QUARANTINED
"Tired?" asked Mrs. Perry, as she welcomed Patty to her side.
"A little; I love to dance, but a long program does weary me. Are we
going home soon?"
"Whenever you like, dear."
"Oh, not until the others are ready. There goes Marie. She's having a
lovely time to-night. Isn't she a pretty thing?--and so popular."
Patty's admiration was sincere and honest, and Marie's dark, glowing
beauty was well worthy of commendation.
But seeing Patty sitting by Mrs. Perry, Marie came to them, when the
dance ended, and declared that she was quite ready to go home, although
the program wasn't finished.
"What's all this about?" inquired Kit Cameron, coming up to them. "Go
home? Not a bit of it! There are a lot of dances yet."
"Well, you stay for them if you like, Kit," said his sister, rising.
"I'm going to take these girls away. They've danced quite enough, and
it's time they went home."
"Whither thou all goest, I will go also," said Cameron. "Where's
Harper?"
Kenneth and Dick Perry came along then, and both men expressed their
willingness to go home.
Patty was rather silent during the homeward way, and indeed, as all
were more or less weary, there was little gay conversation.
As they entered the house, Nora, the parlour-maid, appeared to take
their wraps.
"Where is Babette?" asked Mrs. Perry, surprised to see Nora in place of
her French maid.
"Sure she's sick, Mrs. Perry; she do be feelin' that bad, she had to go
to bed. So she bid me do the best I can for the young ladies."
"I'm sorry to hear Babette is ill; I must go and see her at once." And
Mrs. Perry went away toward the servants' quarters.
She returned shortly, saying Babette had a bad cold and a slight fever,
but that her symptoms were not alarming.
"But I'm sorry you girls can't have her services to-night," Mrs. Perry
went on.
"It doesn't matter a bit," said Patty; "I'd be sorry for myself, if I
couldn't get in and out of my own clothes! Don't think of it, Mrs.
Perry."
They all went up to their rooms, and though Nora did her best to assist
Patty, her unskilful help bothered more than it aided. So she kindly
dismissed the girl, and catching up a kimono went across to Marie's
room.
"You get me out of this frock, won't you, Marie?" she said. "It fidgets
me to have Nora fumbling with the hooks. It's a complicated arrangement
and I know she'd tear the lace."
Marie willingly acquiesced, and then Patty slipped off the pretty
yellow gown, and got into her blue silk kimono.
"Stay here and brush out your hair, Patty," said Marie, "and we can
have a 'kimono chat,' all by ourselves."
So Patty sat down at Marie's toilet table, and began to brush out her
golden curls.
"Did you like the ball, Patty?" asked Marie, as she braided her own
dark hair.
"Lovely! Everybody was so nice to me. And you had a good time yourself,
I know. I saw you breaking hearts, one after another, you little siren."
"Siren, yourself! How did you like that Bell boy?"
"Gracious! That sounds like a hotel attendant! In fact I think
'bellhop,' as I believe they call them, wouldn't be a bad name for
Eddie Bell. I liked him ever so much, but he was a
little,--well,--fresh is the only word that expresses it."
"He is cheeky; but he doesn't mean anything. He's a nice boy; I've
known him for years. He's an awful flirt,--but he admired you like
everything. Though as to that, who doesn't?"
"Oh, I don't think so much of this general admiration. I think if a
young girl isn't admired, it's her own fault. She only has to be gay
and pleasant and good-natured, and people are bound to like her."
"Yes," agreed Marie; "but there are degrees. I'll tell you who likes
you an awful lot,--and that's Mr. Harper."
"Oh, Kenneth;" Patty spoke carelessly, but she couldn't prevent a
rising blush. "Why, Marie, we've been chums for years. I used to know
Ken Harper when I was a little girl and lived in Vernondale. He's a
dear boy, but we're just good friends."
"I like him," and Marie said this so ingenuously, that Patty gave her a
quick look. "Don't you like anybody ESPECIALLY, Patty?"
"No, I don't. All boys look alike to me. I like to have them to dance
with, and to send me flowers and candy; and I don't mind make-believe
flirting with them; but the minute they get serious, I want to run
away."
