Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan and the PG Online
Distributed Proofreading Team.
Author of The Patty Books, The Marjorie Books, etc.
1919
"Oh, Little Billee! Come quick, for goodness' sake! The baby's choking!"
Patty was in the sun parlour, her arms full of a fluttering bundleof lace and linen, and her blue eyes wide with dismay at her smalldaughter's facial contortions.
"Only with laughter," Bill reassured her after a quick glance at therestless infant. "Give her to me."
The baby nestled comfortably in his big, powerful arms, and Patty satback in her chair and watched them both.
"What a pleasure," she said, complacently, "to be wife and mother to twosuch fine specimens of humanity! She grows more and more like you everyday, Little Billee."
"Well, if this yellow fuzz of a head and this pinky peach of a faceis like anybody in the world except Patty Farnsworth, I'll give up!Why, she's the image of you,—except when she makes these grotesquegrimaces,—like a Chinese Joss."
"Stop it! You shan't call my baby names! She's a booful-poofle! She's ahunny-bunny! She's her mudder's pressus girly-wirly,—so she wuz!"
"Oh, Patty, that I should live to hear you talk such lingo! I thought youwere going to be sensible."
"How can anybody be sensible with a baby like that! Isn't she the verywonderfullest ever! Oh, Billee, look at her angel smile!"
"Angel smile? More like a mountebank's grin! But I'm sure she means well.
And I'll agree she is the most wonderful thing in the world."
Bill tossed the child up and down, and chuckled at her evidentappreciation of his efforts for her amusement.
"Be careful of my baby, if you please," and Patty eyed the performancedubiously. "Suppose you drop my child?"
"I hardly think I shall, ma'am. And, incidentally, I suppose she is mychild?"
"No; a girl baby is always her mudder's own—only just her very ownmudder's own. Give her to me! Let me has my baby,—my ownty-donty baby!"
Farnsworth obediently handed Patty her property, and put another pillowbehind her as she sat in the low willow chair. Then he seated himselfnear, and adoringly watched his two treasures.
It was mid-April and the Farnsworths had been married more than a year.On their return from France, they had looked about for a home, and had atlast found a fortunate chance to buy at a bargain a beautiful place up inWestchester County. It was near enough to New York for a qui