“Let’s play bridge,” said Patty; “that’s quiet, and I don’t feel like anything rackety-packety.”

“Bridge is good enough for me,” said Kenneth, manfully striving to shake off the gloom he felt.  He was really very much concerned about some important business matters, but he said nothing of this to any one.

They sat down at the bridge table, but the game dragged.  No one seemed interested, and they dealt the cards in silence.

Cameron tried to keep up a lively flow of conversation, and the others tried to respond to his efforts.  But though they succeeded fairly well, after the third rubber, Patty declared she could not play any longer, and she was going to her room for a nap.

“Come on,” said Marie, jumping up, “I’ll go with you.”

“Yes, do, girlies,” said Cameron, kindly.  “A little nap will do you good.  Come down for tea, won’t you?”

“I don’t know,” said Patty, doubtfully; “I think we’ll have tea in our rooms, and not come down till dinner time.”

“As you like,” returned Kit; “if we four have to live together for weeks, it won’t do to see too much of each other!”

“Then perhaps we won’t come down to dinner, either,” said Patty, with a momentary flash of her roguish nature.

“Oh, you must!” exclaimed Kenneth, who couldn’t help taking things seriously.  “You two girls are the only bright spots in this whole business!”

“Thank you,” and Patty smiled at him, as she and Marie went away.

“Come into my room,” said Patty, “and let’s talk this thing over.”

Soon the two girls, in kimonos, were sitting either side of the cheerful wood fire, discussing the outlook.

“It’s worse for you than for me, Patty,” said Marie, “for you have more social engagements, and all that sort of thing, than I do.  And besides, these are my relatives.  But for you, almost a stranger, to be held up here like this, it’s just awful!  I can’t tell you how bad I feel about it.”

“Now, Marie, let up on that sort of talk!  It’s no more your fault than it is mine, and the fact of the Perrys being your relatives doesn’t make a scrap of difference.  To be honest, the thing nearly floored me at first, for I never had anything like this happen to me before.  But that’s all the more reason why I should brace up to this first occasion,—­and from now on, you won’t hear another peep of discontent out of me.  If we have to stay here four weeks or eight weeks or twelve weeks, I’m going to behave myself like a desirable citizen.  And I’m only sorry that I’ve acted horrid so far.”

“You haven’t acted horrid, Patty.”