“Bless her heart!” she said; “she’s a good girl, is Miss Patty, Mr. Fairfield. And to think of those two dear children alone in Milan! How soon can I start?”
Mr. Fairfield smiled at her ready acceptance of Patty’s suggestion, and replied:
“You must get your breakfast first. The girls are all right now, you know. I’ve telegraphed them that we’ve received their message and will send for them. You can reach them by noon, I think, and have them back here before sunset. I’ll go for them, if you prefer.”
But Snippy declared herself quite willing to go, so, after an early breakfast, she set out for Milan.
Accustomed to travelling, she did not mind the journey at all, and in her gladness at Flo’s safety, she was once again her own staid, sensible self.
She reached the hotel duly, paid the bills the girls had incurred, gave Mrs. Ponderby a generous gift from Mr. Fairfield, and many earnest thanks from them all.
“It’s so nice that you can’t scold me, Snippy,” remarked Flo, after they were in the train for Venice; “somehow, I think you’d like to scold somebody, and you know that I wasn’t a bit to blame. You daren’t scold Mr. Fairfield; Patty deserves only praise; so, poor thing, you’ve nobody to berate, have you?”
“I blame myself, Miss Flo,” said Snippy, primly, “that I ever let you out of my sight.”
“Oh, well, Snips, all’s well that ends well, and we’ll have a booful time in Venice.”
Flo never took Snippy very seriously, so the two girls gave themselves up to enjoyment of their journey, and looked forward eagerly to their arrival in Venice at last.