CHAPTER XVIA QUILTING PARTY
Miss Aurora Bender’s quilting party was to begin at three o’clock in the afternoon, and the girls started early in order to see all the fun. They were to stay to supper, and the young men were to come over and escort them home in the evening.
When they reached Miss Bender’s, they found that many and wonderful preparations had been made.
Miss Aurora had two house servants, Emmeline and Nancy, but on this occasion she had called in two more to help. And indeed there was plenty to be done, for a quilting bee was to Miss Bender’s mind a function of great importance.
The last of a large family, Miss Bender was a woman of great wealth but of plain and old-fashioned tastes. Though amply able to gratify any extravagant wish, she preferred to live as her parents had lived before her, and she had in no sense kept pace with the progress of the age.
When the three girls reached the old country house, they were met at the front door by the elderly Nancy. She courtesied with old-time grace, and invited them to step into the bedroom, and lay off their things.
This bedroom, which was on the ground floor, was a large apartment, containing a marvellously carved four-post bedstead, hung with old-fashioned chintz curtains and draperies.
The room also contained two massive bureaus, a dressing-table and various chairs of carved mahogany, and in the open fireplace was an enormous bunch of feathery asparagus, flecked with red berries.
“Oh,” cried Patty in delight, “if Nan could see this room she’d go perfectly crazy. Isn’t this house great? Why, it’s quite as full of beautiful old things as Washington’s house at Mt. Vernon.”
“I haven’t seen that,” said Bertha, “but it doesn’t seem as if anything could be more complete or perfect in its way than this house is. Come on, girls, are you ready?”
The girls went to the parlour, and there found the quilt all prepared for working on. Patty had never before seen a quilt stretched on a quilting-frame, and was extremely interested.
It was a very large quilt, and its innumerable small triangles, which made up the goose-chase pattern, were found to present a methodical harmony of colouring, which had not been observable before the strips were put together.
The large pieced portion was uppermost, and beneath it was the lining, with layers of cotton in between. Each edge was pinned at intervals to a long strip of material which was wound round and round the frame. The four corners of the frame were held up by being tied to the backs of four chairs, and on each of the four sides of the quilt were three more chairs for the expected guests to occupy.
Almost on the stroke of three the visitors arrived, and though some of them were of a more modern type than Miss Bender, yet three or four were quite as old-fashioned and quaint-mannered as their hostess.
“They are native up here,” Bertha explained to Patty. “There are only a few of the old New England settlers left. Most of the population here is composed of city people who have large country places. You won’t often get an opportunity to see a gathering like this.”
Patty realised the truth of this, and was both surprised and pleased to find that these countryladies showed no trace of embarrassment or self-consciousness before the city girls.
It seemed not to occur to them that there was any difference in their effects, and indeed Patty was greatly amused because one of the old ladies seemed to take it for granted that Patty was a country girl, and brought up according to old-time customs.
This old lady, whose name was Mrs. Quimby, sat next to Patty at the quilt, and after she had peered through her glasses at the somewhat uneven stitches which poor Patty was trying her best to do as well as possible, she remarked:
“You ain’t got much knack, have you? You’ll have to practise quite a spell longer before you can quilt your own house goods. How old be you?”
“Seventeen,” said Patty, feeling that her work did not look very well, considering her age.
“Seventeen!” exclaimed Mrs. Quimby. “Laws’ sake, I was married when I was sixteen, and I quilted as good then as I do now. I’m over eighty now, and I’d ruther quilt than do anything, ’most. You don’t look to be seventeen.”
“And you don’t look to be eighty, either,”said Patty, smiling, glad to be able to turn the subject by complimenting the old lady.
The quilting lasted all the afternoon. Patty grew very tired of the unaccustomed work, and was glad when Miss Bender noticed it, and told her to run out into the garden with Bertha. Bertha was not allowed to touch the quilt with her incompetent fingers, but Elise sewed away, thoroughly enjoying it all, and with no desire to avail herself of Miss Bender’s permission to stop and rest. Patty and Bertha wandered through the old-fashioned garden, in great delight. The paths were bordered with tiny box hedges, which, though many years old, were kept clean and free from deadwood or blemish of any sort, and were perfectly trimmed in shape.
The garden included quaint old flowers such as marigolds, sweet Williams, bleeding hearts, bachelors’ buttons, Jacob’s ladder and many others of which Patty did not even know the names. Tall hollyhocks, both single and double, grew against the wall, and a hop vine hung in green profusion.
