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PATTY'S SUMMER DAYS

by

CAROLYN WELLS

Author of "Idle Idylls," "Patty in the City," etc.

Illustrated







[Illustration]



New York Dodd, Mead & Company 1909

Copyright, 1906, by
Dodd, Mead & Company

Published, September, 1906



To
ELEANOR SHIPLEY HALSEY



CONTENTS

CHAPTER                             PAGE
      I  A Gay Household               1
     II  Wedding Bells                13
    III  Atlantic City                27
     IV  Lessons Again                40
      V  A New Home                   53
     VI  Busy Days                    66
    VII  A Rescue                     79
   VIII  Commencement Day             92
     IX  The Play                    105
      X  A Motor Trip                118
     XI  Dick Phelps                 130
    XII  Old China                   143
   XIII  A Stormy Ride               155
    XIV  Pine Branches               169
     XV  Miss Aurora <DW12>          182
    XVI  A Quilting Party            195
   XVII  A Summer Christmas          208
  XVIII  At Sandy Cove               221
    XIX  Rosabel                     234
     XX  The Rolands                 246
    XXI  The Crusoes                 259
   XXII  The Bazaar Of All Nations   271
  XXIII  The End Of The Summer       287



ILLUSTRATIONS

"Patty fairly reveled in Nan's beautiful trousseau"             8

"'There, you can see for yourself, there ain't no chip or
crack into it'"                                               147

"Although a successful snapshot was only achieved after
many attempts"                                                176

"Patty arrayed herself in a flowered silk of Dresden effect"  203

"In a few minutes Patty was feeding Rosabel bread and milk"   234






PATTY'S SUMMER DAYS

CHAPTER I

A GAY HOUSEHOLD


"Isn't Mrs. Phelps too perfectly sweet! That is the loveliest fan I ever
laid eyes on, and to think it's mine!"

"And _will_ you look at this? A silver coffee-machine! Oh, Nan, mayn't I
make it work, sometimes?"

"Indeed you may; and oh, see this! A piece of antique Japanese bronze!
Isn't it _great?_"

"I don't like it as well as the sparkling, shiny things. This silver tray
beats it all hollow. Did you ever see such a brightness in your life?"

"Patty, you're hopelessly Philistine! But that tray is lovely, and of an
exquisite design."

Patty and Nan were unpacking wedding presents, and the room was strewn
with boxes, tissue paper, cotton wool, and shredded-paper packing.

Only three days more, and then Nan Allen was to marry Mr. Fairfield,
Patty's father.

Patty was spending the whole week at the Allen home in Philadelphia, and
was almost as much interested in the wedding preparations as Nan herself.

"I don't think there's anything so much fun as a house with a wedding
fuss in it," said Patty to Mrs. Allen, as Nan's mother came into the room
where the girls were.

"Just wait till you come to your own wedding fuss, and then see if you
think it's so much fun," said Nan, who was rapidly scribbling names of
friends to whom she must write notes of acknowledgment for their gifts.

"That's too far in the future even to think of," said Patty, "and
besides, I must get my father married and settled, before I can think of
myself."

She wagged her head at Nan with a comical look, and they all laughed.

It was a great joke that Patty's father should be about to marry her dear
girl friend. But Patty was mightily pleased at the prospect, and looked
forward with happiness to the enlarged home circle.

"The trouble is," said Patty, "I don't know what to call this august
personage who insists on becoming my father's wife."

"I shall rule you with a rod of iron," said Nan, "and you'll stand so in
awe of me, that you won't dare to call me anything."

"You think so, do you?" said Patty saucily. "Well, just let me inform
you, Mrs. Fairfield, that is to be, that I intend to