"Aren't you ever going to be engaged, Patty?"
"Nonsense! Marie, we're too young to think about such things. After a
few years I shall begin to consider the matter; and if I find anybody
that I simply can't live without, I shall proceed to marry him. Now,
curiosity-box, is there anything else you want to know?"
"I didn't mean to be curious," and Marie's pretty face looked troubled;
"but, Patty, I will ask you one more question: Couldn't you,--couldn't
you like,--specially, I mean,--my cousin Kit?"
"Marie, I've a notion to shake you! You little match-maker,--or
mischief-maker,--stop getting notions into your head! In the first
place, I've known your paragon of a cousin only a few weeks; and in the
second place, there's no use going any further than the first place!
Now, you go to sleep, and dream about birds and flowers and sunshine,
and don't fill your pretty head with grown-up notions."
"You're a funny girl, Patty," and Marie looked at her with big, serious
eyes.
"If it's funny to be a common-sense, rational human being, then I AM
funny! Now, good-night, chickabiddy. Mrs. Perry says she'll send up our
breakfast about nine to-morrow morning. Hop into my room and have it
with me, won't you?"
Marie agreed to this arrangement, and gathering up her belongings,
Patty slipped across the hall to her own room.
The wood fire had burnt down to red embers, and lowering the lights,
Patty sat down for a few moments in a big fireside chair to think.
She had told the truth, that she did not want to think seriously of
what Marie called "an especial liking" for anybody; but what Kenneth
had said that evening troubled her.
Her friendship for Kenneth was so firm and strong, her real regard for
him so deep and sincere, that she hated to have it intruded upon by a
question of a more serious feeling. And she had never suspected that
any such question would arise. But she could not mistake the meaning of
Kenneth's spoken wish that he might be capable of the gay conversation
in which Patty delighted.
"Dear old Ken," she said to herself, "he's so nice just as he is, but
when he tries to be funny, he--well, he CAN'T, that's all. It isn't his
fault. All the boys can't be alike. And I s'pose Ken IS the nicest of
them, after all. He's so true and reliable. But I hope to gracious he
isn't going to fall in love with me. That would spoil everything I Oh,
well, I won't cross that bridge until I come to it. And if I have come
to it,--well, I won't cross it, even then. I'll just stand stock-still,
and wait. I believe there's a poem somewhere, that says:
"'Standing with reluctant feet
Where the brook and river meet,--
Womanhood and childhood sweet.'
"I s'pose I HAVE left childhood behind, but I feel a long way off from
womanhood. And yet, in a couple of months I'll be twenty. That does
begin to sound aged! But I know one thing, sure and certain: I'll wait
till I AM twenty, before I think about a serious love affair. Suitors
are all very well, but I wouldn't be engaged to a man for anything!
Why, I don't suppose he'd let me dance with anybody else, or have any
fun at all! No, sir-ee, Patricia Fairfield, you're going to have two or
three years of your present satisfactory existence, before you wear
anybody's diamond ring. And now, my Lady Gay, you'd better skip to bed,
for to-morrow night you have a theatre party in prospect, and you want
to look fairly decent for that."
The fire was burnt out now, and Patty was so sleepy that her head had
scarcely touched the pillow before she fell asleep.
A light tap at her door awakened her the next morning, and Marie
appeared, followed by Nora, with a breakfast tray.
"Wake up, curly-head-sleepy-head," and Marie playfully tweaked Patty's
curls. "Here, I'll be your maid. Here's your nightingale, and here's
your breakfast cap."
Marie deftly arrayed Patty in the pretty trifles, and poked pillows
behind her back until she was comfortable.
"Goodness gracious sakes! Marie," said Patty, rubbing her eyes, "you
waked me out of the soundest sleep I have ever known! WHY bother me
with breakfast?"
"Had to do it," returned Marie, calmly, drawing up a big chair for
herself. "Now keep your eyes open and behave like a lady. Your
chocolate is getting cool and your toast is spoiling."
The two girls were still discussing their breakfast, when Mrs. Perry
came in.