Every flower bed was of exact shape, and looked as if not a leaf or a stem would dare to grow otherwise than straight and true.
“What a lovely old garden,” said Patty, sniffing at a sprig of lemon verbena which she had picked.
“Yes, it’s wonderful,” said Bertha. “I mean to ask Miss Bender if I mayn’t bring my camera over, and get a picture of it, and if they’re good, I’ll give you one.”
“Do,” said Patty, “and take some pictures inside the house too. I’d like to show them to Nan.”
“Tell me about Nan,” said Bertha. “She’s your stepmother, isn’t she?”
“Yes,” said Patty, “but she’s only six years older than I am, so that the stepmother part of it seems ridiculous. We’re more like sisters, and she’s perfectly crazy over old china and old furniture. She’d love Miss Bender’s things.”
“Perhaps she’ll come up while you’re here,” said Bertha. “I’ll ask mother to write for her.”
“Thank you,” said Patty, “but I’m afraid she won’t. My father can’t leave for his vacation until July, and then we’re all going away together, but I don’t know where.”
Just then Elise came flying out to them, with the announcement that supper was ready, and they were to come right in, quick.
The table was spread in the large room which Patty had thought was the kitchen.
It probably had been built for that purpose, but other kitchens had been added beyond it, and for the last half century it had been used as a dining-room.
The table was drawn out to its full length, which made it very long indeed, and it was filled with what seemed to Patty viands enough to feed an army. At one end was a young pig roasted whole, with a lemon in his mouth, and a design in cloves stuck into his fat little side. At the other end was a baked ham whose crisp golden-brown crust could only be attained by the old cook who had been in the Bender family for many years.
Up and down the length of the table on either side was a succession of various cold meats, alternating with pickles, jellies and savories of various sorts.
After the guests were seated, Nancy brought in platters of smoking-hot biscuits from the kitchen, and Miss Aurora herself made the tea.
The furnishings of the table were of old blue and white china of great age and priceless value. The old family silver too was a marvel in itself, and the tea service which Miss Bendermanipulated with some pride was over a hundred years old.
Patty was greatly impressed at this unusual scene, but when the plates were removed after the first course, and the busy maid-servants prepared to serve the dessert, she was highly entertained.
For the next course, though consisting only of preserves and cake, was served in an unusual manner. The preserves included every variety known to housewives and a few more. In addition to this, Miss Aurora announced in a voice which was calm with repressed satisfaction, that she had fourteen kinds of cake to put at the disposal of her guests. None of these sorts could be mixed with any other sort, and the result was fourteen separate baskets and platters of cake.
The table became crowded before they had all been brought in from the kitchen, and quite as a matter of course, the serving maids placed the later supplies on chairs, which they stood behind the guests, and the ladies amiably turned round in their seats, inspected the cake, partook of it if they desired, and gracefully pushed the chair along to the next neighbour.
This seemed to the city girls a most amusingperformance, but Patty immediately adapted herself to what was apparently the custom of the house, and gravely looked at the cake each time, selected such as pleased her fancy and pushed the chair along.
Noticing Patty’s gravity as she accomplished this performance, Elise very nearly lost her own, but Patty nudged her under the table, and she managed to behave with propriety.
The conversation at the table was without a trace of hilarity, and included only the most dignified subjects. The ladies ate mincingly, with their little fingers sticking out straight, or curved in what they considered a most elegant fashion.
Miss Aurora was in her element. She was truly proud of her home and its appointments, and she dearly loved to entertain company at tea. To her mind, and indeed to the minds of most of those present, the success of a tea depended entirely upon the number of kinds of cake that were served, and Miss Bender felt that with fourteen she had broken any hitherto known record.
It was an unwritten law that each kind of cake must be really a separate recipe. To take a portion of ordinary cup-cake batter, and stirin some chopped nuts, and another portion and mix in some raisins, by no means met the requirements of the case. This Patty learned from remarks made by the visitors, and also from Miss Aurora’s own delicately veiled intimations that each of her fourteen kinds was a totally different and distinct recipe.
Patty couldn’t help wondering what would become of all this cake, for after all, the guests could eat but a small portion of it.
And it occurred to her also that the ways of the people in previous generations, as exemplified in Miss Bender’s customs, seemed to show quite as great a lack of a sense of proportion as many of our so-called modern absurdities.
