Patty's Summer Days

So, after staying a day or two with Elise in New York, Patty again took her place in the car for the journey to her new home. Mr. Farrington and Elise went with her, and after seeing her safely in her father’s care, returned to the city that same day.

Patty was glad to see her father and Nan again, and was delighted with the beautiful house which they had taken for the summer.

“How large it is!” she exclaimed, as she looked about her. “We three people will be lost in it!”

“We’re going to have a lot of company,” said Nan, “I’ve invited nearly everyone I know, and I shall expect you to help me entertain them.”

“Gladly,” said Patty; “there are no horrid lessons in the way now, and you may command my full time and attention.”

The day after Patty’s return to her family, she proposed that they go over to see the Barlows.

“It’s an awful hot afternoon,” said Nan, “but I suppose we can’t be any warmer there than here.”

So arraying themselves in fresh, cool white dresses, Nan and Patty started to make their call.

The Barlows’ summer place was called the Hurly-Burly, and as Nan and Patty both knew, the name described the house extremely well.

As Bob Barlow sometimes said, the motto of their home seemed to be, “No place for nothin’, and nothin’ in its place.”

But as the family had lived up to this principle for many years, it was not probable things would ever be any different with them, and it did not prevent their being a delightful family, while their vagaries often proved extremely entertaining.

But when Nan and Patty neared the house they saw no sign of anybody about.

The doors and windows were all open and the visitors walked in, looked in the various rooms, and even went upstairs, but found nobody anywhere.

“I’ll look in the kitchen,” said Patty; “surely old Hopalong, the cook, will be there. They can’t all be away, and the house all open like this.”

But the kitchen too, was deserted, and Nan said, “Well, let us sit on the front verandah a while; it must be that somebody will come home soon, and anyway I’m too warm and tired to walk right back in the broiling sun.”

So they sat on the verandah for half an hour, and then Patty said, “Let’s give one more look inside the house, and if we can’t find anybody let’s go home.”

“All right,” said Nan, and in they went, through the vacant rooms, and again to the kitchen.

“Why, there’s Hopalong,” said Patty, as she saw the old coloured woman busy about her work, though indeed Hopalong’s slow movements could not be accurately described by the word busy.

“Hello, Hopalong,” said Patty, “where are all the people?”

“Bless yo’ heart Miss Patty, chile, how yo’done skeered me! And howdy, Miss Nan,—’scuse me, I should say Missus Fairfield. De ladies is at home, and I ’spects dey’ll be mighty glad to see you folks.”

“Where are they, then?” said Nan, looking puzzled, “we can’t find them.”

“Well yo’ see it’s a mighty hot day, and dem Barlows is mighty fond of bein’ as comf’able as possible. I’m makin’ dis yere lemonade for ’em, kase dey likes a coolin’ drink. I’ll jest squeeze in another lemon or two, and there’ll be plenty for you, too.”

“But where are they, Hopalong?” asked Patty, “are they outdoors, down by the brook?”

“Laws no, Miss Patty, I done forgot to tell yo’ whar dey am, but dey’s down in de cellah.”

“In the cellar!” said Patty, “what for?”

“So’s dey kin be cool, chile. Jes’ you trot along down, and see for yourselfs.”

Hopalong threw open the door that led from the kitchen to the cellar stairs, and holding up their dainty white skirts, Patty and Nan started down the rather dark staircase.

“Look at those white shoes coming downstairs,” they heard Bumble’s voice cry; “I do believe it’s Nan and Patty!”

“It certainly is,” said Patty, and as she reached the last step, she looked around in astonishment, and then burst into laughter.

“Well, you do beat all!” she said, “We’ve been sitting on the front verandah half an hour, wondering where you could be.”

“Isn’t it nice?” said Mrs. Barlow, after she had greeted her guests.

“It is indeed,” said Patty, “it’s the greatest scheme I ever heard of.”

The cellar, which had been recently white-washed, had been converted into a funny sort of a sitting-room. On the floor was spread a large white floor-cloth, whose original use had been for a dancing crash.

The chairs and sofas were all of wicker, and though in various stages of dilapidation, were cool and comfortable. A table in the center was covered with a white cloth, and the sofa pillows were in white ruffled cases.

Bumble explained that the intent was to have everything white, but they hadn’t been able to carry out that idea fully, as they had so few white things.

“The cat is all right,” said Patty, looking at a large white cat that lay curled up on a white fur rug.

“Yes, isn’t she a beautiful cat? Her name is The Countess, and when she’s awake, she’s exceedingly aristocratic and dignified looking, but she’s almost never awake. Oh, here comes Hopalong, with our lemonade.”

The old negro lumbered down the steps, and Bumble took the tray from her, and setting it on the table, served the guests to iced lemonade and tiny thin cakes of Hopalong’s concoction.

“Now isn’t this nice?” said Mrs. Barlow, as they sat chatting and feasting; “you see how cool and comfortable it is, although it’s so warm out of doors. I dare say I shall get rheumatism, as it seems a little damp here, but when I feel it coming on, I’m going to move my chair over onto that fur rug, and then I think there will be no danger.”

“It is delightfully cool,” said Patty, “and I think it a most ingenious idea. If we had only known sooner that you were here, though, we could have had a much longer visit.”

“It’s so fortunate,” said Bumble, whom Patty couldn’t remember to call Helen, “that you chanced to be dressed in white. You fit right in to the colour scheme. Mother and I meant to wear white down here, but all our white frocks have gone to the laundry. But if you’ll come over again after a day or two, we’ll have this place all fixed up fine. You see we only thought of it this morning. It was so unbearably hot, we really had to do something.”

Soon Uncle Ted and Bob came in, and after a while Mr. Fairfield arrived.

The merry party still stayed in the cellar room, and one and all pronounced it a most clever idea for a hot day.

The Barlows were delighted that the Fairfields were to be near them for the summer, and many good times were planned for.

Patty was very fond of her Barlow cousins, but after returning to her own home, which Nan with the special pride of a young housekeeper, kept in the daintiest possible order, Patty declared that she was glad her father had chosen a wife who had the proper ideas of managing a house.

Nan and Patty were congenial in their tastes and though Patty had had some experience in housekeeping, she was quite willing to accept any innovations that Nan might suggest.

“Indeed,” she said, “I am only too glad not to have any of the care and responsibility of keeping house, and I propose to enjoy an idle summer after my hard year in school.”

So the days passed rapidly and happily. There were many guests at the house, and as the Fairfields were rather well acquainted with the summer people at Sandy Cove, they received many invitations to entertainments of various kinds.

The Farringtons often came down in their motor-car and made a flying visit, or took the Fairfields for a ride, and Patty hoped that the Warners would visit them before the summer was over.

One day Mr. Phelps appeared unexpectedly, and from nowhere in particular. He came in his big racing-car, and that day Patty chanced to be the only one of the family at home. He invited her to go for a short ride with him, saying they could easily be back by dinner time, when the others were expected home.