Fairfield kept his arm
around his little daughter as if he would never let her leave him again.
"But don't think your beautiful work isn't appreciated, my boy," he said to
Frank, as Patty called his attention to the cleverly constructed throne,
"indeed, I think now is the time to put it to use," and Mr. Fairfield
seated himself in the big chair and drew Patty down upon his knee.
Then Frank led off in three hearty cheers for Uncle Fred and Patty, and the
Elliott family joined in with a will.
And what a merry, happy Thanksgiving-day they had on the morrow!
Patty's pies were praised until the little maid blushed at the compliments
she received.
It was late in the afternoon before father and daughter found an
opportunity for a little talk by themselves; and then Patty told of her
love and admiration for Aunt Alice, and her great desire to spend the rest
of her life in Vernondale.
"For you see, papa," she said, "Aunt Alice is the only one of my aunts who
has a sense of proportion, and she certainly has. She is rich, but she
doesn't talk about it like Aunt Isabel's people; she reads, and knows a lot
about books, but she doesn't seem to think there's nothing else in the
world _but_ books, as Aunt Hester's family does; and as for the Hurly-Burly
people, they're lovely in some ways,--but, after living with Aunt Alice, I
couldn't stand their forgetfulness and carelessness.
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