After supper the guests immediately departed for their homes. Carriages arrived for the different ones, and they went away, after volubly expressing to their hostess their thanks for her delightful entertainment.
The girls expected Winthrop and Roger to come for them in the motor-car, but they had not told them to come quite so early as now seemed necessary. In some embarrassment, they told Miss Bender that they would have to trespass on her hospitality for perhaps an hour longer.
“My land o’ goodness!” she exclaimed, looking at them in dismay, “why I’ve got to set this house to rights, and I can’t wait an hour to begin!”
“Don’t mind us, Miss Bender,” said Bertha. “Just shut us up in some room by ourselves, and we’ll stay there, and not bother you a bit; unless perhaps we can help you?”
“Help me! No, indeed. There can’t anybody help me when I’m clearin’ up after a quiltin’, unless it’s somebody that knows my ways. But I’d like to amuse you children, somehow. I’ll tell you what, you can go up in the front bedroom, if you like, and there’s a chest of old-fashioned clothes there. Can’t you play at dressin’ up?”
“Yes, indeed,” cried Bertha. “Just the thing! Give us some candles.”
Provided with two candles apiece, the girls followed Miss Aurora to a large bedroom on the second floor, which also boasted its carved four-poster and chintz draperies.
“There,” said Miss Aurora, throwing open a great chest, “you ought to get some fun out of trying on those fol-de-rols, and peacocking around; but don’t come downstairs to show off to me, for you’ll only bother me out of my wits.I’ll let you know when your folks come for you.”
Miss Bender trotted away, and the girls, quite ready for a lark, tossed over the quaint old gowns.
Beautiful costumes were there, of the period of about a hundred years ago. Lustrous silks and dainty dimities; embroidered muslins and heavy velvets; Patty had never seen such a sight. After looking them over, the girls picked out the ones they preferred, and taking off their own frocks proceeded to try them on.
Bertha had chosen a blue and white silk of a bayadere stripe, with lace ruffles at the neck and wrists and a skirt of voluminous fulness. Elise wore a white Empire gown that made her look exactly like the Empress Josephine, while Patty arrayed herself in a flowered silk of Dresden effect with a pointed bodice, square neck, and elbow sleeves with lace frills.
In great glee, the girls pranced around, regretting there was no one to whom they might exhibit their masquerade costumes. But Miss Bender had been so positive in her orders that they dared not go downstairs.
Suddenly they heard the toot of an automobile.
“Patty arrayed herself in a flowered silk of Dresden effect”
“Patty arrayed herself in a flowered silk of Dresden effect”
“That’s our car,” cried Bertha. “I know the horn. Let’s go down just as we are, for the benefit of Winthrop and Roger.”
In answer to Miss Bender’s call from below, the girls trooped downstairs, and merrily presented themselves for inspection.
Mr. Phelps had come with the others, and if the young men were pleased at the picture the three girls presented, Miss Aurora herself was no less so.
“My,” she said, “you do look fine, I declare! Now, I’ll tell you what I’ll do; I’ll make each of you young ladies a present of the gown you have on, if you care to keep it. I’ll never miss them, for I have trunks and chests full, besides those you saw, and I’m right down glad to give them to you. You can wear them sometimes at your fancy dress parties.”
The girls were overjoyed at Miss Bender’s gift, and Bertha declared they would wear them home, and she would send over for their other dresses the next day.
So, donning their wraps, the merry modern maids in their antique garb made their adieus to Miss Aurora, and were soon in the big motor-car speeding for home.
CHAPTER XVIIA SUMMER CHRISTMAS
Although they had intended to stay but a fortnight, Patty and Elise remained with the Warners all through the month of June, and even then Bertha begged them to stay longer.
But the day for their departure was set in the first week of July, and Bertha declared that they must have a big party of some kind as their last entertainment for the girls.
So Mrs. Warner invited a number of young people for a house party during the last few days of Patty’s stay.
“I wish,” said Bertha, a few days before the Fourth, “that we could have some kind of a party on the Fourth of July that would be different from just an ordinary party.”
“Have an automobile party,” suggested Roger, who was present.
“I don’t mean that kind,” said Bertha, “I mean a party in the house, but something thatwould be fun. There isn’t anything to do on Fourth of July except have fireworks, and that isn’t much fun.”
