"You were at first, anyway."
"Not for a minute, Miss Dow," and Kit smiled lazily at her. "I'm not
over-modest about my wonderful musical genius, but somehow I
couldn't believe that a stranger appreciated me so highly. I just
COULDN'T believe it, and something told me that it wasn't quite all
it sounded. Then, says I to myself, if it isn't a real Belle
Harcourt it's most probably Patty Fairfield. I had no idea you were
away, but I telephoned the house, and some of your menials told me
you were at Fern Falls. I had never heard of Fern Falls, but it was
me for the atlas, and after much study, I unearthed Fern Falls and
found it to be very decidedly adjacent to Maple Bank. So I put away
my atlas, got down my arithmetic, and by its artful aid I managed to
put two and two together. If I had found any one else but Patty
Fairfield under that pink parasol, I should have been the most
surprised man under the Stars and Stripes!"
"I think you're perfectly horrid!" cried Patty; "just per-fect-ly
hor-rid!"
"You don't really, you know," and Kit smiled at her, calmly, "you're
just as ready to admit yourself tricked, as I was."
Patty went off into a peal of laughter at the thought of how she had
insisted that Kit should own up to being tricked, when they met; but
she felt a little chagrined that her joke had fallen through.
Pages:
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227