"Yes, Puss," said Mr. Fairfield, cheerily, "it"s all over, and it was a perfect success. Now don"t bother your head about it any more, but just get rested, and get a good sleep, and then we"ll talk it over."
Patty was quite willing not to discuss the subject, and with Nan"s a.s.sistance she was soon in bed and sound asleep.
Dr. Martin stood watching her. "I don"t know," he said to Nan, "whether this sleep will last or not. If it does all will be well, but she may wake up soon, and become nervous and hysterical. In that case give her these drops, which will have a speedy effect. I will be around again early to-morrow morning."
But the doctor"s fears were not realised. Patty slept deeply all through the night, and had not waked when the doctor came in the morning.
"Don"t waken her," he said, as he looked at the sleeping girl. "She"s all right. There"s no fear of nervous prostration now. The stress is over, and her good const.i.tution and healthy nature are rea.s.serting themselves and will conquer. She isn"t of a nervous temperament, and she is simply exhausted from overwork. Don"t waken her, let her sleep it out."
And so Patty slept until afternoon, and then awoke, feeling more like her old self than she had for many days.
"Nan," she called, and Nan came flying in from the next room.
"I"m awful hungry," said Patty, "and I am pretty tired, but the play is over, isn"t it, Nan? I can"t seem to remember about last night."
"Yes, it"s over, Patsy, and everything is all right, and you haven"t a thing to do but get rested. Will you have your breakfast now, or your luncheon?--because you"ve really skipped both."
"Then I"ll have them both," said Patty with decision. "I"m hungry enough to eat a house."
Later, Patty insisted on dressing and going downstairs for dinner, declaring she felt perfectly well, but the exertion tired her more than she cared to admit, and when Dr. Martin came in the evening, she questioned him directly.
"I"m not really ill, am I, Dr. Martin? I"ll be all right in a day or two, won"t I? It"s so silly to get tired just walking downstairs."
"Don"t be alarmed," said the old doctor, "you will be all right in a day or two. By day after to-morrow you can walk downstairs, or run down, if you like, without feeling tired at all."
"Then that"s all right," said Patty. "I suppose I did do too much with my school work, and the play, and everything, but I couldn"t seem to help it, and if I get over it in a week I"ll be satisfied. In fact, I shan"t mind a bit, lounging around and resting for a few days."
"That"s just the thing for you to do," agreed Dr. Martin, "and I"ll give you another prescription. After a week or two of rest, you need recreation. You must get out of the city, and go somewhere in the country. Not seash.o.r.e or the mountains just yet, but away into the country, where you"ll have plenty of fresh air and nothing to do. You mustn"t look at a book of any sort or description for a month or two at least. Will you promise me that?"
"With great pleasure," said Patty, gaily, "I don"t think I shall care to see a book all summer long; not a schoolbook anyway. I suppose I may read storybooks."
"Not at present," said the doctor. "Let alone books of all sorts for a couple of months, and after that I"ll see about it. What you want is plenty of fresh air and outdoor exercise. Then you"ll get back the roses in your cheeks, and add a few pounds of flesh to your attenuated frame."
"Your prescription sounds attractive," said Patty, "but where shall I go?"
"We"ll arrange all that," said Mr. Fairfield. "I think myself that all you need is recreation and rest, with a fair proportion of each."
"So do I," said Patty; "I don"t want to go to an old farmhouse, where there isn"t a thing to do but walk in the orchard; I want to go where I"ll have some fun."
"Go ahead," said the doctor, "fun won"t hurt you any as long as it"s outdoor sports or merry society. But don"t get up any plays, or any such foolishness, where fun is only a mistaken name for hard work."
Patty promised this, and Dr. Martin went away without any doubts as to the speedy and entire recovery of his patient.
