"Oh," exclaimed Marian, made quite breathless by the glory of it
all, "the Tea Club will never want to meet anywhere except at your
house, Patty."

"They'll have to," said Patty. "I don't propose to have them every time."

"Well, you'll have to have them every other time, anyway," said Marian.

After the fun of picking out the tea-things, it was hard to come down to
the plainer claims of the kitchen, but Aunt Alice grew so interested in
the selection of granite saucepans and patent coffee-mills that Patty,
too, became enthusiastic.

"And we must get a rolling-pin," she cried, "for I shall make pumpkin
pies every day. Oh, and I want a farina-kettle and a colander, and a
_bain-marie,_ and a larding-needle, and a syllabub-churn."

"Why, Patty, child!" exclaimed her father; "what are all those things
for? Are you going to have a French _chef_?"

"No, papa, but I expect to do a great deal of fancy cooking myself."

"Oh, you do! Well, then, buy all the contraptions that are necessary, but
don't omit the plain gridirons and frying-pans."

Then Aunt Alice and Patty put their heads together in a most sensible
fashion, and ordered a kitchen outfit that would have delighted the heart
of any well-organised housekeeper. Not only kitchen utensils, but laundry
fittings, and household furnishings generally; including patent