"How are you getting on?" she asked, cheerily; "Babette is still ill,
so I had to send Nora to you."
"Everything is lovely," said Patty, smiling at her hostess. "We're
delightfully looked after. Nora is a jewel. But I hope your maid isn't
seriously ill."
"I'm afraid she is," and Mrs. Perry looked troubled. "She has a bad
sore throat and she's quite feverish. Now you girlies dawdle around as
much as you like. Although I'm commissioned to tell you that there are
two young men downstairs just pining for you, and they asked me to coax
you to come down at once."
"Let them wait," said Patty; "we'll be down after a while. Mayn't we
see the baby?"
"Yes, indeed, if you like. I'll send her in."
Soon a dainty little morsel of fragrant humanity appeared, accompanied
by her nurse.
The tot was a trifle shy, but Patty's merry smile soon put her at her
ease.
"Tell the lady your name, dear," said Marie.
"Pitty Yady!" said the baby, caressing Patty's cheek.
"Yes," said Marie, "now tell the pretty lady your name."
"Baby Boo," said the child.
"Baby Boo! What a dear name!" said Patty.
"Her name is Beulah," Marie explained, "but she always calls herself
Baby Boo, so every one else does."
"It's just the name for her," said Patty, catching up the midget in her
arms and cuddling her.
"Pitty Yady," repeated the baby, gazing at Patty.
"She's struck with your beauty, Patty, like everybody else," said
Marie, laughing.
"It's mutual, then," returned Patty, "for I think she's the prettiest
baby I ever saw. And she does smell so good! I love a violet baby." And
Patty kissed the back of the soft little neck and squeezed the baby up
in her arms.
"Now Baby Boo must go away," said Marie, at last, "for the Pitty Yady
must get dressed and go downstairs."
Patty had brought a morning frock, of pink linen with a black velvet
sash, and she looked very trim and sweet as she at last declared
herself ready.
The two girls went downstairs, and found two very impatient young men
awaiting them.
"Whatever HAVE you girls been doing all the morning?" exclaimed
Cameron; "you CAN'T have been sleeping until this time!"
"Playing with the baby, and exchanging confidences," said Patty,
smiling.
"Both of which you might as well have done down here," Cameron
declared. "I adore my baby niece, and Mr. Harper and I would have been
more than glad to listen to your exchange of confidences."
"Oh, they weren't intended for your ears!" exclaimed Marie, with mock
horror. "Kimono confidences are very, VERY sacred. But it may well be
that your ears burn."
"Which ear?" asked Kenneth, feeling of both of his.
"Fair exchange," said Marie, gaily. "Tell us what you said about us,
and we'll tell you what we said about you."
"We said you were the two prettiest and sweetest girls in the world,"
said Cameron.
"And we said," declared Patty, "that you were the two handsomest and
most delightful men in the world."
"But we said you had some faults," said Kenneth, gravely.
"And we said you had," retorted Marie. "Let's tell each other our
faults. That's always an interesting performance, for it always winds
up with a quarrel."
"I love a quarrel," said Cameron, enthusiastically. "I dare anybody to
tell me my greatest faults!"
"Conceit," said Marie, smiling at her cousin.
"That isn't a fault; it's a virtue," Kit retorted.
"That's so," and Marie nodded her head; "if you didn't have that
virtue, you wouldn't have any."
"That's a facer!" said Kit. "Well, Marie, my dear, as you haven't THAT
virtue, am I to conclude you haven't any?"
"That's very pretty," and Patty nodded, approvingly; "but I want to
stop this game before it's my turn, for I'm too sensitive to have my
faults held up to the public eye."
"But we haven't quarrelled yet," said Kit, who looked disappointed.
"Why do you like to quarrel so much?" asked Patty.
"Because it's such fun to kiss and make up."
"Is it?" asked Patty; "I'd like to see it done, then. You and Ken
quarrel, and then let us see you kiss and make up."
"Harper is too good-natured to quarrel and I'm not good-natured enough
to kiss him," said Kit. "I guess I won't quarrel to-day, after all. I
can't seem to get the right partner. Let's try some other game. Want to
go over to the club and bowl?"
