“Yes, I have; when we played bridge I sat around like an old wet blanket.  Now I’ll tell you what, Marie, let’s plan something nice for this evening.  Something that will cheer up Mrs. Perry, and incidentally ourselves.  But isn’t it strange how we can’t make it seem like a house party?  Really, you know, it is one, and Babette isn’t sick enough,—­at least, not yet,—­for us to be gloomy and mournful.  And yet, for the life of me, I can’t feel gay and festive.  But I’m going to make myself feel so, if it takes all summer!  We’ve two awfully nice boys to entertain us, and you and I are good congenial chums.  Mrs. Perry is a dear and the baby is an awful comfort.  Now why, Marie, why can’t we act just as if there wasn’t any Babette?  I mean, of course, unless she gets very much worse.”

“It isn’t our concern for Babette that makes the trouble,” said Marie, slowly; “it’s our disappointment at our own inconvenience, and being kept here against our will.”

“You clever little thing!  You’ve put your finger right on the truth.  You’re right!  Our anxiety for Babette is real enough as far as it goes, but it’s secondary.  The primary cause of our gloom is pure selfishness! and the amazing part is, that I never realised it until you showed me!  Now I have always thought that the sin I abhorred most was selfishness, and here I am giving way to it at the first opportunity.  Well, it’s got to stop!  Now, then, let’s plan something real nice and pleasant for this evening, and have a good time.”

“I don’t think anything would be nicer than music,” said Marie.  “Lora has a violin, and Kit and I will play, and you can sing—­”

“And we’ll all sing choruses and things,—­real jolly ones, and enter into it with some spirit.”

“Yes; Lora loves to have people sing, and she’ll enjoy that.”

“And then other nights,” Patty went on, bravely, “we’ll get up some entertainment.  Tableaux, you know, or theatricals.”

“Yes, and we can play games and things.  Now shall we go down to tea?”

“No,” and Patty wagged her head, sagely; “it’s perfectly true that we mustn’t give those boys too much of our delightful society or they won’t appreciate it!  Let them wait for us till dinner time.  We’ll have our tea up here, and perhaps Mrs. Perry will be with us.  Let the boys shift for themselves till dinner time, and then they’ll be all the more glad to see us.”

Nora brought the tea tray up to the girls, and with it a note.

“I thought they’d holler for us,” said Patty, laughing as she read the note; “listen to this:  ’Twin stars of light and joy, do come down and illumine our dark and lonesome tea-table!  We pine and languish without you!  Oh, come quick, ere we fade away!  Kit and Ken.’  I thought they’d be lonesome,” and Patty nodded her head, with a satisfied air.  “Now you know, Marie, if we’ve got to take care of these boys for weeks, we must make them walk a chalk line.”