Author: Carolyn Wells
Category: Humorous
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CHAPTER IV
LESSONS AGAIN
But all this fun and frolic soon came to an end, and Patty returned toNew York to take up her studies again.
Grandma Elliott was waiting for her in the pretty apartment home, andwelcomed her warmly.
Mrs. Elliott and Patty were to stay at The Wilberforce only about afortnight longer. Then Mr. and Mrs. Fairfield were to return and takePatty away with them to the new home on Seventy-second Street. Then theapartment in The Wilberforce was to be given up, and Grandma Elliottwould return to Vernondale, where her son's family eagerly awaited her.
"I've had a perfectly beautiful time, Grandma," said Patty, as she tookoff her wraps, "but I haven't time to tell you about it now. Just think,school begins again to-morrow, and I haven't even looked at my lessons. Ithought I would study some in Philadelphia, but goodness me, there wasn'ta minute's time to do anything but frivol. The wedding was just gorgeous!Nan was a dream, and papa looked like an Adonis. I'll tell you more atdinner time, but now I really must get to work."
It was already late in the afternoon, but Patty brought out her books,and studied away zealously until dinner time. Then making a hastytoilette, she went down to the dining-room with grandma, and duringdinner gave the old lady a more detailed account of her visit.
After dinner, Lorraine Hamilton and the Hart girls joined them in theparlour. But after chatting for a few moments with them, Patty declaredshe must go back to her studies.
"It's awfully hard," she said to Lorraine, as they walked to school nextmorning, "to settle down to work after having such a gay vacation. I dobelieve, Lorraine, that I never was intended for a student."
"You're doing too much," said Lorraine. "It's perfectly silly of you,Patty, to try to cram two years' work into one, the way you're doing."
"No, it isn't," said Patty, "because then I won't have to go to schoolnext year, and that will be worth all this hard work now."
"I'm awfully sorry you're going away from The Wilberforce," saidLorraine. "I shall miss you terribly."
"I know it, and I'll miss you, too; but Seventy-second Street isn't veryfar away, and you must come to see me often."
The schoolgirls all welcomed Patty back, for she was a general favourite,and foremost in all the recreations and pleasures, as well as the classesof the Oliphant school.
"Oh, Patty," cried Elise Farrington, as she met her in the cloakroom,"what do you think? We're going to get up a play for commencement. Anoriginal play, and act it ourselves, and we want you to write it, and actin it, and stage-manage it, and all. Will you, Patty?"
"Of course I will," said Patty. "That is, I'll help. I won't write it allalone, nor act it all by myself, either. I don't suppose it's to be amonologue, is it?"
"No," said Elise, laughing. "We're all to be in it, and of course we'llall help write it, but you must be at the head of it, and see that it allgoes on properly."
"All right," said Patty, good-naturedly, "I'll do all I can, but you knowI'm pretty busy this year, Elise."
"I know it, Patty, and you needn't do much on this thing. Justsuperintend, and help us out here and there."
Then the girls went into the class room and the day's work began.
Patty had grown very fond of Elise, and though some of the other girlslooked upon her as rather haughty, and what they called stuck-up, Pattyfailed to discern any such traits in her friend; and though Elise was adaughter of a millionaire, and lived a petted and luxurious life, yet, toPatty's way of thinking, she was more sincere and simple in herfriendship than many of the other girls.
After school that day Elise begged Patty to go home with her and beginthe play.
"Can't do it," said Patty. "I must go home and study."
"Oh, just come for a little while; the other girls are coming, and if youhelp us get the thing started, we can work at it ourselves, you know."
"Well, I'll go," said Patty, "but I can only stay a few minutes."
So they all went home with Elise, and settled themselves in herattractive casino to compose their great work.
But as might be expected from a group of chattering schoolgirls, they didnot progress very rapidly.
"Tell us all about your fun in Philadelphia, Patty," said Adelaide Hart.
And as Patty enthusiastically recounted the gaieties of her visit, thetime slipped away until it was five o'clock, and not a word had beenwritten.
