Patty's Motor Car

by Carolyn Wells

  CHAPTER XIV

  A BIRTHDAY BREAKFAST

  It was not quite twelve o’clock when the Swift Camilla swung through thegateway of “The Pebbles,” and around the long drive to the house. Asmight have been expected, the waiting group on the veranda greeted thereturned runaways with various but vociferous exclamations.

  Several of them said, “Why, Patty Fairfield!” Several others said,“Where have you been?”

  Roger called out, cheerily: “You must have had a ripping good time! WishI’d been along!”

  Mr. Fairfield said only, “Patty!” and Mr. Hepworth said nothing at all,but looked at Patty with an unmistakable expression of reproof.

  Philip Van Reypen took the brunt of the situation upon himself. Hejumped out of the car, assisted Patty out, and led her straight to herfather.

  “Mr. Fairfield,” he said, “here’s your daughter, safe and sound, I’mhappy to say. But I want you to decorate her with the Victoria Cross, orsomething just as good, for to-night she has proved herself a genius,—awonderful genius! But for her ingenuity we should still be sitting inher little motor car, high and dry on a moonlit beach, listening to thewild waves. To her all the honour and glory, and, if there is any blameattached to our little excursion, it is mine. I kidnapped your daughter,but I fully meant to return her in ten or fifteen minutes, withoutransom. I am no villain! But, owing to an accident, we were delayed.”

  “I should think you were!” broke in Mr. Fairfield. “It is nearlymidnight, and I am——”

  “Papa,” interrupted Patty, “I know exactly what you are! You aresurprised, astounded, amazed, astonished, dumfounded, taken aback,struck all of a heap, and completely flabbergasted! If you are anythingelse, you can let me know to-morrow. Meantime, we are two heroes, whoreturned with our shield, and on it, both! Incidentally we are starving,and, if we had some supper, we could relate our experiences in fineshape.”

  Patty’s arms were round her father’s neck, and, with a wheedlesomeexpression, her eyes looked up into his, and somehow Mr. Fairfield’sindignation melted away.

  “Patty’s quite right,” declared Nan, taking sides with the culprits.“Let’s all go to the dining-room, and then later we’ll hear aboutPatty’s heroism.”

  “Mr. Van Reypen was just as much of a hero as I,” declared Patty, as,with her arm tucked through her father’s, she led the way to thedining-room, where a dainty little supper had been waiting for thereturn of the missing ones.

  “It really wasn’t a matter of heroics,” said Philip Van Reypen; “it wasonly a simple, plain, everyday breakdown, caused by a separated batterystrap. But the glorious part of it all was Miss Fairfield’s clevernessin finding a remedy for the trouble, when it seemed at first there wasabsolutely none.”

  And then, while they ate salad and sandwiches, the interested audiencelistened to a full description of the breakdown, told in Philip VanReypen’s most graphic style. In no way did he try to evade the blame forthe escapade; he frankly admitted that he ought not to have taken Pattyoff without permission, but so winning was his frank manner, and sogleeful his enjoyment of the whole recital, that he won the sympathy ofall present.

  “It’s all right, Philip, my boy,” declared Mr. Fairfield, heartily. “Idon’t blame you a bit for yielding to the temptation to slip out of thegate, and of course you could not foresee that peculiar accident. And Iam proud of my girl for thinking of a way to fix the thing up! Tinfoil!Well, well! I doubt if I should have thought of that myself!”

  Patty smiled and dimpled at the praises showered upon her from allsides, and she caught an approving smile from Mr. Hepworth, which showedhis appreciation of what she had done.

  “But I’m very sorry to have failed in my duty as hostess,” she said,demurely. “Did you manage to get along without me?”

  “Oh, I was here,” said Nan, gaily, “and I kept the young people inorder.”

  “We did have a lovely time, Patty,” said Elise; “the walk along thebeach was delightful; wasn’t it, Christine?”

  “Yes,” replied Christine, slowly; “I never saw anything like it. Ididn’t know there was so much beauty in the world.”

  Mr. Hepworth smiled at the rapturous expression on the face of theSouthern girl; and then he declared that it was quite time he and Mr.Van Reypen should depart for their own domicile.

  “But you’re to come back here to-morrow morning for breakfast,” saidNan, hospitably. “We’ll breakfast at nine, and inaugurate Patty’sbirthday, which I can assure you is going to be a pretty busy day forall concerned.”

