Dr. Martin went away without any doubts as to
the speedy and entire recovery of his patient.

Mr. Fairfield and Nan quite agreed with the doctor's opinion that Patty
ought to go away for a rest and a pleasant vacation. The next thing was
to decide where she should go. It was out of the question, of course, to
consider any strange place for her to go alone, and as Mr. Fairfield
could not begin his vacation until July, and Nan was not willing to leave
him, there seemed to be no one to accompany Patty.

The only places, therefore, that Mr. Fairfield could think of, were for
her to go to Vernondale and visit the Elliotts, or down to the
Hurly-Burly where the Barlows had already gone for their summer season.

But neither of these plans suited Patty at all, for she said that
Vernondale would be no rest and not much fun. She was fond of her Elliott
cousins, but she felt sure that they would treat her as a semi-invalid
and coddle her until she went frantic.

The Hurly-Burly, she said, would be just the opposite. They would have no
consideration down there for the fact that she wanted a rest, but would
make her jog about hither and thither, taking long tramps and going on
tiresome picnics whether she wanted to or not.

So neither of these plans seemed just the thing, and Nan's proposal that
Patty go to Philadelphia and spend June with Mrs. Allen wasn't quite what
Patty wanted. Indeed, Patty did not know herself exactly what she wanted,
which was pretty good proof that she was not so far from the borders of
Nervous Land as they had believed.

And so when Elise came over one afternoon, and brought with her an
invitation for Patty, that young woman showed no hesitation in announcing
at once that it was exactly what she wanted. The invitation was nothing
more nor less than to go on a long motor-car trip with the Farringtons.

"It will be perfectly splendid," said Elise, "if you'll only go, Patty."

"Go!" said Patty, "I should think I would go! It's perfectly splendid of
you to invite me. Who are going?"

"Just father and mother, and Roger and myself," said Elise, "and you will
make five. Roger can run the car, or father can, either, for that matter,
so we won't take a man, and father has had a new top put on his big
touring-car and we can pile any amount of luggage up on it, so you can
take all the frocks you want to. We'll stop at places here and there, you
know, to visit, and of course, we'll always stop for meals and to s