Mr. Fairfield and Nan quite agreed with the doctor"s opinion that Patty ought to go away for a rest and a pleasant vacation. The next thing was to decide where she should go. It was out of the question, of course, to consider any strange place for her to go alone, and as Mr. Fairfield could not begin his vacation until July, and Nan was not willing to leave him, there seemed to be no one to accompany Patty.
The only places, therefore, that Mr. Fairfield could think of, were for her to go to Vernondale and visit the Elliotts, or down to the Hurly-Burly where the Barlows had already gone for their summer season.
But neither of these plans suited Patty at all, for she said that Vernondale would be no rest and not much fun. She was fond of her Elliott cousins, but she felt sure that they would treat her as a semi-invalid and coddle her until she went frantic.
The Hurly-Burly, she said, would be just the opposite. They would have no consideration down there for the fact that she wanted a rest, but would make her jog about hither and thither, taking long tramps and going on tiresome picnics whether she wanted to or not.
So neither of these plans seemed just the thing, and Nan"s proposal that Patty go to Philadelphia and spend June with Mrs. Allen wasn"t quite what Patty wanted. Indeed, Patty did not know herself exactly what she wanted, which was pretty good proof that she was not so far from the borders of Nervous Land as they had believed.
And so when Elise came over one afternoon, and brought with her an invitation for Patty, that young woman showed no hesitation in announcing at once that it was exactly what she wanted. The invitation was nothing more nor less than to go on a long motor-car trip with the Farringtons.
"It will be perfectly splendid," said Elise, "if you"ll only go, Patty."
"Go!" said Patty, "I should think I would go! It"s perfectly splendid of you to invite me. Who are going?"
"Just father and mother, and Roger and myself," said Elise, "and you will make five. Roger can run the car, or father can, either, for that matter, so we won"t take a man, and father has had a new top put on his big touring-car and we can pile any amount of luggage up on it, so you can take all the frocks you want to. We"ll stop at places here and there, you know, to visit, and of course, we"ll always stop for meals and to stay over night."
"But perhaps they wouldn"t want me," said Patty, "where you go to visit."
"Nonsense, of course they will. Why, I wrote to Bertha Warner that I wanted to bring you, and she said she"d love to have you come."
"How could she say so? she doesn"t know me."
"Well, I told her all about you, and she"s fully prepared to love you as I do. Oh, do you suppose your people will let you go?"
"Of course they will. They"ll be perfectly delighted to have me go."
Patty was right. When she told her father and Nan about the delightful invitation, they were almost as pleased as she was herself, and Mr.
Fairfield gave ready permission.
The projected trip entirely fulfilled Dr. Martin"s requisites of fresh air, out-of-door exercise, and a good time, and when he was told of the plan he also expressed his entire approval.
CHAPTER X
A MOTOR TRIP
Preparations began at once. It was now the first of June and they were to start on the sixth.
There were delightful shopping excursions for the replenishing of Patty"s wardrobe, and Nan gladly a.s.sisted Patty to get everything in order for her trip.
At last the day of starting came, and a more beautiful day could not be imagined. It was typical June weather, and the sun shone pleasantly, but not too warmly, from a clear blue sky.
Patty"s only experience in motoring had been her trip to Atlantic City, but that was only a short ride compared to the contemplated tour of the Farringtons.
Mr. Farrington"s huge car seemed to be furnished with everything necessary for a long journey. Although they would usually take their meals at hotels in the towns through which they pa.s.sed, Mrs. Farrington explained they might occasionally wish to have tea or even luncheon on the road, so the car was provided with both tea-basket and luncheon-kit.
The novelty of this paraphernalia was fascinating to Patty, and she peeped into the well-appointed baskets with chuckles of delight at the antic.i.p.ated pleasure of making use of them.
Patty"s trunk was put up on top among the others, her hand-luggage was stowed away in its place, and with affectionate good-byes to Nan and her father, she took her seat in the tonneau between Mrs. Farrington and Elise, and away they started.
Mr. Farrington and Roger, who sat in front, were in the gayest of spirits and everything was promising for a happy journey.