"Because Guy asked Daisy to take that part."
"Yes! he asked her after you had refused to take it!"
"Refused! What do you mean?"
"Oh, I know all about it! You wrote a note to Martin, telling him you wouldn"t take the part, and asking him not to mention the subject to you again."
"What!" and all the colour went out of Patty"s face as the thought flashed across her mind what this meant. She saw at once that Daisy had given that note to Guy, as coming from HER! She saw that Daisy MUST have done this intentionally! And this knowledge of a deed so despicable, so IMPOSSIBLE, from Patty"s standpoint, stunned her like a blow.
But she quickly recovered herself. Patty"s mind always JUMPED from one thought to another, and she knew, instantly, that however contemptible Daisy"s act had been, she could not and would not disclose it.
"Oh, that note," she said, striving to speak carelessly.
"Yes, THAT NOTE," repeated Bill, still gazing straight at her. "Tell me about it."
"There"s nothing to tell," said Patty, her voice trembling a little at this true statement of fact.
"You wrote it?"
"Yes,--I wrote it," Patty declared, for she could not tell the circ.u.mstance of her writing it.
Bill let go her hands, and a vanquished look came into his eyes.
"I--I hoped you didn"t," he said, simply; "but as you did, then I know WHY you did it. Because you didn"t want to be on the float with me."
"Oh, no,-NO, Bill!" cried Patty, shocked at this added injustice. "It wasn"t THAT,--truly it wasn"t!"
Gladness lighted up Bill"s face, and his big blue eyes beamed again.
"Wasn"t it?" he said. "Wasn"t it, Apple Blossom? Then, tell me, why DID you write it?"
"But I don"t want to tell you," and Patty pouted one of her very prettiest pouts.
"But you shall tell me! If you don"t,"--Bill came a step nearer,--"I"ll pick you up and toss you up into the top branches of that biggest pine tree over there!"
"Pooh! Who"s afraid?"
Patty"s saucy smile was too much for Bill, and, catching her up, he cradled her in his strong arms, and swung her back and forth, as if preparatory to pitching her into the tree.
"Here you go!" he said, laughing at her surprised face. "One,--two--"
"Mr. Farnsworth!" exclaimed a shocked voice, and Aunt Adelaide came hastening toward them.
Bill set Patty down, not hastily, but very deliberately, and then said, with an anxious air:
"How did it go, Mrs. Parsons? We"re practising for our great scene in the Pageant--the Spirit of the Sea, tossed by old Father Neptune. I do my part all right, but Miss Fairfield needs more practice, don"t you think so?"
Aunt Adelaide looked scrutinisingly at the young man, but his expression was so earnest that she couldn"t doubt him.
"Patty looked scared to death," she said, with reminiscent criticism.
"Oughtn"t she to look more gay and careless?"
"She certainly ought," a.s.sented Bill. "Will you try the scene once more, Miss Fairfield, with Mrs. Parsons for audience?"
"I will not!" exclaimed Patty, and trying hard to repress her giggles, she fled back through her window, and drew the curtains.
"I didn"t know you were to have acting on the floats," said Aunt Adelaide, innocently.
"I"m not sure that we shall," returned Farnsworth, easily. "I had a notion it would be effective, but perhaps not. Do you know where Miss Dow is, by any chance?"
"Why, I think she"s just starting for the Sayres". Yes, there she goes now,--walking down the path." "WILL you excuse me then, Mrs. Parsons, if I make a hurried exit? I want to see her on a MOST important matter."
Big Bill fairly flung himself down the little staircase that led from the upper veranda to the lower one, and in a few moments, with long strides, he had overtaken Daisy, who was alone.
"Whoop-ee! Daisy, wait a minute!" he cried, as he neared her.
"What for?" and Daisy turned, smiling, but her smile faded as she caught sight of Bill"s face.
"Because I tell you to!" thundered Bill. "Because I want to talk to you,--and, right now!"
"I--I"m going on an errand--" faltered Daisy, fairly frightened at his vehemence.
"I don"t care if you"re going on an errand for the Czar of Russia; you turn around, and walk along with me."
"Where to?"
"Wherever I lead you! Here"s a rose arbour, this will do. In with you!"
Daisy entered the arbour, trembling. She had never seen Farnsworth so angry before, and her guilty conscience made her feel sure he had discovered her treachery. In the arbour they were screened from observation, and Bill lowered his voice.
"Now," said he, "tell me all about this "Spirit of the Sea" business.
What underhanded game did you play to get the part away from Patty Fairfield?"
"I didn"t! She told Guy Martin she wouldn"t take it."
"Yes; she wrote him a note. Now, in some way or other, you made her write that note. How did you do it?"
"Did she tell you I made her write it?"
"No, she didn"t! She said she wrote it, but she wouldn"t tell me why."
Daisy"s eyes opened wide. Then Patty KNEW the note had been given to Guy in her name, and yet she didn"t denounce Daisy! Such generosity was almost outside Daisy"s comprehension, and she paused to think it out.
At last she said:
"Why do YOU think she wouldn"t tell you?"
"I don"t THINK, I KNOW! A man has only to look into Patty Fairfield"s clear, honest eyes to know that she"s incapable of meanness or deceit.
While you,--forgive me, Daisy, but I"ve known you for years,--and you ARE capable of gaining your own ends by underhanded methods."