he satin, and set to work in
thorough earnest. Though not poor, she could not have tried any harder to
succeed had she been in direst want.

But as to her work, she was very much at sea.

She knew she had to get the satin on to the frame, without crease or
wrinkle. She knew exactly how it ought to look when done, for she had a
hat of that sort herself, and the material covered the foundation as
creaselessly as paint.

"I'm sure it only needs gumption," thought Patty, hopefully. "Here's my
real chance to prove that it doesn't need a series of lessons to get some
satin smoothly on a crinoline frame. If I do it neatly, she won't ask
some other girl to do it over."

Paying no attention to the covert glances of her companions, Patty set to
work. She cut carefully, she fitted neatly; she pinned and she basted;
she smoothed and she patted; and finally she sewed, with tiny, close
stitches, placed evenly and with great precision.

So absorbed did she become in her task that she failed to notice the
departure of the others at noon. Alone she sat there at the table,
snipping, sewing, pinning, and patting the somewhat refractory satin.

It was almost one o'clock when she finished, and looked up suddenly to
see Miss O'Flynn standing watching her.

"Why are you doing this?" she said to Patty, as she took the hat from the
girl's hands.

Patty sat up, all at once, conscious of great pain in the back of her
neck, from her continued cramped position at work.

"Because I want to earn money," replied Patty, not pertly, but in a tone
of obstinate intent. "Is it done right?"

Miss O'Flynn looked at Patty, with an air of kindliness and willingness
to help her.

"Tell me all about it," she said.

But Patty was in no mood for confidences, and with a shade of hauteur in
her manner, she said again: "Is it done right? Does it suit you?"

At Patty's rejection of her advances, Miss O'Flynn also became reserved
again, and said, simply: "I cannot use it."

"Why not?" demanded Patty. "It is covered smoothly and neatly. It shows
no crease nor fold."

"It is not right," said Miss O'Flynn. "It is not done right, because you
do not know how to do it. You have never been taught how to cover hats or
how to line them; consequently you cannot do them right."

The other girls had gone to luncheon, so the two were alone in the room.
Patty knew that Miss O'Flynn was telling her the truth, and yet she
resented it. A red spot burned in each chee