nt Grace, after Patty had told her
story. "I've had a suspicion, sometimes, that we Barlows were an
unconventional crowd, but we never borrowed anybody's house yet! It's
ridiculous, Patty, and you ought not to have let that woman have it!"

"I just couldn't help it, Aunt Grace, she was in such a twitter, and
threw herself on my mercy in such a way that I felt I had to help her
out."

"You're too soft-hearted, Patty; you'd do anything for anybody who asked
you."

"You needn't talk, Aunt Grace, you're just the same yourself, and you
know that if somebody came along this minute and wanted to borrow your
house you'd let her have it if she coaxed hard enough."

"I think very likely," said Aunt Grace, placidly. "Now, how are you going
to catch your father and Nan?"

"Why, they'll have to drive past here on their way home," said Patty,
"and I mean to stop them and tell them about it. We can put the horse in
your barn, I suppose."

"Yes, of course. And now we'll go out on the verandah, and then we can
see the Fairfield turn-out when it comes along."

The Fairfields were waylaid and stopped as they drove by the house, which
was not astonishing, as Patty and Bumble and Mrs. Barlow watched from the
piazza, while Bob was perched on the front gate post, and Uncle Ted was
pacing up and down the walk.

"What's the matter?" cried Mr. Fairfield, as he reined up his horse in
response to their various salutations.

"The matter is," said Patty, "that we haven't any home of our own
to-night, and so we're visiting Aunt Grace."

"Earthquake swallowed our house?" inquired Mr. Fairfield, as he turned to
drive in.

"Not quite," said Patty, "but one of the neighbours wanted to borrow it,
so I lent it to her."

"That Mrs. Roland, I suppose," said Nan; "she probably mislaid her own
house, she's so careless and rattle-pated."

"It was Mrs. Roland," said Patty, laughing, "and she's having a
dinner-party, and their tank burst, and most of the ceilings fell, and
really, Nan, you know yourself such things do upset a house, if they
occur on the day of a dinner-party."

Fuller explanations ensued, and though the Fairfields thought it a crazy
piece of business, they agreed with Patty, that it would have been
difficult to refuse Mrs. Roland's request.

And it really didn't interfere with the Fairfields'comfort at all, and
the Barlows protested that it was a great pleasure to them to entertain
their friends so unexpectedly, so, as Mr. Fai