"You"re all right, little girl, aren"t you?" he said, anxiously, and Patty laughed gaily up at him as she answered, "Yes, indeed! and all ready for another adventure, if YOU"LL take care of me!"
"You apple blossom!" whispered Bill. "I won"t hold you to your word, but I"d like to. Do you know, I"ve promised to be Father Neptune in this d.i.n.ky parade they"re getting up. Won"t I be the gay old Sea Dog! I hope you"ll be the Spirit of the Sea."
"That isn"t decided; don"t ask me about it yet," said Patty, who had no mind to commit herself until Guy should ask her definitely to take the part. Though since Lora couldn"t take it, and Daisy wouldn"t, she felt pretty sure it would fall to her.
A number of the Spring Beach boys and girls had drifted in, as they often did at tea time, and the talk of the many small groups was all of the coming festivity. Beside the Sea Float, there were the various rivers to be represented. The Nile would be characterised by Egyptian costumes and effects. The Hudson would be an attempt at a representation of "The Half Moon." The Tiber was to show gorgeous Roman citizens; the Thames proudly contemplated a houseboat, and the Seine, French scenery. Also, there would be floats representing Venice, Holland, the Panama Ca.n.a.l, Niagara Falls, the Open Polar Sea, and many others showing some phase or manifestation of water"s great kingdom.
Daisy had inveigled Guy Martin into a tete-a-tete corner with her, but after a polite quarter of an hour, he declared he must move around and confer with a few people concerning their parts in the carnival.
"How about Patty"s being Spirit of the Sea?" he asked.
"Oh," Daisy said, "you"d better not say anything to her about that. I asked her, and she gave me this note to give you. It isn"t signed, nor addressed, but you see it"s her handwriting. She wrote it hastily, but she said she didn"t want to talk about the matter."
Guy looked a little surprised, but took the note and read it. "H"m," he said, "rather NOT be Spirit of the Sea. Get some one else. And--as a personal favour, don"t speak of the matter to her! Well, Pretty Patty must have a miff of some sort. Most unlike her! However, her word is law. I"ll never mention the subject to her, since she asks me not to.
But our time is getting short, and most of the girls have their parts.
Miss Dow, won"t you be Spirit of the Sea?"
"Why, yes, if you want me to," said Daisy, looking modest and demure.
"I can make the costume easily, because I know just how. It requires fishnet draperies over green chiffon, and lots of seaweed decorations and that sort of thing."
"Yes; you have just the right idea. Then I"ll put you down for that.
You and Mr. Farnsworth will make a fine pair. I wonder what Patty WOULD like to be."
"I"ll ask her," volunteered Daisy. "I know you"re awfully busy, Mr.
Martin, and I want to help you all I can. So leave that matter to me."
"Very well, I will," said Guy, who really had a mult.i.tude of cares and affairs; "but be sure to make her take some good part. It wouldn"t be a Pageant at all with Patty Fairfield left out! If I didn"t have to skip away this very minute to keep an engagement with a scene painter, I"d ask her what"s the matter, anyhow!"
"Oh, Mr. Martin, you forget she asked you, as a personal favour, not to speak to her about it."
"By Jove! So she did! Wonder what"s come over the girlie! If anybody has offended her, I"ll kill him! Well, I must fly, Miss Dow; attend the rehearsals, won"t you? See you tomorrow."
Guy made hasty adieux to Mona, and went off on his errands.
Daisy, in high spirits at the success of her ruse, went straight over to Patty.
"Patty, dear," she said, sweetly, "I couldn"t withstand Mr. Martin"s persuasions, and I"ve promised him I"ll be the Spirit of the Sea. You know I told you I didn"t want to, but he overruled my objections and I consented."
"All right, Daisy," said Patty, without a trace of regret on her sweet face. She did feel regret keenly, for Guy had asked her long ago, and she had only hesitated out of generosity toward Lora, who also wanted it. But it was not her nature to resent such things, and she concluded that Guy thought Daisy better adapted for the part than herself.
"What part will you take?" Daisy went on. "Mr. Martin told me to ask you and arrange for you."
Daisy"s manner showed such undue importance and ostentatious authority that Jack Pennington spoke up.
"Are you a.s.sistant chairman, Miss Dow?"
"Mr. Martin didn"t call it that," said Daisy, smiling pleasantly; "he only left it to me to see that Miss Fairfield had a good place in the Pageant."
"You bet Miss Fairfield will have a good place!" exclaimed Jack. "Don"t you bother about it, Miss Dow. Let me relieve you of that duty. _I_"LL see to Miss Fairfield"s place."
"But Mr. Martin left it in my care," persisted Daisy, getting a little frightened lest her deceit about the note should be discovered.
"Leave Mr. Martin to me," said Jack, a little curtly. "I"ll explain to him that I relieved you of the responsibility of Patty"s place in the show. I say, Patty, let"s you and me be Dutch kiddies on the Holland Float."
"Shall us?" said Patty, smiling in a whimsical way that meant nothing at all.
CHAPTER XIV
PAGEANT PLANS
As Patty was preparing for bed that night, Mona came tapping at her door.
"Come in," said Patty. "Oh, it"s you, Mona,--well, I AM glad to see you! In the turmoil of this "house party" of yours, we almost never see each other alone, do we?"
"No; and I"m sorry. But you"re enjoying it, aren"t you, Patty?"
"Yes, indeed! I love it! People running in and out all the time, and a lot of people all over the house,--oh, yes, it"s gay."
"Patty, I"m bothered about this Pageant business. How does it happen that Daisy has taken your part?"
"It wasn"t my part. It had never been a.s.signed, until Guy persuaded Daisy to take it."
"Persuaded fiddlesticks! She MADE him give it to her."
"No, she didn"t. She was determined NOT to have that part, but he coaxed her into it. She told me so herself."
"Pooh! You don"t know Daisy as I do. You"re so sweet and generous yourself you think everybody else is. I wish I hadn"t asked her here. I thought she had outgrown her school-girl tricks. She was always like that."
"Like what?"
"Nothing; never mind. What does Bill say about it?"
"Nothing. I don"t believe he knows who"s to be Spirit of the Sea. And probably he doesn"t care."
"Probably he DOES! Don"t be a goose, Patty Fairfield! You know that great big angel Bill adores the ground you walk on."
"Is he as fond of Real Estate as all that? Well, I can"t give it to him, for it"s your ground that I"m on most of the time, and I suppose the beach is owned by the Realty Company or something."
"FUNNY girl! Patty, you make me laugh boisterously with that wit of yours! Well, Miss Sweetness, will you help me with my costume? Guy has "persuaded" ME to be Cleopatra on the Nile Float."
"Oh, Mona, how lovely! You"ll be a PERFECT Cleopatra. Indeed I will help you! What are you going to wear?"
"Whatever"s the right thing. Of course it must be magnificent in effect. I"m going to send for a dressmaker and two helpers to-morrow morning, and put them to work on it. They can fit linings while I send to New York for the material. Lizette can go and select it. What do you think of gold-brocaded white satin?"