Patty thanked her, but would not promise, as she had made up her mind to accept no invitations that could not include the Farringtons.

But Ma’amselle Labesse did include the Farringtons, and invited the whole party to visit her in the winter.

Mrs. Farrington gave no definite answer, but said she would see about it, and perhaps they would run out for the week-end.

For the first five or six days of their journey the weather was perfect and the ocean calm and level.  But one morning they awoke to find it raining, and later the rain developed into a real storm.  The wind blew furiously and the boat pitched about in a manner really alarming.  The old ma’amselle took to her stateroom, and Mrs. Farrington also was unable to leave hers.  But the girls were pleased rather than otherwise.  Patty and Elise proved themselves thoroughly good sailors, and were among the few who appeared at the table at luncheon.

After the meal, Bob and Guy Van Ness came up to the girls and asked them if they cared to brave the storm sufficiently to go out on deck.  Elise, though not timid, declared that she could see all she wished through the windows; but Patty, always ready for a new experience, expressed her desire to go.

She put on her own little rain-coat and tied a veil over her small cap, but when she presented herself as ready the boys laughed at her preparations.

“That fancy little mackintosh is no good,” said Bob; “but you wait a minute, Patty; we’ll fix you.”

Bob disappeared, and soon returned, bringing from somewhere an oilskin coat and cap of a brilliant yellow color.  These enveloped Patty completely, and as the boys were arrayed in similar fashion, they looked like three members of a life-saving corps, or, as Patty said, like the man in the advertisement of cod-liver oil.

Although the yellow oilskins were by no means beautiful, yet Patty’s rosy face peeping out from under the queer-shaped, ear-flapped cap was a pretty picture.

Laughing with glee, they stepped out on the deck into the storm.  The stepping out was no easy matter, for the wind was blowing a hurricane and the spray was dashing across the decks, while the rain seemed to come from all directions at once.

With the two big boys on either side of her, Patty felt no fear, and as they walked forward toward the bow of the ship she felt well repaid for coming out by the grandeur of the sight.  It was impossible to distinguish sea from sky, as both were of the same leaden grey, and the torrents of rain added to the obscurity.  The ocean was in a turmoil, frothing and fuming, and the waves rolled over and broke against the ship with angry vehemence.  Patty, though not frightened, was awed at the majesty of the elements, and did not in the least mind the rain and spray in her face as she gazed at the scene.

“You’re good wood!” exclaimed Guy; “not many girls could stand up against a storm like this.”