She went out and shut the door; and Sally heard a muffled shriek and Cousin Patty's door slammed. An instant later, her own door opened and Doctor Beatty appeared. He was smiling.
"Nearly scared Patty into a fit," he said. "She ought to know my habits by this time."
Miss Patty soon came in again, clothed but not quite in her right mind. Her color was still high and she seemed a little flustered. Doctor Beatty did not turn around.
"Oh, there you are, Patty," he said. "I won't look, you know, until you give the word."
"How absurd!" Miss Patty exclaimed. She meant to be very dignified, but she was very nearly smiling. "But that is to be expected. You always were absurd."
The doctor's visit was a long one; and, when it was done, Miss Patty went to the door with him.
"It has seemed quite like old times," she said softly.
For a moment the doctor did not know what she was talking about. "What?" he asked blankly. "Oh, yes, it has, more or less, hasn't it? Good-bye, Patty. Keep your liver on the job. You're looking a little bit yellow."
There were tears in Miss Patty's eyes when she went back to sit with Sally.
"Doctor Beatty," she remarked after a short silence, "is not what he was in the old days. He seems to have coarsened."