'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