"Oh, I don't know," Valerie. "It's just as likely to be some way she's planning for a chance to show off."
"Did you hear Vera Vane telling about the afternoon that Patricia knocked at her door, and said that she had come to 'make a call'?"
"I didn't hear that," said Valerie. "What did she do?"
"She was wearing all the rings and bangles that she owned, and in her hand was a card-case, just as if she were grown up. She sat on the tip edge of her chair, and she kept taking out her handkerchief, and shaking it because it was drenched with perfumery, and when she went, she emptied the card-case on the table, and Vera counted the cards. Say, Patricia had left _fifty_. Wasn't that funny?"
"Hush--sh!" breathed Valerie, "she might hear you."
Patricia rushed forward, while Arabella, as usual, hung back, preferring to stare at Betty and Valerie through her spectacles, rather than have a little chat.
She wanted to watch their faces, and see if they were greatly surprised with the news that Patricia had to tell.
"Guess where we're going!" Patricia cried, "but you couldn't guess, so I'll tell you. We're going over to the well, the one that's called the wishing-well," she explained, "and we mustn't tell what we mean to wish for, 'cause if you tell, you wouldn't get your wish. Did you know that?"
"I'll tell you to-morrow just how to find it, but we can't stop now. There isn't time."
"Late!" cried Valerie. "I guess you two are late. We think we have to hurry to get to Glenmore on time, and you are going away from school every minute. Why don't you go to the well, if you want to, to-morrow."
Arabella thought that they ought to turn back, but Patricia seized her hand, and the two commenced to run.
"They'll be a half-hour late," said Valerie, looking after the flying figures.
"And 'The Fender' will be waiting for a chance to scold them when they come in," said Betty.
As they pushed the gate open, they saw a little figure disappearing around the corner of the house.
"I didn't see her face. Are you sure it was Ida?" Betty asked.
"Oh, it was Ida," Valerie answered, "and I do wonder why she stays in her room all the time. If she happens to come down when the girls are out, she runs, the moment she sees any of us coming."