d fumble with
bits of painted pasteboard!"

Poor Patty was at her wits' end. She had not expected to be a
professional entertainer, and she didn't know what to suggest next.

She felt sure Mrs. Van Reypen wouldn't care to listen to any more reading
just then. She hesitated to propose music, as it had not been very
successful the night before. On a sudden impulse, she said:

"Do you like to see dancing? I can do some pretty fancy dances."

It seemed an absurd thing to say, but Patty had ransacked her brain to
think what professional entertainers did, and that was all she could
think of, except recitations, and those she hated herself.

"Yes, I do!" cried Mrs. Van Reypen, so emphatically that Patty jumped. "I
love to see dancing! If you can do it, which I doubt, I wish you would
dance for me. And this evening we'll go to see that new dancer that the
town is wild over. If you really can dance, you'll appreciate it as I do.
To me dancing is a fine art, and should be considered so--but it rarely
is. Do you require music?"

"Of course, I prefer it, but I can dance without."

"We'll try it without, first; then, if I wish to, I'll ask Delia, my
parlour-maid, to play for you. She plays fairly well. Or, if it suits me,
I may play myself."

Patty made no response to these suggestions, but followed Mrs. Van Reypen
to the great drawing-room, at one end of which was a grand piano.

"Try it without music, first," was the order, and Patty walked to the
other end of the long room, while Mrs. Van Reypen seated herself on a
sofa. Serenely conscious of her proficiency in the art, Patty felt no
embarrassment, and, swaying gently, as if listening to rhythm, she began
a pretty little fancy dance that she had learned some years ago.

She danced beautifully, and she loved to dance, so she made a most
effective picture, as she pirouetted back and forth, or from side to side
of the long room.

"Beautiful!" said Mrs. Van Reypen, as Patty paused in front of her and
bowed. "You are a charming dancer. I don't know when I've enjoyed
anything so much. Are you tired? Will you dance again?"

"I'm not at all tired," said Patty. "I like to dance, and I'm very glad
it pleases you."

"Can you do a minuet?" asked the old lady, after Patty had finished
another dance, a gay little Spanish fandango.

"Yes; but I like music for that."

"Good! I will play myself." With great dignity, Mrs. Van Reypen rose and
walked to the piano.

Patty adjusted