“I’ll tell you what,” said Mr. Phelps, who was at Pine Branches on one of his flying visits, “have a Christmas party.”
“A Christmas party on Fourth of July!” exclaimed Bertha, “that’s just the thing! Mr. Phelps, you’re a real genius. That’s just what we’ll do, and we’ll have a Christmas tree, and give each other gifts and everything.”
“Great!” said Roger, “and we’ll have a Yule log blazing, and we’ll all wear our fur coats.”
“No, not that,” said Bertha, laughing, “we’d melt. But we’ll have all the Christmas effects that we can think of, and each one must help.”
The crowd of merry young people who were gathered at Pine Branches eagerly fell in with Bertha’s plan, and each began to make preparations for the festival.
The girls made gifts which they carefully kept secret from the ones for whom they were intended, and many trips were made to the village for materials.
The boys also had many mysterious errands,and Mr. and Mrs. Warner, who entered heartily into the spirit of the fun, were frequently consulted under strict bonds of confidence.
Fourth of July came and proved to be a warm, though not a sultry summer day.
Invitations had been sent out, and a large party of young people were expected in the evening; and during the day those who were staying at Pine Branches found plenty to do by way of preparation.
A large Christmas tree had been cut down, and was brought into the library. As soon as it was set up, the work of decoration began, and it was hung with strings of popcorn, and tinsel filigree which Mrs. Warner had saved from previous Christmas trees. Dozens of candles too, were put on the branches, to be lighted at night.
The boys brought in great boughs of evergreen, and cut them up, while the girls made ropes and wreaths and stars, with which to adorn the room.
Mr. Phelps had sent to New York for a large boxful of artificial holly, and this added greatly to the Christmas effect.
Patty was in her element helping with these arrangements, for she dearly loved to make believe,and the idea of a Christmas party in midsummer appealed very strongly to her sense of humour.
Her energy and enthusiasm were untiring, and her original ideas called forth the hearty applause of the others. She was consulted about everything, and her decisions were always accepted.
Mr. Phelps too, proved a clever and willing worker. He was an athletic young man, and he seemed to be capable of doing half a dozen different things at once. He cut greens, and hung wreaths, and ran up and down stepladders, and even managed to fasten a large gilt star to the very top branch of the Christmas tree.
After the decorations were all completed, everybody brought their gifts neatly tied up and labelled, and either hung them on the tree or piled them up around the platform on which it stood.
“Well, you children have done wonders,” said Mrs. Warner, looking in at the library door. “You have transformed this room until I hardly can recognise it, and it looks for all the world exactly like Christmas. It is hard to believe that it is really Fourth of July.”
“It seems too bad not to have any of theFourth of July spirit mixed in with it,” said Winthrop, “but I suppose it would spoil the harmony. But we really ought to use a little gunpowder in honour of the day. Come on, Patty, your work is about finished, let’s go out and put off a few firecrackers.”
“All right,” said Patty, “just wait till I tack up this ‘Merry Christmas’ motto, and I’ll be ready.”
“I’ll do that,” said Roger, “you infants run along and show off your patriotism, and I’ll join you in a few minutes.”
“You must be tired,” said Winthrop to Patty, as they sauntered out on the lawn. “You worked awfully hard with those evergreen things. Let’s go out on the lake and take our firecrackers with us; that will rest you, and it will be fun besides.”
The lake, so called by courtesy, was really an artificial pond, and though not large, it provided a great deal of amusement.
There were several boats, and selecting a small cedar one, Winthrop assisted Patty in, sprang in himself, and pushed off.
“If it’s Christmas, we ought to be going skating on the lake, instead of rowing,” said Patty.
“It isn’t Christmas now,” said Winthrop, “You get your holidays mixed up. We’ve come out here to celebrate Independence Day. See what I’ve brought.”
From his pockets the young man produced several packs of firecrackers.
“What fun!” cried Patty, “I feel as if I were a child again. Let me set some off. Have you any punk?”
“Yes,” said Winthrop, gravely producing some short sticks of punk from another pocket; and lighting one, he gave it to Patty.
“But how can I set them off?” said Patty, “I’m afraid to have them in the boat, and we can’t throw them out on the water.”
“We’ll manage this way,” said Winthrop, and drawing one of the oars into the boat, he laid a lighted firecracker on the blade and pushed it out again. The firecracker went off with a bang, and in great glee Patty pulled in the other oar and tried the same plan.