"Girls, I must go," cried Patty, looking at her watch. "I have an awfullot of studying to do, and I really oughtn't to have come here at all."
"Oh, wait a little longer," pleaded Elise. "We must get the outline ofthis thing."
"No, I can't," said Patty, "I really can't; but I'll come Saturdaymorning, and will work on it then, if you like."
Patty hurried away, and when she reached home she found Kenneth Harperwaiting for her.
"I thought you'd never come," he said, as she arrived. "Your school keepsvery late, doesn't it?"
"Oh, I've been visiting since school," said Patty. "I oughtn't to havegone, but I haven't seen the girls for so long, and they had a plan onhand that they wanted to discuss with me."
"I have a plan on hand, too," said Kenneth. "I've been talking it overwith Mrs. Elliott, and she has been kind enough to agree to it. A crowdof us are going to the matinee on Saturday, and we want you to go. Mrs.Morse has kindly consented to act as chaperon, and there'll be abouttwelve in the party. Will you go, Patty?"
"Will I go!" cried Patty. "Indeed I will, Ken. Nothing could keep me athome. Won't it be lots of fun?"
"Yes, it will," said Kenneth, "and I'm so glad you will go. I was afraidyou'd say those old lessons of yours were in the way."
Patty's face fell.
"I oughtn't to go," she said, "for I've promised the girls to spendSaturday morning with them, and now this plan of yours means that I shalllose the whole day, and I have so much to do on Saturday; an extra themeto write, and a lot of back work to make up. Oh, Ken, I oughtn't to go."
"Oh, come ahead. You can do those things Saturday evening."
Patty sighed. She knew she wouldn't feel much like work Saturday evening,but she couldn't resist the temptation of the gay party Saturdayafternoon. So she agreed to go, and Kenneth went away much pleased.
"What do you think, grandma?" said she. "Do you think I ought to havegiven up the matinee, and stayed at home to study?"
"No, indeed," said Grandma Elliott, who was an easy-going old lady."You'll enjoy the afternoon with your young friends, and, as Kennethsays, you can study in the evening."
So when Saturday came Patty spent the morning with Elise. The other girlswere there, and they really got to work on their play, and planned thescenes and the characters.
"It will be perfectly lovely!" exclaimed Adelaide Hart. "I'm so glad forour class to do something worth while. It will be a great deal nicer thanthe tableaux of last year."
"But it will be an awful lot of work," said Hilda Henderson. "All thosecostumes, though they seem so simple, will be quite troublesome to getup, and the scenery will be no joke."
"Perhaps Mr. Hepworth will help us with the scenery," said Patty. "He didonce when we had a kind of a little play in Vernondale, where I used tolive. He's an artist, you know, and he can sketch in scenes in a minute,and make them look as if they had taken days to do. He's awfully cleverat it, and so kind that I think he'll consent to do it."
"That will be regularly splendid!" said Elise, "and you'd better ask himat once, Patty, so as to give him as much time as possible."
"No, I won't ask him quite yet," said Patty, laughing. "I think I'll waituntil the play is written, first. I don't believe it's customary toengage a scene painter before a play is scarcely begun."
"Well, then, let's get at it," said Hilda, who was practical.
So to work they went, and really wrote the actual lines of a good part ofthe first act.
"Now, that's something like," said Patty, as, when the clock struck noon,she looked with satisfaction on a dozen or more pages, neatly
written inHilda's pretty penmanship. "If we keep on like that, we can get thisthing done in five or six Saturday mornings, and then I'll ask Mr.Hepworth about the scenery. Then we can begin to rehearse, and we'll justabout be ready for commencement day."
While Patty was with the girls, her interest and enthusiasm were so greatthat the play seemed the only thing to be thought of. But when shereached home and saw the pile of untouched schoolbooks and rememberedthat she would be away all the afternoon, she felt many misgivings.
However, she had promised to go, so off she went to the matinee, and hada thoroughly pleasant and enjoyable time. Mrs. Morse invited her to gohome to dinner with Clementine, saying that she would send her homesafely afterward.
