gone to the station to meet her, and they were due now at any minute.




CHAPTER V

THAT AWFUL AZALEA


The car came along the driveway and stopped in front of the porch where
Patty sat.

Farnsworth stepped out, with a cheery "Here we are!" and Patty rose to
greet the visitor.

Up the steps toward her flew a figure which, as Patty afterward described
it, seemed like a wild Indian! A slight, wiry figure, rather tall and
very awkward, and possessed of a nervous force that expressed itself in
muscular activity.

"Oh, how do you do?" the girl cried, explosively. "You're Cousin
Patty,--aren't you?" But even as she spoke, she stumbled on the steps,
pitched forward, falling on Patty, and but for Farnsworth's quick action
would have knocked her down.

"Jiminy crickets! Ain't I the tangle-foot! Guess I'm getting in bad at
the very start. Hope I didn't hurt you."

"Not at all," said Patty, recovering her poise, both mental and physical.