Then they set off a whole pack at once, and as the length of the oar was not quite sufficient for safety Winthrop let it slip from the row-lock and float away on the water. As he had previously tied a string to the handle so that he could pull the oar back at will, this was a greatgame, and the floating oar with its freight of snapping firecrackers provided much amusement. The noise of the explosions brought the others running to the scene, and three or four more boats were soon out on the lake. Firecrackers went snapping in every direction, and torpedoes were thrown from one boat to another until the ammunition was exhausted.
Then the merry crowd trooped back to the house for luncheon.
“I never had such a lovely Fourth of July,” said Patty to her kind hostess. “Everything is different from anything I ever did before. This house is just like Fairyland. You never know what is going to happen next.”
After luncheon the party broke up in various small groups. Some of the more energetic ones played golf or tennis, but Patty declared it was too warm for any unnecessary exertion.
“Come for a little walk with me,” said Roger, “we’ll walk down in the grove; it’s cool and shady there, and we can play mumblety-peg if you like.”
“I’ll go to the grove,” said Patty, “but I don’t want to play anything. This is a day just to be idle and enjoy living, without doing anything else.”
They strolled down toward the grove, and were joined on the way by Bertha and Mr. Phelps, who were just returning from a call on Abiram.
“I think Abiram ought to come to the Christmas party to-night,” said Bertha, “I know he’d enjoy seeing the tree lighted up.”
“He shall come,” said Dick Phelps, “I’ll bring him myself.”
“Do,” said Patty, “and we’ll tie a red ribbon round his neck with a sprig of holly, and I’ll see to it that there’s a present on the tree for him.”
The quartet walked on to the grove, and sat down on the ground under the pine trees.
“I feel very patriotic,” said Patty, who was decorated with several small flags which she had stuck in her hair, and in her belt, “and I think we ought to sing some national anthems.”
So they sang “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and other patriotic airs, until they were interrupted by Winthrop and Elise who came toward them singing a Christmas carol.
“I asked you to come here,” said Roger aside, to Patty, “because I wanted to see you alone for a minute, and now all these otherpeople have come and spoiled my plan. Come on over to the orchard, will you?”
“Of course I will,” said Patty jumping up, “what is the secret you have to tell me? Some plan for to-night?”
“No,” said Roger, hesitating a little, “that is, yes,—not exactly.”
They had walked away from the others, and Roger took from his pocket a tiny box which he offered to Patty.
“I wanted to give you a little Christmas present,” he said, “as a sort of memento of this jolly day; and I thought maybe you’d wear it to-night.”
“How lovely!” cried Patty, as she opened the box and saw a little pin shaped like a spray of holly. “It’s perfectly sweet. Thank you ever so much, Roger, but why didn’t you put it on the tree for me?”
“Oh, they are only having foolish presents on the tree, jokes, you know, and all that.”
“Oh, is this a real present then? I don’t know as I ought to accept it. I’ve never had a present from a young man before.”
Roger looked a little embarrassed, but Patty’s gay delight was entirely free from any trace of self-consciousness.
“Anyway, I am going to keep it,” she said, “because it’s so pretty, and I like to think that you gave it to me.”
Roger looked greatly gratified and seemed to take the matter with more seriousness than Patty did. She pinned the pretty little trinket on her collar and thought no more about it.
Dinner was early that night, for there was much to be done in the way of final preparations before the guests came to the Christmas party.
The Christmas pretence was intended as a surprise to those not staying in the house, and after all had arrived, the doors of the library were thrown open with shouts of “Merry Christmas!”
And indeed it did seem like a sudden transition back into the winter. The Christmas tree with its gay decorations and lighted candles was a beautiful sight, and the green-trimmed room with its spicy odours of spruce and pine intensified the illusion.
Shouts of delight went up on all sides, and falling quickly into the spirit of it all, the guests at once began to pretend it was really Christmas, and greeted each other with appropriate good wishes.
Mischievous Patty had slyly tied a sprig ofmistletoe to the chandelier, and Dick Phelps by a clever manœuvre had succeeded in getting Mrs. Warner to stand under it. The good lady was quite unaware of their plans, and when Mr. Phelps kissed her soundly on her plump cheek she was decidedly surprised.
But the explanation amply justified his audacity, and Mrs. Warner laughingly declared that she would resign her place to some of the younger ladies.
