“I suppose you want a return compliment about the Sleeping Beauty,” he said, “but you won’t get it. Too much flattery isn’t good for a baby like you, and I shall reserve my pretty speeches for my wife.”
“Oh, I’ll share them with Patty,” laughed Nan, “but with no one else.”
“Tell us about your evening, girlie,” said her father. “Did you have a good time?”
“Fine,” said Patty. “The Hartleys are lovely people; I like them better than any I’ve met in London, so far. And they do puzzles, and ask riddles, and they’re just as clever and quick as Americans. I’ve heard that English people were heavy and stupid, and they’re not, a bit.”
“You mustn’t believe all you hear. Are they a large family?” “Not very. Two sons, one daughter, and the mother and grandmother. Mabel’s father has been dead for years. And they want me to visit them at their home in Leicester this summer. Can’t I go?”
“Desert your own family for foreigners!”
“Yes; I do want to go there and to some other country places while you and Nan go touristing about. Mayn’t I?”
“We won’t decide now. It’s too near midnight for important matters to be discussed. Skip to bed, chickabiddy, and dream of the Stars and Stripes, lest you forget them entirely.”
“Never!” cried Patty, striking a dramatic attitude.
| “Though English people may be grand, My heart is in my native land!” |