"You need nothing of the sort,--you're too beautiful as it is!"

"Oh, Mona,--Monissima! DON'T say those things to me! I'm but a
weak-minded simpleton, and I MIGHT think you meant them, and grow
conceited! Hie thee away, fair maiden, and hie pretty swiftly,
too. And call me not to breakfast foods until that the sun is well
toward the zenith."

"You needn't get up till you choose, Patty. You know you are
mistress here."

"No, you're that. I'm merely the adviser-in-chief. And what I say
goes!"

"Indeed it does! Good-night, Patty."

"Good-night, Mona. Scoot!"




CHAPTER VI

AUNT ADELAIDE


The next morning Patty was making one of her "peregrinating
toilettes." She could dress as quickly as any one, if occasion
required; but, if not, she loved to walk slowly about as she
dressed, pausing now and then to look out of a window or into a