X. Miss Pat Plays Nurse 143
XI. The Reward of the Faithful 158
XII. Patricia Moves 172
XIII. The Turning Point 186
XIV. Constance's Other Side 201
XV. Patricia Decides To Make the Best of It 215
XVI. The Door Opens Again 227

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CHAPTER I

MISS PAT ARRIVES

"The train's in, Elinor, and she'll be here in a jiffy. Bruce said he'd
get a taxi, so as not to lose a minute. Do come and watch that corner
while I keep my eyes on this one," said Judith, in a sudden flurry.

She was standing with her nose pressed against the cool glass of the
studio window, staring eagerly out across the wintry square and scanning
the opposite streets with intent gaze, and even when she gestured
urgently to her older sister, her eyes never left the busy outdoor
scene.

"I wish the studio wasn't so high up in the air that we can't possibly
see the door," she regretted. "I'd so love to see her as she gets
out--Miss Pat always makes me feel sort of thrilly and excited when I
see her hopping out of a carriage or coming up the walk. Something nice
usually happens when she rushes in, all laughing and sparkly, doesn't
it, Elinor?" she ended, cuddling up against the tall, slender figure
which had joined her at the deep casement.

Elinor smiled and patted her pale hair. "I think, chick, that the best
thing that happens when Miss Pat comes in is--just Miss Pat herself."

Judith nodded, with her searching eyes on the crowded streets below.
"That must be it," she agreed thoughtfully. "I didn't think of it just
that way, but I guess you're right. She's so--so--pleasant that she
makes the stupid little things that happen seem like big eventful-ish
doings. At Greycroft this winter things seemed terribly exciting, and
now, when I look back at them, they really weren't so very wonderful."

"It's the spirit, my dearest Judy, that puts the sparkle into life,"
said Elinor absently, with her flexible artist hands straying idly over
the pale mass of her little sister's straight heavy locks. "Many girls
lead vastly more interesting and exciting lives than our dear Miss Pat,
but they have dull spirits, and so we don't notice them; while we're all
bursting with e