  “It’s lovely to have a birthday,” sighed Patty as, a few moments later,she went up the broad staircase with her arms around Elise andChristine, who were on either side of her.

  “And this is such a lovely continuous performance,” said Elise. “We’vehad a lot of fun already, and the birthday isn’t really begun yet.”

  “Well, it has really begun,” said Patty, “because it’s after midnight,and so it’s already to-morrow; but we won’t have any more celebrationuntil breakfast is ready. So good-night, girls, and be sure to be up ontime for my birthday breakfast.”

  * * * * *

  The girls obeyed this parting injunction, but Patty herself overslept,and it was half-past eight in the morning when she opened her eyes tofind her two girl friends hovering over her.

  “Wake up, sleepy-head!” said Elise, pulling Patty’s curls. “I say,Patty, how jolly it is for you to sleep out here! But don’t you almostfreeze?”

  “Oh, no, indeed! I have so much bed-covering that I sleep warm as toast;but I love to feel the sea air blow on my face.”

  Patty’s sleeping veranda was almost like a room. Partially enclosed onthree sides, the front was open to the sea. There were broad wickerblinds to be drawn at will, but, unless in case of a very strong seabreeze, they were seldom drawn.

  The girls were in their kimonos, and Patty sent them flying as shesprang up herself.

  “Go on, you two, and finish dressing; I’ll be ready before you are,now!”

  Elise and Christine scampered away, and Patty began to dress with allspeed. And by nine o’clock she went downstairs, fresh and dainty, in awhite, embroidered muslin frock, with knots of light-blue ribbon.

  Elise and Christine also wore white _lingerie_ dresses; Elise’s beingmuch befrilled and adorned, while Christine’s was far more simple. Buteach was suited to the type of girl who wore it, and when Nan appeared,also in a white gown, it was a picturesque quartette that stood on theveranda looking at the sunlit sea.

  “Here they come!” cried Elise, as Mr. Hepworth and Mr. Van Reypenappeared round the corner. “And, Patty, see! They’re bringing presentsto you! Just look at their arms full of tissue paper!”

  Sure enough, both the men carried large parcels elaborately done up intissue paper and bright ribbons. They came up laughing, and with merrybirthday greetings to the queen of the occasion.

  “Breakfast is ready,” said Nan. “We were just waiting for you. Bringthose impressive-looking paper affairs with you, to the table; there’squite a collection there already.”

  And, indeed, there was! The whole party took their seats at the largeround table, and at Patty’s place was a veritable mountain ofwhite-wrapped parcels.

  “I’m overcame!” she exclaimed. “It’s quite enough to have all you lovelypeople come to visit me, without having gifts besides!”

  “Do open them, Patty!” cried Elise. “I’m crazy to see what they are!”

  “Just for that I’ll open yours first, Elise,” said Patty, laughing.“Which is it?”

  “This one,” replied Elise, touching a large parcel; “and it’s perfectlyheavenly, Patty! I did it, every stitch, myself!”

  “I did every stitch of mine, too,” murmured Roger, “if that makes apresent more acceptable.”

  Patty untied Elise’s gift, and it proved to be an embroidered muslinhat, very frilly as to brim, and or
namented with tiny, pink-satinrose-buds.

  “How lovely!” cried Patty. “Thank you, a thousand times, Elise. The ideaof your making those billions of stitches for poor, wuthless me!”

  “Wouldn’t you make one for me?” asked Kenneth, “if it’s a mark of suchdevoted friendship?”

  “I’ll make you two,” declared Elise, with a smiling glance at him. “Putit on, Patty; let’s see how it looks.”

  So Patty put on the pretty frilled hat, and it formed a most appropriateframe around her golden halo of hair, and her flushed rose-leaf face.She had never looked prettier, and everybody present gave back ananswering smile to the dancing eyes and dimpled mouth that challengedit.

  Philip Van Reypen said, “By Jove!” under his breath, and Roger, whooverheard, murmured, “Yes, and then some!”

  Then Patty unwrapped her other gifts. Christine’s came next, and it wasa beautiful water colour of her own, in a simple, appropriate frame.