Clementine added her plea that this invitation might be accepted, butPatty said no. Although she wanted very much to go with the Morses, yetshe knew that duty called her home. So she regretfully declined, givingher reason, and went home, determined to work hard at her themes and herlessons. But after her merry day with her young friends, she was not onlytired physically, but found great difficulty in concentrating herthoughts on more prosaic subjects. But Patty had pretty strongwill-power, and she forced herself to go at her work in earnest. GrandmaElliott watched her, as she pored over one book after another, or hastilyscribbled her themes. A little pucker formed itself between her brows,and a crimson flush appeared on her cheeks.
At ten o'clock Mrs. Elliott asserted her authority.
"Patty," she said, "you must go to bed. You'll make yourself ill if youwork so hard."
Patty pushed back her books. "I believe I'll have to, grandma," she said."My head's all in a whirl, and the letters are dancing jigs before myeyes."
Exhausted, Patty crept into bed, and though she slept late next morning,Grandma Elliott imagined that her face still bore traces of worry andhard work.
"Nonsense, grandma," said Patty, laughing. "I guess my robustconstitution can stand a little extra exertion once in a while. I'll tryto take it easier this week, and I believe I'll give up my gymnasiumwork. That will give me more time, and won't interfere with getting mydiploma."
But though Patty gained a few extra half hours by omitting the gymnasiumclass, she missed the daily exercise more than she would admit even toherself.
"You're getting round-shouldered, Patty," said Lorraine, one day; "and Ibelieve it's because you work so hard over those old lessons."
"It isn't the work, Lorraine," said Patty, laughing. "It's the play. Ihad to rewrite the whole of that garden scene last night, after Ifinished my lessons."
"Why, what was the matter with it?"
"It was all wrong. We didn't think of it at the time, but in one placeElise has to go off at one side of the stage, and, immediately after,come on at the other side, in different dress. Now, of course, that won'tdo; it has to be arranged so that she will have time to change hercostume. So I had to write in some lines for the others. And there wereseveral little things like that to be looked after, so I had to do overpretty nearly the whole scene."
"It's a shame, Patty! We make you do all the hardest of the work."
"Not a bit of it. I love to do it; and when we all work together andchatter so, of course we don't think it out carefully enough, and sothese mistakes creep in. Don't say anything about it, Lorraine. The girlswill never notice my little changes and corrections, and I don't want topose as a poor, pale martyr, growing round-shouldered in her efforts tohelp her fellow-sisters!"
"You're a brick, Patty, but I will tell them, all the same. If we're allgoing to write this play together, we're going to do it all, and not haveyou doing our work for us."
Lorraine's loyalty to Patty was unbounded, and as she had, moreover, atrace of stubbornness in her character, Patty knew that no amount ofargument would move her from her determination to straighten matters out.So she gave up the discussion, only saying, "You won't do a bit of good,Lorraine; and anyway, somebody ought to revise the thing, and if I don'tdo it, who will?"
Patty said this without a trace of egotism, for she and Lorraine bothknew that none of the other girls had enough constructive talent ordramatic capability to put the finishing touches on the lines of theplay. That was Patty's special forte, just as Clementine Morse was theone best fitted to plan the scenic effects, and Elise Farrington todesign the costumes.
"That's so," said Lorraine, with a little sigh, "and I suppose, Patty,you'll just go on in your mad career, and do exactly as you please."
"I suppose I shall," said Patty, laughing at Lorraine's hopelessexpression; "but I do want this play to be a success, and I mean to helpall I can, in any way I can."
"It's bound to be a success," said Lorraine with enthusiasm, "because thegirls are all so interested, and I think we're all working hard in ourdifferent ways. Of course I don't have anything to do except to lookafter the incidental music, but I do hope that will turn out all right."
"Of course it will, Lorraine," said Patty. "Your selections are perfectso far; and you do look after more than that. Those two little songs youwrote are gems, and they fit into the second act just exactly right. Ithink you're a real poet, Lorraine, and after the play is over I wishyou'd get those little songs published. I'm sure they're worth it."
"I wish I could," said Lorraine, "and I do mean to try."