It looked like haste and anger, but for weeks Patricia had been so far behind the others of her class, that she believed that any day Mrs. Marvin would send her home with a letter stating that she had been neglecting study, and must give up her place to some ambitious pupil. Patricia preferred to go of her own choice, so she rushed to her room, and began to pack her belongings.
Arabella stood watching her as if not fully realizing that she was losing her chum.
She was not quite so dull as she appeared. She was sorry to have Patricia go, and she was not at all sure that she would like her room all to herself. At the same time she was comforting herself with the thought that there would be no one to make her eat things that she ate for the sake of peace and that nearly always made her ill, or to drag her into mischief that she, herself would never have thought of. When Patricia's trunk was strapped to the back of the carriage, and she stood on the porch, her suit-case in one hand, her other hand holding the dog's leash, she turned to Arabella.
"Well, aren't you going to say something, now I'm ready to start?" she asked.
"Do'no' what to say," drawled Arabella.
Arabella had spoken the truth, which, however, was not complimentary, and Patricia was offended.
Arabella, looking after her tried to decide just how she felt. She would miss Patricia, because at times she was a lively chum, but she was quick to take offense, and Arabella was always doing something that displeased her.
Then, too, Arabella had a very small allowance, while Patricia spent money with a free hand, and always "shared" with Arabella. But what joy was there in eating the oddly chosen "treats"?
Arabella decided that as there was but a short time before the closing of school, it was, perhaps, the best thing that could have happened, that Patricia had decided to go back to Merrivale. It seemed strange that she should prefer to be with her aunt in Merrivale, rather than with her mother, at their home in New York, but those who knew were not surprised.
Mrs. Levine was as strange in some respects, as her little daughter was in others. If Patricia enjoyed being away from home, Mrs. Levine, flighty, and weak-willed, was glad to be free from the care of Patricia.