e.

But when she saw it was Miss Patty she sat up at once, looking dazed and
frightened.

"You needn't pinch me, Pat!" she said, and at that Mr. Dick wakened and
jumped up, with the carriage robe still around him.

"Oh, Dolly, Dolly!" said Miss Patty suddenly, dropping on her knees
beside Mrs. Dicky, "what a bad little girl you are! What a thing for you
to do! Think of father and Aunt Honoria!"

"I shan't," retorted Mrs. Dicky decidedly. "I'm not going to spoil my
honeymoon like that. For heaven's sake, Pat, don't cry. I'm not dead.
Dick, this is my sister, Patricia."

Miss Pat looked at him, but she didn't bow. She gave him one look, from
his head to his heels.

"Dolly, how COULD you!" she said, and got up.

It wasn't very comfortable for Mr. Dick, but he took it much better than
I expected. He went over and gave his wife a hand to help her up, and
still holding hers, he turned to Miss Patty.

"You are perfectly right," he said, "I don't see how she could myself.
The more you know of me the more you'll wonder. But she did; we're up
against that."

He grinned at Miss Patty, and after a minute Miss Patty smiled back. But
it wasn't much of a smile. I was unpacking the breakfast, putting the
coffee-pot on the fire and getting ready to cook the eggs and make
toast. But I was watching, too. Suddenly Mrs. Dick made a dive for Miss
Patty and threw her arms around her.

"You darling!" she cried. "I'm so glad to see you again--Pat, you'll
tell father, won't you? He'll take it from you. If I tell him he'll have
apoplexy or something."

But Miss Patty set her pretty mouth--both those girls have their
father's mouth--and held her sister out at arm's length and looked at
her.

"Listen," she said. "Do you know what you have done to me? Do you know
that when father knows this he's going to annul the marriage or have Mr.
Carter arrested for kidnaping or abduction?--whatever it is." Mrs. Dick
puckered her face to cry, and Mr. Dick took a step forward, but Miss
Patty waved him off. "You know father as well as I do, Dolly. You know
what he is, and lately he's been awful. He's not well--it's his liver
again--and he won't listen to anything. Why, the Austrian ambassador
came up here, all this distance, to talk about the etiquette of the--of
my wedding, something about precedence, and he wouldn't even see him."

"He can't annul it," said Mr. Dick angrily. "I'm of age. And I can
support my wife, too, or will be able--soon."