ally meant what she said that night, and had come to
convince him of it! There was a girl for you! He would never accept the
sacrifice, he told himself resolutely, still he fairly danced as he
straightened his necktie, tripped over his evening clothes, which he had
knocked onto the floor, and almost stumbled over a little figure in the
hallway, as he threw open the door and started to rush to the elevator.

"They wouldn't let me come up in the elevator, so I walked," announced
Patricia, looking up at him with a beaming smile.

"What are you doing here? Is Alice down-stairs?" Allen demanded,
completely bewildered by the unexpected apparition.

"I've come to go away with you, and Alice is at home," the child
answered, simply. "Papa said you were going back to Pittsburgh. Aren't
you glad to see me? I've got all my things packed up in this bag, except
my _Knights of the Round Table_, which wouldn't go in, so I carried it
under my arm."

He looked at her, speechless with astonishment as she proudly held up
the diminutive satchel and displayed her precious volume.

"Of course I'm glad to see you, Lady Pat," he said at length; "but you
ought not to come here alone, you know."

"I'm not alone," she insisted. "Riley is down-stairs in my pony cart.
Phillips didn't know where you lived, but he's only a groom, so I
brought Riley. Now, how shall we get rid of him, and have you made a
hundred thousand dollars with my money?"

"I'm ashamed to say I haven't--I was too late. The storks had all gone
South for the winter, but I must give you back your bank."

Allen turned into his room, closely followed by Patricia.

"Then you haven't money enough to get married?" she asked in a pathetic
little voice. Suddenly her face brightened. "But I don't mind; I'll keep
house for you without any money; and storks always come to newly married
people, I've heard them say so."

"We couldn't do that, Lady Pat; we'd starve to death unless we ate the
storks. Come, let's go and find Riley."

But Riley's anxiety had resulted in his anticipating them, and the
familiar face at that moment showed above the stairway, as the old man
approached them, out of breath.

"Ah, there ye are, praise be ter th' Virgin Mary," he panted. "Ah, sich
a mess as ye're gettin' poor old Riley in. I cudn't hilp it, Misther
Allen, I cudn't nohow," heading off any criticism from that
quarter--"she wud have it, and that's th' ind iv it. I'm thinkin' that's
why they named