"We're always looking for you," said Channing, gallantly, as he took up his teacup, "and it is a comfort to know where to find you. Of late you've been inaccessible."
"Not to you," and Elise glanced coquettishly from under her eyelashes.
"To me, then," put in Van Reypen. "I've not seen you, Elise, since I came back from Over There. You've grown a lot, haven't you?"
"Taller?"
"Mercy no! I mean mentally. You seem more—more grown up like."
"Everybody is, since the war work. Yes, Phil, I have grown,—I hope."
"There, there," warned Patty; "no serious talk just now, please,—and no war talk. For the moment, I claim your attention to my new house and its surroundings."
"Some claim you've staked out," and Chick grinned. "I want to see it all.
And,—moreover,—I want to see the rest of the family!"
Patty beamed. "You dear!" she cried; "do you really want to see my daughter?"
"My daughter," Farnsworth added; "but I didn't know you chaps would be interested in our infant prodigy. I never cared about seeing other people's babies."