“She says your Big Bill is coming to New York in February.”
“She did! A lot she knows about it! She’s a meddlesome Matty,—I think! And, besides, he isn’t,—’cause why? ’cause if he had been he would have told his little Patty person!”
“How’d she know?” asked Philip.
“Dunno. She may have heard some rumours or had inside information from somebody. I thought you’d be glad to hear it, Patty.”
“I am, if it’s true. But, I never believe good news, till I’m pretty positive. It saves disappointment, lots of times.”
“Little philosopher!” and Van Reypen gave her a sympathetic glance. “But I shouldn’t be surprised if that news were true, for I saw something in the paper this morning that looked like it.”
“When I get home, I’ll have a letter,” and Patty blushed a little, “and I rather guess I’ll be told, if there’s anything to tell.”
“Of course you will,” said Herron. “Also, I’d not be surprised if Miss Fairfield knows more herself than she tells! These letters from Washington to personal friends are not to be read aloud in the market-place,—for more reasons than one.”
Patty looked conscious, but said nothing. Indeed, it was true that Farnsworth often wrote bits of comment on subjects that Patty knew must not be talked over nor his information divulged. And so, she preserved a scrupulous secrecy regarding any war news her letters might hold.
Also, once in a while, Farnsworth sent Patty a little letter, sealed and enclosed in another. This he sometimes asked her not to open until a certain time, or he asked her to mail it in New York, for secret reasons.