"I'm so glad you came," she said with great cordiality, seating herself
near the other and beaming on her. "I haven't seen a soul since one
o'clock and I was beginning to petrify."

"First day?" inquired the girl laconically.

On Patricia admitting it was not only her first day, but first
afternoon, having parted from her sister only after a light and early
lunch in her own room, the newcomer nodded.

"H--h'm. It gets you, doesn't it? The first time you're stranded on a
lonely shore certainly makes home look good," she said thoughtfully.
"Funny thing is, that no matter how dressy the shore happens to be," she
threw a glance about the luxuriant room, "it's just as lonely--the first
time. Ever been away from home before?"

Patricia explained that she had never had a real home till nearly two
years ago, but that she had never been entirely separated from both her
sisters and friends until now.

"Plenty of nice girls here," the girl acknowledged. "But you have to
pick out your own sort for yourself. Have you known Merton long?"

Patricia recognized the art student in the use of the last name, and she
said eagerly, "I hardly know her at all. You aren't studying with
Tancredi, are you?"

As she expected, the girl laughed a quick negative. "Not me," she
returned, ungrammatical and emphatic. "I can't croak a note and my
fingers never would make melody if I tried till I were a hundred. I'm
doing the other side--paint and the like."

"I knew it!" cried Patricia, much pleased by her own perception. "I was
sure I smelled paint when you came in. Have you a studio, or are you
studying at one of the schools?"

"Both," answered the other, briskly. "I have a sort of studio across the
hall here, and I am going to night life at the only school in New York.
How did you recognize the hall-marks? I thought you were vocal and
Tancredi?"

Patricia told her that she had spent some months at the Academy in
another city, and that both her sister and brother-in-law were artists,
and though she had just started in as a music student, she was much more
familiar with the fraternity than with the song birds.

"I see," said the girl. "You must be worth while, even though you are
located in these fluffy apartments with the ultra Merton. I think I
shall become better acquainted. What's your name?"

Patricia was much diverted by this direct address. "I am Patricia
Kendall," she returned with equal candor. "I like your looks, too, and
I'm