people,
The protector of a tree.

I often save a patient,
Though a doctor I am not;

My name is very easy,
Can you tell me, children? What?"

The others had heard this before, and when Patty promptly guessed "Bark,"
Mrs. Cromarty was distinctly pleased with her quick-wittedness.

Then lemonade and wafery little cakes were brought in, that the puzzlers
might refresh themselves.

The atmosphere of the Hartley household was very pleasant, and Patty felt
much more at home than she had ever expected to feel among English
people. She made allusion to this, and Bob said: "Oh, this place isn't
homey at all, compared with our real home. You must come to see us down
in the country, mustn't she, mother?"

"I should be very glad to welcome you there, my dear," said Mrs. Hartley,
smiling at Patty, "and I trust it may be arranged. We have this apartment
for only a few weeks longer, and then we shall go back to Leicester."

"I'm in no haste to go," declared Mabel. "I love Cromarty Manor, but I
want to stay in London a little longer. But when we do go, Patty, you
surely must visit us there."

"Indeed I will, if I can manage it. My parents want me to go with them to
Switzerland, but I'd much prefer to spend the summer in England. I have
ever so many delightful invitations to country houses, and they seem to
me a lot more attractive than travelling about. I suppose I ought to care
more about seeing places, but I don't."

"You're quite young enough yet," said Mrs. Hartley, "to look forward to
travelling in future years. I think some experiences of English life
would be quite as advantageous for you."

"I'll tell father you said that," said Patty. "Then perhaps he'll let me
have my own way. But he usually does that, anyway."

"You'd love Cromarty Manor," said Bob, enthusiastically. "It's so
beautiful in spring and early summer."

"But not half as grand as other houses where Patty's invited," said
Mabel, and again the shadow crossed her face that seemed always to come
when she spoke of her country home.

"Grandeur doesn't count in the country," declared Bob. "That belongs to
London life. Other places may be larger or in better condition than ours,
but they _can't_ be more beautiful."

"That is true," said Mrs. Cromarty, in her quiet way, which always seemed
to decide a disputed point. And then it was time to go home, and Mrs.
Har