"I'm sure of it!" Gale was laughing now. "Let's go out on the verandah and talk it over."
"Don't trust him too implicitly, Miss Thorpe," warned Betty; "my brother is a first-grade scalawag,--and I want you to be forewarned!"
"There, there, Sis, I'll do my own forewarning. Come along, Miss Thorpe, we'll sit under the spreading wistaria tree."
The two disappeared, and there was a moment's silence, and then Patty said,
"Our cousin is from Arizona, and it's hard for her, at first, to adapt herself to our more formal ways. It must be great out there,--all wide spaces, and big, limitless distances--"
"God's country!" said Farnsworth, who always had a love for his Western wilds.
"Nix!" cried Betty, "I've been there, and it's just one cactus after another!"
"Well, cactuses are all right,--in their place," said Patty, smiling. "They're as much verdure as maples or redwoods."
"Quite different kind of verdure," said Betty. "Now, Patty, I want to do something for your cousin,--right away, I mean, to help you launch her."
"Oh, no, Betty; you're awfully kind, but--"
"Yes, I shall, too. I'm your nearest neighbour, and it's my right. I suppose you'll give her a luncheon or something, first, and then I'll follow it with a tea, or a dance, or whatever you like. There'll be lots of things for her later on, so I want to get my bid in first. How pretty she is."
"You're a darling, Betty," cried Patty, enthusiastically, touched by her friend's kindness, "but,--well, there's no use mincing matters,--I'm not sure Azalea is quite ready to be presented to society."
"Indeed she isn't!" put in Farnsworth, "I want you to understand that she's _my_ cousin,--not Patty's. And, also my wife's quite right,--Azalea is not ready for social functions,--of any sort. You see, Betty, we can't blink the facts,--she's of the West, western,--in the least attractive sense. I'm fond of my home, and unashamed of my people, but all the same, I'm not going to have Patty embarrassed by the ignorance and awkwardness of an untutored guest. And so here's where I set my foot down. We accept no invitations for Azalea until we think she is in trim to make a correct appearance in society."
"Oh, Cousin Bill, I overheard you and I think you're just horrid!" Azalea came running back into the room, while Raymond Gale followed, evidently in a dilemma how to act.