  “It’s exquisite, Christine dear,” said Patty, “and I just love it! Howyou are getting on! This is a real work of art, isn’t it, Mr. Hepworth?”

  “It is truly good work,” replied Gilbert Hepworth, and the approvingglance he gave Christine brought the colour to her cheeks, and made herdrop her eyes.

  “Don’t tell her how lovely it is,” said Patty, laughing; “Christinecan’t stand praise in public. Wait till I get you alone, girlie, andthen you’ll see if I have a grateful nature!”

  “Oh, open mine next!” cried Roger. “If you’re going to take us apart andtell us of your gratitude alone, I want to go right now!”

  “You can’t,” said Patty. “You have to be thanked right before all therest of the people! But this is great! You know I love these crazythings.”

  Patty had opened Roger’s gift, and it was a grotesque bronze figure,representing some strange Japanese god. It was fascinating in its veryugliness, and was a really beautiful specimen of Japanese craft.

  “You’re not eating any breakfast, Patty,” said Mr. Hepworth, suddenly.“Let me undo the next parcel, while you try some of this deliciousomelette. I can vouch for its quality.”

  “All right,” said Patty, “I _am_ starving. And as a reward of merit, Mr.Hepworth, I’ll let you untie your own gift.”

  “Good! I love to be in the limelight! Now this is mine, and may youenjoy it many times when I am far away.”

  Then Mr. Hepworth displayed a very beautiful and complete automobilelunch basket, with fittings for two. It was of the finest design andworkmanship, and the appointments were of the newest and best.

  “Just what I want!” cried Patty. “Now I can go out for a whole-daypicnic. And it’s such a lovely picnic basket! Mr. Hepworth, you do thinkof the loveliest things!”

  The grateful glance that Patty gave him was met by one equally friendly,and, in order to escape drawing further attention to himself, Mr.Hepworth quickly opened the next parcel.

  This proved to be Philip Van Reypen’s gift, and, as it was being opened,he said: “I, too, should have liked to bring you a really worthwhilegift; but I felt, Miss Fairfield, that I’m too much of a stranger toindulge in anything but the conventional ‘books, candy, or flowers.’ SoI have brought you only a box of candy, but I hope you will have manyhappy returns of to-day, when I shall be an old friend, and can give youanything I choose.”

  He looked enviously at the other men present, who had known Patty somuch longer than he had; but, when his box of candy was finally releasedfrom its wrappings, everybody exclaimed in admiration. For it was by nomeans a simple box, but was really a French jewel case, whose variouscompartments were lined with tufted blue satin, and, though now filledwith bonbons, were intended to hold trinkets. The outside was of Frenchbrocade, decorated with gold filigree and tiny French flowers.Altogether it was an exquisite piece of handicraft, and yet Mr. VanReypen had, after all, only presented the conventional “box of candy.”

  Nan was greatly pleased at his cleverness. She had liked Philip VanReypen from the first, and he had proved himself a cultured andintelligent gentleman in every respect.

  Kenneth’s gift was a fan; a point-lace mount, with pearl sticks. He hadshowed taste in the selection, and Patty was greatly pleased with it.Indeed, she was enraptured with all her lovely gifts, and fairly bubbledover with enthusiastic thanks.

  “This is my present, Patty,” said Nan, producing a very long box. “Itwas too big to put on the table with the others, so please accept it,with the wish that it may prove useful some day.”

  The long box contained a white-lace parasol, which was just the thing tobe carried with Patty’s pretty summer costumes.

  “Oh, Nan, what a duck you are!” she cried. “I suppose this is from youand father both, as I don’t see anything else from him.”

  “Not so, not so, my child,” said Mr. Fairfield, taking a small box fromhis pocket. “On your nineteenth birthday I want to give you a gift allby myself.”

  He handed Patty the box, and in it was a pearl ring. It was a beautifulpearl, and not too large for a young girl to wear. Everybody admired it,and Patty slipped it on her finger, and then, holding her lace parasolopen above her head, she fanned herself with Kenneth’s fan. As she stillwore Elise’s embroidered hat, she made a pretty picture of a typicalsummer girl.

  “You look like a girl on a calendar,” said Roger; “rather fussily gottenup, but picturesque in a way!”

  They all laughed at Roger’s speech, which really fitted the case, andthen, breakfast being over, they gathered up Patty’s treasures andadjourned to the hall.