invited him to come to see them while in Paris.

"We sha'n't have a house of our own just at first," explained Elise;
"we're going to a hotel while father and mother look around and select a
house for the winter."

"I'm glad," said Patty, "to go to a hotel first. I've never stayed at a
big hotel, and I'm sure it will be delightful for a time."

[Illustration with caption: "The next morning the girls spent in
packing and getting ready to go ashore"]

"You'll like the one you're going to," said Chester. "The Ritz is really
the old palace of the Castiglione, an ancient French family, and though
it is, of course, somewhat rebuilt, much of the original remains,
especially the beautiful old garden with its wonderful trees and
fountain. I'll give you a day or two to 'find yourselves,' and then I
shall come around to call, and shall expect you to be glad to see me."

"We'll be very glad to see you," said Patty cordially, for she had a
sincere liking for the young Englishman.

Then Patty and Elise went with Bert to look in for a little chat with
the Van Ness party. Although Patty liked the Van Ness girls in a way,
she was rather relieved to find that they were not going to the same
hotel.

Patty had an intuitive sense of the fitness of things, and she couldn't
help thinking that the Van Ness sisters, though good-hearted and good-
natured, were of a type apt to be a trifle too conspicuous in a large