a cup of coffee, to brace you up."

"Oh, please not, Alla!" cried Patty, knowing the kind of coffee it
would be. "I don't want it, truly. Just give me a glass of water, and
let me sit still a minute without seeing anybody. It is exhausting to
dance like that."

"Yes, dear, it is. Now rest quietly, and I'll keep everybody away,
until you feel like seeing them."

But Patty was keyed up with the excitement of the occasion and
unwilling to rest for very long. So, with Alla's help, she was soon
rearrayed in her red velvet and ready to return to the Studio.

"I'm ashamed of myself," she said to Alla, "but I'm so vain, I really
want to go out there and hear people tell me that I did well!"

"That isn't vanity," Alla returned. "That's proper pride. If any one
can do a thing as well as you did that dance, it would be idiocy not to
enjoy hearing appreciative praise."

"Do you think so?" and Patty looked relieved; "I don't want to be
conceited, but I'm glad if I did well."

"Wait till you hear what Sam says! He's wild about you, anyway, and
after that dance he'll be crazier over you than ever."

Patty smiled, happily, and with a final adjustment of her freshly
done-up hair, she declared herself ready to return to the party.

As hers had been the last number on the program, she was not surprised
to find the audience standing about in groups, or picturesquely posed
on divans, and her appearance was the signal for a new hubbub of
excitement.

But before she could hear a definite word from any one, a tall,
powerful figure came striding up to her, and big Bill Farnsworth's
unsmiling blue eyes looked straight into her own merry ones.

Her merriment died away before the sternness of his expression.

"Get your wraps, Patty," he said, in low but distinct tones. "At once."

"What for?" and Patty stared at him in amazement. "What has happened?"

But she had no fear that any untoward accident had befallen, for
Farnsworth showed no sympathy or gentleness in his face, merely a
determined authority.

"Go at once," Farnsworth repeated, "and get your cloak."

"I won't do it," she replied, giving him an angry glance. "I don't
want to go home; why should I get my cloak?"

"Then I'll take you without it," and picking her up in his arms, Big
Bill strode through the throng of people, with as little embarrassment
as if he were walking along the street. Many turned to look at him
with curiosity, some smiled, but the Cosmic