he saw there didn't
tally with her remarks. "Oh, well," she thought, "I only agreed to earn
my living for a week, and I've done it--I've done it!"

She opened her purse to make sure the precious fifteen dollars was still
there, and she looked at it proudly. She had more money than that in
another part of her purse, but no bills could ever look so valuable as
the ten and five Mrs. Van Reypen had paid her.

At last she reached home, and as she ran up the steps the door flew open,
and she saw Nan and her father, with smiling faces, awaiting her.

"Oh, people!" she cried. "Oh, you _dear_ people!"

She flung herself indiscriminately into their open arms, embracing both
at once.

Then she produced her precious bills, and, waving them aloft, cried:

"I've succeeded! I've really succeeded! Behold the proofs of Patty's
success!"

"Good for you, girlie!" cried her father. "You have succeeded, indeed!
But don't you ever dare cut up such a prank again!"

"No, don't!" implored Nan. "I've had the most awful time the whole week!
Every night Fred vowed he was going to bring you home, and I had to beg
him not to. I wanted you to win,--and I felt sure you would this
time,--but you owe it to me. For if I hadn't worked so hard to prevent it
your father would have gone after you long ago----"

"Good for you, Nan!" cried Patty. "You've been a trump! You've helped me
through every time, in all my failures and in my one success. Oh, I've so
much to tell you of my experiences! They were awfully funny."

"They'll keep till later," said Nan. "You must run and dress now; Ken and
the Farringtons are coming to dinner to help us celebrate your success."

So Patty went dancing away to her own room, singing gaily in her delight
at being once more at home.

"Oh, you booful room!" she cried, aloud, as she reached her own door.
"All full of pretty _homey_ things, and fresh flowers, and my own dear
books and pictures, and--and everything!"

She threw herself on the couch and kissed the very sofa cushions in her
joy at seeing them again.

Then she made her toilette, and put on one of her prettiest and most
becoming frocks.

"Oh, daddy, dear," she cried, meeting him in the hall on her way down,
"it has done me lots of good to be homeless for a week! I appreciate my
own dear home so much more."

"But you were away from it for a year."

"Oh, that's different! Travelling or visiting is one thing, but working
for your living is quite another