The handsome face was so waggish and full of sheer, joyous fun, that they all laughed and the matter was amicably settled.
"But I want my picture," Cameron said, as he rose to go.
"And you shall have it," said Patty, running out of the room.
She returned with a cabinet photograph, wrapped in a bit of tissue paper.
"Please appreciate it," she said, demurely, "for never before have I given my photograph to a young man. They say it is an excellent likeness of me."
Cameron removed the paper, and saw a picture of Patty taken at the age of two years.
It was a lovely baby picture, with merry eyes and smiling lips.
The quick-witted young man betrayed none of the disappointment he felt, and only said, "It is indeed a striking likeness! I never saw a better photograph! Thank you, a thousand times."
Then, amid the general laughter that ensued, Cameron went away.
The Fairfields discussed the whole matter, and Patty finally summed up the consensus of opinion, by saying: "Well, I don't care! It was an awfully good joke, and he's an awfully nice boy!"