When Patty Went to College | Page 4

said Patty, pleasantly. "Please be careful and don't
step on the paint. It's a great improvement, don't you think?"
"You oughter got permission--" he began, but his eye fell on the
tapestry and he stopped again.
"Yes," said Patty; "but we knew you couldn't spare a man just now to
paint it for us, so we didn't like to trouble you."
"It's against the rules to hang curtains on the walls."

"I have heard that it was," said Patty, affably, "and I think ordinarily it's
a very good rule. But just look at the color of that wall-paper. It's
pea-green. You have had enough experience with wall-paper, Mr.
Peters, to know that that is impossible, especially when our
window-curtains and portières are red."
Peters's eyes had traveled to the closet, bereft of its door. "Are you the
young lady," he demanded gruffly, "who asked me to have that door
taken off its hinges?"
"No," said Patty; "I think that must have been my room-mate. It was
very heavy," she continued plaintively, "and we had a great deal of
trouble getting it down, but of course we realized that you were awfully
busy, and that it really wasn't your fault. That's what I wanted the
screw-driver for," she added. "I'm sorry that I didn't get it back last
night, but I was very tired, and I forgot."
[Illustration: Men know such a lot about such things!]
Peters merely grunted. He was examining a corner cabinet hanging on
the wall. "Didn't you know," he asked severely, "that it's against the
rules to put nails in the plaster?"
"Those aren't nails," expostulated Patty. "They're hooks. I remembered
that you didn't like holes, so I only put in two, though I am really afraid
that three are necessary. What do you think, Mr. Peters? Does it seem
solid?"
Peters shook it. "It's solid enough," he said sulkily. As he turned, his
eye fell on the table in Priscilla's bedroom. "Is that a gas-stove in
there?" he demanded.
Patty shrugged her shoulders. "An apology for one--be careful, Mr.
Peters! Don't get against that bookcase. It's just painted."
Peters jumped aside, and stood like the Colossus of Rhodes, with one
foot on one stepping-stone, and the other on another three feet away. It
is hard for even a janitor to be dignified in such a position, and while he

was gathering his scattered impressions Patty looked longingly around
the room for some one to enjoy the spectacle with her. She felt that the
silence was becoming ominous, however, and she hastened to interrupt
it.
"There's something wrong with that stove; it won't burn a bit. I am
afraid we didn't put it together just right. I shouldn't be surprised if you
might be able to tell what's the matter with it, Mr. Peters." She smiled
sweetly. "Men know such a lot about such things! Would you mind
looking at it?"
Peters grunted again; but he approached the stove.
Five minutes later, when Priscilla stuck her head in to find out if, by
chance, anything remained of Patty, she saw Peters on his knees on the
floor of her bedroom, with the dismembered stove scattered about him,
and heard him saying, "I don't know as I have any call to report you, for
I s'pose, since they're up, they might as well stay"; and Patty's voice
returning: "You're very kind, Mr. Peters. Of course if we'd known--"
Priscilla shut the door softly, and retired around the corner to await
Peters's departure.
"How in the world did you manage him?" she asked, bursting in as
soon as the sound of his footsteps had died away down the corridor. "I
expected to sing a requiem over your remains, and I found Peters on his
knees, engaged in amicable conversation."
Patty smiled inscrutably. "You must remember," she said, "that Peters
is not only a janitor: he is also a man."

II
An Early Fright
"I'll make the tea to-day," said Patty, graciously.
"As you please," said Priscilla, with a skeptical shrug.

Patty bustled about amid a rattle of china. "The cups are rather dusty,"
she observed dubiously.
"You'd better wash them," Priscilla returned.
"No," said Patty; "it's too much trouble. Just close the blinds, please,
and we'll light the candles, and that will do as well. Come in," she
called in answer to a knock.
Georgie Merriles, Lucille Carter, and the Bartlet Twin appeared in the
doorway.
"Did I hear the two P's were going to serve tea this afternoon?" inquired
the Twin.
"Yes; come in. I'm going to make it myself," answered Patty, "and
you'll see how much more attentive a hostess I am than Priscilla. Here,
Twin," she added, "you take the kettle out and fill it with water; and,
Lucille, please go and borrow some alcohol from the freshmen