"Yes, indeed," cried Patty; "I'd love to."
So the four young people bundled into fur coats, and motored over to
the country club.
They were all good players and enjoyed their game till Kit reminded
them that it was nearly luncheon time, and they went back to the house.
"How is Babette?" Patty inquired, as their hostess appeared at luncheon.
"She's worse;" and Mrs. Perry looked very anxious. "I don't want to
worry you girls, but I think you would better go home this afternoon,
for I don't know what Babette's case may develop into. The doctor was
here this morning, and he has sent a trained nurse to take care of the
girl. I confess I am worried."
"Oh, we were going this afternoon, anyway," said Patty. "I have to, as
I have an engagement this evening. But I'm sorry for you, Mrs. Perry.
It is awful to have illness in the house. What is it you are afraid of?"
"I hate to mention it, but the doctor fears diphtheria. Now don't be
alarmed, for there is positively no danger, if you go this afternoon.
But I can't risk your staying an hour longer than is necessary. Nora
will help you pack your things. And I'm going to send you off right
after lunch."
After luncheon the doctor came again, and Mrs. Perry went off to confer
with him.
"Excuse me," said Kit Cameron, as his sister left the room, "I must
stand by Lora, and I want to find out from the doctor if there is
really any danger. Perhaps my sister's fears are exaggerated."
It was nearly half an hour before Kit came back, and then he looked
extremely serious.
"I have bad news for you," he said; "Babette's illness is
diphtheria,--a severe case."
"Oh, the poor girl!" said Patty, with impulsive sympathy.
"Yes, indeed, little Babette is pretty sick. And, too, it's awfully
hard on Lora. But that isn't all of it."
"What else?" said Marie, breathless with suspense.
"I hardly know how to tell you," and Cameron's face was very troubled.
"But I suppose the best way is to tell you straight out. The truth is,
we are all quarantined. We can't go away from here."
"Quarantined!" cried Patty, who knew that this meant several weeks'
imprisonment; "oh, NO!"
"Yes," and Kit looked at her with pained eyes; "can you ever forgive
me, Miss Fairfield, for bringing you here? But of course I could not
foresee this awful climax to our pleasant party."
"Of course you couldn't!" cried Patty;--"don't think for a moment that
we blame you, Mr. Cameron. But,--you must excuse me if I feel
rather--rather--"
"Flabbergasted," put in Kenneth; "it's an awful thing, Cameron, but we
must take it philosophically. Brace up, Patty girl, don't let this
thing floor you."
Patty gave one look into Kenneth's eyes, and read there so much
sympathy, courage, and strong helpfulness, that she was ashamed of
herself.
"Forgive me for being so selfish," she said, as the tears came into her
eyes. "Of course we must stay, if the doctor orders; I know how strict
they have to be about these things. And we will stay cheerfully, as
long as we must. It's dreadful to impose on Mrs. Perry so, but we can't
help it, and we must simply make the best of it. We'll help her all we
can, and I'm sure Marie and I can do a lot."
"You're a brick!" and Cameron gave her a look of appreciation. "Poor
Lora is heart-broken at the trouble it makes for you girls, and for
Harper. She quite loses sight of her own anxieties in worrying about
you all."
"Tell her to stop it," said Marie; "I rather think that we can bear our
part of it, considering what Cousin Lora has to suffer. Can Cousin Dick
come home?"
"I hadn't thought of that!" exclaimed Cameron. "Why, no; that is, if he
can't go back to his office again. We'll have to telephone him to stay
in New York until the siege is raised. There are many things to think
of, but as I am responsible for bringing you people up here, naturally
that worries me the most. I'm not to blame for the maid's illness or
for Dick's enforced absence from home. But I AM to blame for bringing
you girls up here at all."
"Don't talk of blame, Mr. Cameron, please," said Patty's soft voice;
"you kindly brought us here to give us pleasure and you did so. The
fact that this emergency has arisen is of no blame to anybody. The only
one to be blamed is the one who cannot meet it bravely!"