The greatest fun came when Winthrop distributed the presents from the tree. None of them was expensive or valuable, but most of them were clever, merry little jokes which good-naturedly teased the recipients.
True to his word Mr. Phelps brought Abiram in, leading him by his long chain. Patty had tied a red ribbon round his neck with a huge bow, and had further dressed him up in a paper cap which she had taken from a German cracker motto.
Abiram received a stick of candy as his gift, and was as much pleased, apparently, as the rest of the party.
Many of the presents were accompanied by little verses or lines of doggerel, and the reading of these caused much merriment and laughter.
After the presentations, supper was served, and here Mrs. Warner had provided her part of the surprise.
Not even those staying in the house knew of their hostess’ plans, and when they all trooped out to the dining-room, a real Christmas feast awaited them.
The long table was decorated with red ribbons and holly, and red candles with red paper shades. Christmas bells hung above the table, and at each plate were appropriate souvenirs. In the centre of the table was a tiny Christmas tree with lighted candles, a miniature copy of the one they had just left.
Even the viands partook of the Christmas character, and from roast turkey to plum pudding no detail was spared to make it a true Christmas feast.
The young people did full justice to Mrs. Warner’s hospitality, and warmly appreciated the kind thoughtfulness which had made the supper so attractive in every way.
Then they adjourned to the parlour for informal dancing, and wound up the party with an old-fashioned Virginia reel, which was led by Mr. and Mrs. Warner.
Mr. Warner was a most genial host and hismerry quips and repartee kept the young people laughing gaily.
When at last the guests departed, it was with assurances that they had never had such a delightful Christmas party, even in midwinter, and had never had such a delightful Fourth of July party, even in midsummer.
CHAPTER XVIIIAT SANDY COVE
When the day came for Patty and Elise to leave Pine Branches, everyone concerned was truly sorry. Elise had long been a favourite with the Warners, and they had grown to love Patty quite as well.
Roger was still there, and Mr. and Mrs. Farrington came for the young people in their motor-car. They were returning from a most interesting trip, which had extended as far as Portland. After hearing some accounts of it, Patty felt sure that she would have enjoyed it; but then she had also greatly enjoyed her visit at Pine Branches, and she felt sure that it had been better for her physically than the exertion and excitement of the motor-trip.
Besides this, the Farringtons assured her that there would be many other opportunities for her to go touring with them, and they would always be glad to have her.
So one bright morning, soon after the Fourth of July, The Fact started off again with itsoriginal party. They made the trip to New York entirely without accident or mishap of any kind, which greatly pleased Roger, as it demonstrated that The Fact was not always a stubborn thing.
Patty was to spend the months of July and August with her father and Nan, who had rented a house on Long Island. The house was near the Barlows’ summer home at Sandy Cove, for Nan had thought it would be pleasant to be near her friends, who were also Patty’s relatives.
Mr. and Mrs. Fairfield had already gone to Long Island, and the Farringtons were to take Patty over there in the motor-car.
So, after staying a day or two with Elise in New York, Patty again took her place in the car for the journey to her new home. Mr. Farrington and Elise went with her, and after seeing her safely in her father’s care, returned to the city that same day.
Patty was glad to see her father and Nan again, and was delighted with the beautiful house which they had taken for the summer.
“How large it is!” she exclaimed, as she looked about her. “We three people will be lost in it!”
“We’re going to have a lot of company,”said Nan, “I’ve invited nearly everyone I know, and I shall expect you to help me entertain them.”
“Gladly,” said Patty; “there are no horrid lessons in the way now, and you may command my full time and attention.”
The day after Patty’s return to her family, she proposed that they go over to see the Barlows.
“It’s an awful hot afternoon,” said Nan, “but I suppose we can’t be any warmer there than here.”
So arraying themselves in fresh, cool white dresses, Nan and Patty started to make their call.
The Barlows’ summer place was called the Hurly-Burly, and as Nan and Patty both knew, the name described the house extremely well.
As Bob Barlow sometimes said, the motto of their home seemed to be, “No place for nothin’, and nothin’ in its place.”
But as the family had lived up to this principle for many years, it was not probable things would ever be any different with them, and it did not prevent their being a delightful family, while their vagaries often proved extremely entertaining.
But when Nan and Patty neared the house they saw no sign of anybody about.
The doors and windows were all open and the visitors walked in, looked in the various rooms, and even went upstairs, but found nobody anywhere.
