairfield came up to Patty, who +was sitting, with a crowd of merry young people, in a cosey corner of +the veranda. + +"Patty," he said, "don't you want to come for a little stroll on the +board walk?" + +"Yes, of course I do," said Patty, wondering a little, but always ready +to go with her father. "Is Nan going?" + +"No, I just want you," said Mr. Fairfield. + +"All right," said Patty, "I'm glad to go." + +They joined the crowd of promenaders on the board walk, and as they +passed Patty's favourite bit of beach she said: + +"That's where we girls sit and talk about our ambitions." + +"Yes, so I've heard," said Mr. Fairfield. "And what are your +ambitions, baby?" + +"Oh, mine aren't half so grand and gorgeous as the other girls'. They +want to do great things, like singing in grand opera and writing immortal +books and things like that." + +"And your modest ambition is to be a good housekeeper, isn't it?" + +"Well, yes, papa; but not only that. I was thinking about it afterward by +myself, and I think that the housekeeping is the practical part of +it--and that's a good big part too--but what I really want to be is a +lovely, good, _womanly_ woman, like Aunt Alice, you know. I don't believe +she ever wanted to write books or paint pictures." + +"No she never did," said Mr. Fairfield, "and I quite agree with you that +her ambitions are just as high and noble as those others you mentioned." + +"Well, I'm glad you think so, papa, for I was afraid I might seem to you +very small and petty to have all my ambitions bounded by the four walls +of my own home." + +"No, Patty, girl, I think those are far better than unbounded ambitions, +far more easily realised, and will bring you greater and better +happiness. But don't you see, my child, that the very fact of your having +a talent--which you certainly have--for housekeeping and home-making, +implies that some day, in the far future, I hope, you will go away from +me and make a home of your own?" + +"Very likely I shall, papa; but that's so far in the future that it's not +worth while bothering about it now." + +"But I'm going to bother about it now to a certain extent. Do you +realise that when this does come to pass, be it ever so far hence, that +you're going to leave your poor old father all alone, and that, too, +after I have so carefully brought you up for the express purpose of +making a home for me?" + +"Well, what are you going to do about it?" said Patty, who was by no +means taking her father's remarks seriously. + +"Do? Why, I'm going to do just this. I'm going to get somebody else to +keep my house for me, and I'm going to get her now, so that I'll have +her ready against the time you leave me." + +Patty turned, and by the light of an electric lamp which they were +passing, saw the smile on her father's face, and with a sudden intuition +she exclaimed: + +"Nan!" + +"Yes," replied her father, "Nan. How do you like it?" + +"Like it?" exclaimed Patty. "I _love_ it! I think it's perfectly +gorgeous! I'm just as delighted as I can be! How does Nan like it?" + +"She seems delighted too," said Mr. Fairfield, smiling. + + +THE END + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Patty at Home, by Carolyn Wells + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PATTY AT HOME *** + +***** This file should be named 10268.txt or 10268.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/6/10268/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan, and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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