Patty's Summer Days Part 16

Preparations for the picnic were scarcely under way when the racing-car that Roger had seen in the distance came near them. There was a whirring sound as it approached, and Patty glanced up from her alcohol stove to see that it was occupied by only one man. He was slowing speed, and evidently intended to stop. Long before he had reached them, Roger had hidden his tools, and though his work on the broken belt was not completed, he busied himself with the luncheon preparations, as if that was his sole thought.

The racing-car stopped and the man who was driving it got out.

At sight of him Patty with difficulty restrained her laughter, for though their own garb was queer, it was rational compared to the appearance of this newcomer.

A racing suit is, with perhaps the exception of a diver's costume, the most absurd-looking dress a man can get into. The stranger's suit was of black rubber, tightly strapped at the wrists and ankles, but it was his head-gear which gave the man his weird and uncanny effect. It was a combination of mask, goggles, hood, earflaps, and necks.h.i.+eld which was so arranged with hinges that the noseguard and mouthpiece worked independently of each other.

At any rate, it seemed to Patty the funniest show she had ever seen, and she couldn't help laughing. The man didn't seem to mind, however, and after he had bowed silently for a moment or two with great enjoyment of their mystification, he pulled off his astonis.h.i.+ng head-gear and disclosed his features.

"d.i.c.k Phelps!" exclaimed Mr. Farrington, "why, how are you, old man? I'm right down glad to see you!"

Mr. Phelps was a friend of the Farrington family, and quite naturally they invited him to lunch with them.

"Indeed I will," said the visitor, "for I started at daybreak, and I've had nothing to eat since. I can't tarry long though, as I must make New York City to-night."

Mr. Phelps was a good-looking young man of about thirty years, and so pleased was he with Patty's efforts in the cooking line, that he ate all the eggs she had boiled, and drank nearly all the tea, besides making serious inroads on the viands they had brought with them.

"It doesn't matter if I do eat up all your food," said the young man, pleasantly, "for you can stop anywhere and get more, but I mustn't stop again until I reach the city, and I probably won't have a chance to eat then, as I must push on to Long Island."

The Farringtons were quite willing to refresh the stranger within their gates, and they all enjoyed the merry little picnic.

"Where are you bound?" asked Mr. Phelps as he prepared to continue his way.

"To Pine Branches first," said Mrs. Farrington, "the country house of a friend. It's near Springfield, and from there we shall make short trips, and later on, continue our way in some other direction,--which way we haven't yet decided."

"Good enough," said Mr. Phelps, "then I'll probably see you again. I am often a guest at Pine Branches myself, and shall hope to run across you."

As every motorist is necessarily interested in his friend's car, Mr.

Phelps naturally turned to inspect the Farrington machine before getting into his own.

And so, to Roger's chagrin, he was obliged to admit that he was even then under the necessity of mending a broken belt.

But to Roger's relief, Mr. Phelps took almost no notice of it, merely saying that a detail defect was liable to happen to anybody. He looked over the vital parts of the motor, and complimented Roger on its fine condition. This pleased the boy greatly, and resuming his work after Mr.

Phelps' departure, he patched up the belt, while the others repacked the kit, and soon they started off again.

Swiftly and smoothly they ran along over the beautiful roads, occasionally meeting other touring-parties apparently as happy as they were themselves. Sometimes they exchanged merry greetings as they pa.s.sed, for all motorists belong to one great, though unorganised, fraternity.

"I've already discovered that trifling accidents are a part of the performance, and I've also discovered that they're easily remedied and soon over, and that when they are over they are quickly forgotten and it seems impossible that they should ever occur again."

"You've sized it up pretty fairly, Patty," said Roger, "and though I never before thought it out for myself, I agree with you that that is the true way to look at it."

On they went, leaving the miles behind them, and as Roger was anxious to make up for lost time he went at a slightly higher speed than he would have otherwise done. He slowed down, however, when they pa.s.sed horses or when they went through towns or villages.

Patty was greatly interested in the many small villages through which they rode, as nearly every one showed quaint or humorous scenes. Dogs would come out and bark at them, children would scream after them, and even the grown-up citizens of the hamlets would stare at them as if they had never seen a motor-car before, though Patty reasoned that surely many of them must have travelled that same road.

"When you meet another village, Roger," she said, "do go through it more slowly, for I like to see the funny people."

"Very well," said Roger, "you may stop and get a drink at the town pump, if you like."

"No, thank you," said Patty, "I don't want to get out, but I would like to stop a minute or two in one of them."

Roger would willingly have granted Patty's wish, but he was deprived of this privilege by the car itself. Just as they neared a small settlement known as Huntley's Corners, another ominous sound from the machine gave warning.

"That belt again!" exclaimed Roger. "Patty, the probabilities are that you'll have all the time you want to study up this village, and even learn the life history of the oldest inhabitant."

"What an annoying belt it is," said Mrs. Farrington in her pleasant way.

"Don't you think, Roger dear, that you had better get a new belt and be done with it?"

"That's just what I do think, Mother, but somehow I can't persuade myself that they keep them for sale at this corner grocery."

The car had reached the only store in the settlement, and stopped almost in front of it.

Patty was beginning to learn the different kinds of stops that a motor-car can make, and she felt pretty sure that this was not a momentary pause, but a stop that threatened a considerable delay.

She said as much to Roger, and he replied, "Patty, you're an apt pupil.

The Fact has paused here not for a day, but for all time, unless something pretty marvellous can be done in the way of belt mending!"

Patty began to think that accidents were of somewhat frequent occurrence, but Elise said, cheerfully, "This seems to be an off day. Why, sometimes we run sweetly for a week, without a word from the belt. Don't we, Roger?"

"Yes, indeed," said Roger, "but Patty may as well get used to the seamy side of motoring, and learn to like it."

"I do like it," declared Patty, "and if we are going to take up our abode here for the present, I'm going out to explore the town."

She jumped lightly from the car, and, accompanied by Elise, strolled down the main, and, indeed, the only street of the village.

CHAPTER XII

OLD CHINA

A few doors away from the country store in front of which the automobile stood, the girls saw a quaint old house, with a few toys and candies displayed for sale in a front window.

"Isn't it funny?" said Elise, looking in at the unattractive collection.

"See that old-fas.h.i.+oned doll, and just look at that funny jumping-jack!"

"Yes," said Patty, whose quick eye had caught sight of something more interesting, "but just look at that plate of peppermint candies. The plate, I mean. Why, Elise, it's a Millennium plate!"

"What's that?" said Elise, looking blank.

"A Millennium plate? Why, Elise, it's about the most valuable bit of old china there is in this country! Why, Nan would go raving crazy over that.

I'd rather take it home to her than any present I could buy in the city shop. Elise, do you suppose whoever keeps this little store would sell that plate?"

"No harm in trying," said Elise, "there's plenty of time, for it will take Roger half an hour to fix that belt. Let's go in and ask her."

"No, no," said Patty, "that isn't the way. Wait a minute. I've been china hunting before, with Nan, and with other people, and you mustn't go about it like that. We must go in as if we were going to buy some of her other goods, and then we'll work around to the plate by degrees. You buy something else, Elise, and leave the plate part to me."