“I’ll look in the kitchen,” said Patty; “surely old Hopalong, the cook, will be there. They can’t all be away, and the house all open like this.”
But the kitchen too, was deserted, and Nan said, “Well, let us sit on the front verandah a while; it must be that somebody will come home soon, and anyway I’m too warm and tired to walk right back in the broiling sun.”
So they sat on the verandah for half an hour, and then Patty said, “Let’s give one more look inside the house, and if we can’t find anybody let’s go home.”
“All right,” said Nan, and in they went, through the vacant rooms, and again to the kitchen.
“Why, there’s Hopalong,” said Patty, as she saw the old coloured woman busy about her work, though indeed Hopalong’s slow movements could not be accurately described by the word busy.
“Hello, Hopalong,” said Patty, “where are all the people?”
“Bless yo’ heart Miss Patty, chile, how yo’done skeered me! And howdy, Miss Nan,—’scuse me, I should say Missus Fairfield. De ladies is at home, and I ’spects dey’ll be mighty glad to see you folks.”
“Where are they, then?” said Nan, looking puzzled, “we can’t find them.”
“Well yo’ see it’s a mighty hot day, and dem Barlows is mighty fond of bein’ as comf’able as possible. I’m makin’ dis yere lemonade for ’em, kase dey likes a coolin’ drink. I’ll jest squeeze in another lemon or two, and there’ll be plenty for you, too.”
“But where are they, Hopalong?” asked Patty, “are they outdoors, down by the brook?”
“Laws no, Miss Patty, I done forgot to tell yo’ whar dey am, but dey’s down in de cellah.”
“In the cellar!” said Patty, “what for?”
“So’s dey kin be cool, chile. Jes’ you trot along down, and see for yourselfs.”
Hopalong threw open the door that led from the kitchen to the cellar stairs, and holding up their dainty white skirts, Patty and Nan started down the rather dark staircase.
“Look at those white shoes coming downstairs,” they heard Bumble’s voice cry; “I do believe it’s Nan and Patty!”
“It certainly is,” said Patty, and as she reached the last step, she looked around in astonishment, and then burst into laughter.
“Well, you do beat all!” she said, “We’ve been sitting on the front verandah half an hour, wondering where you could be.”
“Isn’t it nice?” said Mrs. Barlow, after she had greeted her guests.
“It is indeed,” said Patty, “it’s the greatest scheme I ever heard of.”
The cellar, which had been recently white-washed, had been converted into a funny sort of a sitting-room. On the floor was spread a large white floor-cloth, whose original use had been for a dancing crash.
The chairs and sofas were all of wicker, and though in various stages of dilapidation, were cool and comfortable. A table in the center was covered with a white cloth, and the sofa pillows were in white ruffled cases.
Bumble explained that the intent was to have everything white, but they hadn’t been able to carry out that idea fully, as they had so few white things.
“The cat is all right,” said Patty, looking at a large white cat that lay curled up on a white fur rug.
“Yes, isn’t she a beautiful cat? Her name is The Countess, and when she’s awake, she’s exceedingly aristocratic and dignified looking, but she’s almost never awake. Oh, here comes Hopalong, with our lemonade.”
The old negro lumbered down the steps, and Bumble took the tray from her, and setting it on the table, served the guests to iced lemonade and tiny thin cakes of Hopalong’s concoction.
“Now isn’t this nice?” said Mrs. Barlow, as they sat chatting and feasting; “you see how cool and comfortable it is, although it’s so warm out of doors. I dare say I shall get rheumatism, as it seems a little damp here, but when I feel it coming on, I’m going to move my chair over onto that fur rug, and then I think there will be no danger.”
“It is delightfully cool,” said Patty, “and I think it a most ingenious idea. If we had only known sooner that you were here, though, we could have had a much longer visit.”
“It’s so fortunate,” said Bumble, whom Patty couldn’t remember to call Helen, “that you chanced to be dressed in white. You fitright in to the colour scheme. Mother and I meant to wear white down here, but all our white frocks have gone to the laundry. But if you’ll come over again after a day or two, we’ll have this place all fixed up fine. You see we only thought of it this morning. It was so unbearably hot, we really had to do something.”
Soon Uncle Ted and Bob came in, and after a while Mr. Fairfield arrived.
The merry party still stayed in the cellar room, and one and all pronounced it a most clever idea for a hot day.
