somewhat enlightened by Nan as to
how matters stood, chatted gaily of other things, and Patty forgot her
troublesome work, and was quite her own gay, saucy self again.

Kenneth dropped in in the evening, to bring a song which he had promised
Patty. They tried it over together, and then Patty said:

"Would you mind, Ken, if I ask you not to stay any longer, to-night? I've
something I want to do, and----"

"Mind? Of course not. I rather fancy we're good enough friends not to
misunderstand each other. If you'll let me come and make up my time some
other night, I'll skip out now, so quick you can't see me fly!"

"All right," said Patty, smiling at his hearty, chummy manner. "I do wish
you would. I'm not often busy, as you know."

"'Course I know it. Good-night, lady, I'm going to leave you now," and
with a hearty handshake and a merry smile, Kenneth went away, and Patty
went to her own room.

"I can work on that bow-knot part, to-night," she said to herself; "and
then to-morrow, I'll get up early and do the rest of the flowers before
breakfast."

Her task had begun to look hopeless, but she was not yet ready to admit
it, and she assured herself that, of course, the others would go much
more rapidly than the first.

She took down her hair and braided it into a long pigtail; then she put
on a comfortable kimono and sat down to work.

She stitched, and she stitched, and she stitched, at the monotonous over
and over bow-knots. Doggedly she kept on, though her shoulders ached, her
eyes smarted, and her fingers trembled.

With a kind of whimsical pathos, she repeated to herself Hood's "Song of
the Shirt," and said, under her breath, "'Stitch, stitch, stitch, till
the cock is crowing aloof,' or whatever it is!"

Then she saw by her watch that it was eleven o'clock.

"I'll just finish this bow," she thought, "and then, I'll stop."

But before the bow was finished, there was a tap at her door.

"Who's there?" said Patty, in a voice which carried no invitation to
enter.

"It's us," said Nan, firmly, if ungrammatically, "and we're coming in!"

Mr. and Mrs. Fairfield entered, and Patty, trying to make the best of it,
looked up and smiled.

"How do you do?" she said. "Take seats, won't you? I'm just amusing
myself, you see."

But the tired voice had a quiver in it, for all at once Patty saw that
she had failed. She had worked hard all the afternoon and evening, and
had not finished one of her thirty-six pieces! It