Morris told us about. I think they would be a great deal nicer."

"What sort of acting shows are you talking about, my children; and what
is it all to be?" asked Mr. Fairfield, who was always interested in
Patty's plans.

"Why, papa, it's the Tea Club, you know; and we're going to have an
entertainment to make money for the Day Nursery--oh, you just ought to
see those cunning little babies! And they haven't room enough, or nurses
enough, or anything. And you know the Tea Club never has done any good in
the world; we've never done a thing but sit around and giggle; and so we
thought, if we could make a hundred dollars, wouldn't it be nice?"

"The hundred dollars would be very nice, indeed; but just how are you
going to make it? What's this about an acting play?"

"Oh, not a regular play,--just a sort of dialogue thing, you know; and
we'd have it in Library Hall, and Aunt Alice and a lot of her friends
would be patronesses."

"It would seem to me," said Frank, "that Miss Patty Fairfield, now
being an old and experienced housekeeper, could qualify as a
patroness herself."

"No, thank you," said Patty. "I'm housekeeper for my father, and in my
father's house, but to the great outside world I'm still a shy and
bashful young miss."

"You don't look the part," said Frank; "you ought to go around with your
finger in your mouth."