bore a bold monogram, as did the rest of
Ray's toilet appointments, but Patty took it unhesitatingly, as she had
reached the limit of her patience and consideration.

She tied the note firmly to the brush, and leaning far out of the
window, waited for a promising passer-by. At last, a young man came
along, and Patty deftly threw the brush so that it landed at his very
feet. Practice at basketball and other such sports had made her
accurate of aim and as the astonished man saw the brush, he naturally
picked it up.

Patty watched him take off the note and read it, by the light of the
street electric, and after a swift gaze at the house, he started off at
a brisk pace.

"H'm," said Patty to herself, "not so worse, Miss Fairfield, not so
worse! The axe is laid at the root of the tree!"

Glancing at the clock, she sat down to wait. It was twenty minutes to
eight, but her heart beat high with hope. If she could outwit Ray Rose
it would be great fun, and she would "pay back" the mischievous girl in
her own coin.

At ten minutes to eight, the door of the room opened a little way. A
servant of the Rose household put her head in, and said, "This woman
wishes to see you, Miss Fairfield," and Sarah, a maid from the
Farringtons', stood in the doorway.

"Come in, Sarah," said Patty. "Close that door!" she said to the Rose
servant, so peremptorily, that the order was obeyed at once.

"Quick!" whispered Patty, and Sarah tore off her long cloak and bonnet
and veil, and Patty as quickly put them on. Then she took the small
basket Sarah had brought, and standing near the door, said, in a clear
voice: "You may go now, Sarah. Tell Miss Elise not to look for me this
evening."

"Yes, Miss Patty," Sarah responded, and then, as the servant outside
opened the door, Patty slipped through, turning her face so that it
might not be seen. The Rose servant, thinking Sarah had come out,
relocked the door quickly, that the prisoner might not escape, and
Patty went demurely downstairs, and out at the back door, without let
or hindrance. Once in the street, she fairly flew to the hall where
the circus performance was to be given, for she well knew that Ray Rose
had probably already secured her dancing costume from Elise by some
plausible bit of trickery.

It was but a few moments after eight when Patty walked into the
dressing-room of the amateur performers.

"For gracious' sake, Patty, where _have_ you been?" cried Elise, who
was