The Barlows were delighted that the Fairfields were to be near them for the summer, and many good times were planned for.
Patty was very fond of her Barlow cousins, but after returning to her own home, which Nan with the special pride of a young housekeeper, kept in the daintiest possible order, Patty declared that she was glad her father had chosen a wife who had the proper ideas of managing a house.
Nan and Patty were congenial in their tastes and though Patty had had some experience in housekeeping, she was quite willing to accept any innovations that Nan might suggest.
“Indeed,” she said, “I am only too glad notto have any of the care and responsibility of keeping house, and I propose to enjoy an idle summer after my hard year in school.”
So the days passed rapidly and happily. There were many guests at the house, and as the Fairfields were rather well acquainted with the summer people at Sandy Cove, they received many invitations to entertainments of various kinds.
The Farringtons often came down in their motor-car and made a flying visit, or took the Fairfields for a ride, and Patty hoped that the Warners would visit them before the summer was over.
One day Mr. Phelps appeared unexpectedly, and from nowhere in particular. He came in his big racing-car, and that day Patty chanced to be the only one of the family at home. He invited her to go for a short ride with him, saying they could easily be back by dinner time, when the others were expected home.
Glad of the opportunity, Patty ran for her automobile coat and hood, and soon they were flying along the country roads.
Part of the time they went at a mad rate of speed, and part of the time they went slower, that they might converse more easily.
As they went somewhat slowly past a piece of woods, Patty gave a sudden exclamation, and declared that she saw what looked like a baby or a young child wrapped in a blanket and lying on the ground.
Her face expressed such horror-stricken anxiety, as she thought that possibly the child had been abandoned and left there purposely, that Mr. Phelps consented to go back and investigate the matter, although he really thought she was mistaken in thinking it was a child at all.
He turned his machine, and in a moment they were back at the place.
Mr. Phelps jumped from the car, and ran into the wood where Patty pointed.
Sure enough, under a tree lay a baby, perhaps a year old, fairly well dressed and with a pretty smiling face.
He called to Patty and she joined him where he stood looking at the child.
“Why, bless your heart!” cried Patty, picking the little one up, “what are you doing here all alone?”
The baby cooed and smiled, dimpling its little face and caressing Patty’s cheeks with its fat little hands. A heavy blanket had been spread on the ground for the child to lie on,and around its little form was pinned a lighter blanket with the name Rosabel embroidered on one corner.
“So that’s your name, is it?” said Patty. “Well, Rosabel, I’d like to know where you belong and what you’re doing here. Do you suppose,” she said, turning an indignant face to Mr. Phelps, “that anybody deliberately put this child here and deserted it?”
“I’m afraid that’s what has happened,” said Mr. Phelps, who really couldn’t think of any other explanation.
They looked all around, but nobody was in sight to whom the child might possibly belong.
“I can’t go away and leave her here,” said Patty, “the dear little thing, what shall we do with her?”
“It is a mighty hard case,” said Mr. Phelps, who was nonplussed himself. He was a most gentle-hearted man, and could not bear the thought of leaving the child there alone in the woods, and it was already nearing sundown.
“We might take it along with us,” he said, “and enquire at the nearest house.”
“There’s no house in sight,” said Patty, looking about. “Well, there are only two things to choose from; to stay here in hope that somebodywill come along, who knows something about this baby, or else assume that she really has been deserted and take her home with us, for the night at least. I simply won’t go off and leave her here, and if there was anybody here in charge of her they must have shown up by this time.”
Mr. Phelps could see no use in waiting there any longer, and though it seemed absurd to carry the child off with them, there really seemed nothing else to do.
So with a last look around, hoping to see somebody, but seeing no one, Patty climbed into the car and sitting in the front seat beside Mr. Phelps, held the baby in her lap.
“She’s awfully cunning,” she declared, “and such a pretty baby! Whoever abandoned this child ought to be fearfully punished in some way.”
“I can’t think she was abandoned,” said Mr. Phelps, but as he couldn’t think of any other reason for the baby being there alone, he was forced to accept the desertion theory.
Having decided to take the baby with them, they sped along home, and drew up in front of the house to find Nan and Mr. Fairfield on the verandah.
“Why, how do you do, Mr. Phelps?” cried Nan. “We’re very glad to see you. Come in. For gracious goodness’ sake, Patty, what have you got there?”
“This is Rosabel,” said Patty, gravely, as she held the baby up to view.