"From Chick Channing, I suppose," said Patty, coolly. "How that boy does love to exaggerate. I don"t know, Daisy, whether they"ll be here or not. If they are, use your wiles to sell them a lot of things out of your room, won"t you?"
"Yes, I will, for I don"t believe they"ll care for your lace caps and pillows."
CHAPTER XVIII
THE HOUSE SALE
The House Sale was in full swing. It had been well advertised, and the object was a popular one, and throngs of willing buyers crowded the Fairfield house.
The family belongings had, many of them, been carried to the upper floors, and the first and second stories given over to the Bazaar.
The beds had been removed and the bedrooms were veritable stores of all sorts of light and dainty apparel and feminine trinkets. The rooms downstairs were filled with fine wares and were crowded with purchasers. The girls, dressed to suit their calling, were brisk and busy salesladies, and everywhere was laughter and merry chat.
Daisy, in a stunning new sports suit, looked with satisfaction on her stacks of golf accoutrements, skates, tennis sets, and side lines of bright caps and sweaters for both s.e.xes. And her wares simply melted away. She laughingly put up her prices, but so attractive were the goods that they sold quickly.
Elise, too, did a rushing business in the library. She had several a.s.sistants, and they were all kept at work by the kind patrons. Many worthwhile books had been given the girls, and there were beside, library furnishings, and a few autographed books and letters that commanded large prices. A set of Riley"s works was on sale, and these Farnsworth bought, requesting that they remain in their place until his further directions.
"Whatever are you going to do with them, Bill?" asked Elise, who looked like a pretty Portia in her cap and gown.
"Why not peruse them myself?" he returned.
"But I chance to know that you have a set of Riley."
"Well, maybe, I"ll give them to somebody as a gift. If I can"t find anybody to accept them, I"ll turn them over to your girls" library."
"Oh, I dare say you can give them away. A beautiful set like that!
Why, they"re Russia bound!"
"Why, so they are!"
"As if he didn"t know that!" exclaimed one of the girls to Elise, as Farnsworth sauntered away. "Why, he gave that set to the sale!"
"He did! And then bought them back again!"
"Yes, that"s just what he has done."
"Oh, well, then, he does mean to give them to somebody,--somebody in particular."
And Farnsworth certainly did mean to give them to somebody in particular. He designed them as a gift for Patty. He knew she would enjoy the poems, and he chose the edition with great care. Then, to enhance the value, he made it a present to the Club Sale, and promptly bought it back.
The big Westerner made his way through the crowds, stopping here and there to buy a flower or a trinket from the beguiling vendors. He looked in at the dining-room, and saw the long table set with marvelous confections, each to be sold with its dish of fine china or crystal.
Also, on side tables were center-pieces, doilies, and napkins of all varieties of embroidery and decoration. A large back veranda had been arranged as a refreshment room, and here Farnsworth discovered Nan and Mr. Fairfield eating ice cream.
"Join us," they begged, but a smiling headshake was the negative reply.
"I"m on a still hunt for Patty. I"m told she"s upstairs."
"Yes, in her own rooms," said Nan. "But you can"t get in, the place is jammed. Wait till she has sold off a lot of stuff, then there"ll be at least standing room. I"ve just come down from there and I never saw such a crowd."
"I"m fairly good at stemming crowds,--I think I"ll go up."
Farnsworth squared his broad shoulders and started up the stairway.
By tactful manoeuvring, rather than by muscular strength, he gained his goal, and stood in the doorway of Patty"s boudoir.
She was showing off a boudoir set to a prospective purchaser. It was of pale blue brocaded satin, edged with swansdown. There was a fetching lace cap with blue bows and little yellow rosebuds; also dainty blue slippers with rosebuds on them. Gaily, Patty donned the lovely garments, over her fluffy white frock, and pirouetted before her own cheval gla.s.s.
"You see," she said, in wheedling, saleslady tones, "it is a work of art! _Ma foi_! but it is _chic_! _n"est-ce pas_? Excuse my fearful French, but I can"t sell this Parisian rig in English!"
"It is just darling!" declared the lady who was looking at it. "Of course I"ll take it. I never saw one I liked so well."
Farnsworth stood watching the scene, thinking how much Patty"s winning personality added to the charm of the robe, and wondering if she would accept the books he had bought for her.
The sale concluded, Patty thanked her patron, and in a moment was called upon to repeat the performance, as indeed she had been doing most of the evening. This time it was not so willing a buyer.
A gaunt, elderly spinster, with elaborately coiffed white hair and ostentatious costume, demanded a kimono that should be just her style and of embroidered crepe de chine.
"Here is a lovely one in heliotrope," said Patty, smiling as she brought one of the prettiest ones she had.
"Heliotrope!" the lady almost screamed. "Do I then look so old? Am I in the sere and yellow? Why do you offer me heliotrope?"
"Oh, don"t you care for it?" said Patty, pleasantly; "it"s one of my favourite colours. What colour do you like best?"
"I like amber, but, of course, you wouldn"t have that. Green, now?"
"No, we don"t seem to have those. We"ve mostly pink and blue."
"Old-fashioned! Why don"t you have amber or russet?"
"I wish we had. I"d love to give you what you want. How about white?"
"Namby pamby! But show me what you have. I"m determined to get something."
"If you only cared for blue," and Patty sighed. "Here"s a new box yet unopened, but it says on the end, "Light Blue." So that wouldn"t do."
"Oh, well, let me see it."
Patty opened the j.a.panese looking box, and out from the tissue papers fell a dream of a kimono. Of palest blue silk, it was covered with embroidered apple blossoms, not in a set design, but powdered over it, as if wafted there by a summer breeze. The conventional j.a.panese flowers are cherry blooms, but these were true apple blossoms, softly pink and white, the very loveliest gown Patty had ever seen.
Farnsworth was looking on, and he, too, caught sight of the exquisite design. He looked quickly at Patty, and, in dumb show, begged her not to sell the garment. Nor had she any intention of doing so. The moment she saw it, she wanted it for herself, and began hastily to fold it back in its box.
"Wait! Stop!" cried the lady; "I think I want that."
"It"s already sold," said Big Bill, stepping forward. "Isn"t that the one I ordered, Miss Fairfield?"
"Is it?" said Patty, helplessly, wanting to laugh at the way the lady looked daggers at Bill, yet not knowing quite what to say.