CHAPTER IX
THE PLAY
The play went through beautifully. Every girl did her part wonderfullywell, but Patty surpassed them all. Buoyed up by excitement, she playedher part with a dash and sprightliness that surprised even the girls whohad seen her at rehearsal. She was roguish, merry and tragic by turns,and she sang her solos with a dramatic effect that brought down thehouse. She looked unusually pretty, which was partly the effect of herintense excitement, and though Nan and Mr. Fairfield could not helpadmiring and applauding with the rest, they were very anxious and reallyalarmed, lest she might not be able to keep up to these emotional heightsuntil the end of the play.
Without speaking his thoughts to anyone else, Mr. Hepworth, too, was verymuch concerned for Patty's welfare. He realised the danger she was in,and noted every evidence of her artificial strength and merriment. SeeingDr. Martin in a seat near the back of the room, he quietly rose and wentand sat beside the old gentleman.
"Doctor," he said, "I can't help fearing that a collapse of some sortwill follow Miss Fairfield's performance."
"I am sure of it," said the Doctor, looking gravely at Mr. Hepworth.
"Then don't you think perhaps it would be wise for you to go aroundbehind the scenes, presently, and be there in case of emergency."
"I will gladly do so," said Dr. Martin, "if Mr. and Mrs. Fairfieldauthorise it."
Mr. Hepworth looked at his programme, and then he looked at Patty. Heknew the play pretty thoroughly, and he knew that she was making one ofthe final speeches. He saw too, that she had nearly reached the limit ofher endurance, and he said, "Dr. Martin, I wish you would go on myauthority. The Fairfields are sitting in the front part of the house, andit would be difficult to speak to them about it without creating acommotion. And besides, I think there is no time to be lost; this isalmost the end of the play, and in my judgment, Miss Fairfield is prettynearly at the end of her self-composure."
Dr. Martin gave the younger man a searching glance, and then said, "Youare right, Mr. Hepworth. It may be advisable that I should be there whenMiss Fairfield comes off the stage. I will go at once. Will you come withme?"
"Yes," said Mr. Hepworth, and the two men quietly left the room, andhastened around the building to the side entrance.
As Mr. Hepworth had assisted with the scenery for the play, and had beenpresent at one or two rehearsals, he knew his way about, and guided Dr.Martin through the corridors to the room where the girls were gathered,waiting their cue to go on the stage for the final tableau and chorus.
Lorraine and Hilda looked at each other comprehendingly, as the two menappeared, but the other girls wondered at this apparent intrusion.
Then as the time came, they all went on the stage, and Dr. Martin and Mr.Hepworth, watching from the side, saw them form the pretty final tableau.
Patty in a spangled dress and tinsel crown, waving a gilt wand, stood ona high pedestal. Around her, on lower pedestals, and on the floor, werethe rest of the fairy maidens in their glittering costumes.
The last notes of the chorus rang out, and amidst a burst of applause thecurtain fell. The applause continued so strongly that the curtain wasimmediately raised again, and the delighted audience viewed once more thepretty scene.
Mr. Hepworth was nearer the stage than Dr. Martin, in fact, in hisanxiety, he was almost edging on to it, and while the curtain was up, andthe audience was applauding, and the orchestra was playing, and thecalcium lights were flashing their vari-coloured rays, his intensewatchfulness noticed a slight shudder pass over Patty's form, then sheswayed slightly, and her eyes closed.
In a flash Mr. Hepworth had himself rung the bell that meant the drop ofthe curtain, and as the curtain came down, he sprang forward among thebewildered girls, and reached the tall pedestal just in time to catchPatty as she tottered and fell.
"She has only fainted," he said, as he carried her off the stage, "pleasedon't crowd around, she will be all right in a moment."
He carried her to the dressing-room and gently laid her on a couch. Dr.Martin followed closely, and Mr. Hepworth left Patty in his charge.
"You, Miss Hamilton, go in there," he said to Lorraine, at the door, "andsee if you can help Dr. Martin. I will speak to the Fairfields and seethat the carriage is ready. I don't think the audience knows anythingabout it, and there need be no fuss or commotion."
Quick-witted Hilda grasped the situation, and kept the crowd of anxiousgirls out of the dressing-room, while Dr. Martin administeredrestoratives to Patty.
But it was not so easy to overcome the faintness that had seized uponher. When at last she did open her eyes, it was only to close them againin another period of exhaustion.
However, this seemed to encourage Dr. Martin.
"It's better than I feared," he said. "She isn't delirious. There is nothreat of brain fever. She will soon revive now, and we can safely takeher home."
And so when the Doctor declared that she might now be moved, Mr.Fairfield supported her on one side, and Kenneth on the other as theytook her to the carriage.
"Get in, Mrs. Fairfield," said Kenneth, after Patty was safely seated byher father, "and you too, Dr. Martin. I'll jump up on the box with thedriver. Perhaps I can help you at the house."
So away they went, without a word or a thought for poor Mr. Hepworth, towhose watchfulness was really due the fact of Dr. Martin's opportuneassistance. And too, if Mr. Hepworth had not seen the first signs ofPatty's loss of consciousness, her fall from the high pedestal might haveproved a serious accident.
Although Dr. Martin told the family afterward of Mr. Hepworth's kindthoughtfulness, it went unnoted at the time. But of this, Mr. Hepworthhimself was rather glad than otherwise. His affection for Patty was suchthat he did not wish the girl to feel that she owed him gratitude, and hepreferred to have no claim of the sort upon her.
When the party reached the Fairfield house, Patty had revived enough totalk rationally, but she was very weak, and seemed to have lost allenthusiasm and even interest in the occasion.
"It's all over, isn't it?" she asked of her father in a helpless,pathetic little voice.
"Yes, Puss," said Mr. Fairfield, cheerily, "it's all over, and it was aperfect success. Now don't bother your head about it any more, but justget rested, and get a good sleep, and then we'll talk it over."
Patty was quite willing not to discuss the subject, and with Nan'sassistance she was soon in bed and sound asleep.
Dr. Martin stood watching her. "I don't know," he said to Nan, "whetherthis sleep will last or not. If it does all will be well, but she maywake up soon, and become nervous and hysterical. In that case give herthese drops, which will have a speedy effect. I will be around againearly to-morrow morning."
But the doctor's fears were not realised. Patty slept deeply all throughthe night, and had not waked when the doctor came in the morning.
"Don't waken her," he said, as he looked at the sleeping girl. "She's allright. There's no fear of nervous prostration now. The stress is over,and her good constitution and healthy nature are reasserting themselvesand will conquer. She isn't of a nervous temperament, and she is simplyexhausted from overwork. Don't waken her, let her sleep it out."
And so Patty slept until afternoon, and then awoke, feeling more like herold self than she had for many days.
"Nan," she called, and Nan came flying in from the next room.
"I'm awful hungry," said Patty, "and I am pretty tired, but the play isover, isn't it, Nan? I can't seem to remember about last night."
"Yes, it's over, Patsy, and everything is all right, and you haven't athing to do but get rested. Will you have your breakfast now, or yourluncheon?--because you've really skipped both."
"Then I'll have them both," said Patty with decision. "I'm hungry enoughto eat a house."
Later, Patty insisted on dressing and going downstairs for dinner,declaring she felt perfectly well, but the exertion tired her more thanshe cared to admit, and when Dr. Martin came in the evening, shequestioned him directly.<
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"I'm not really ill, am I, Dr. Martin? I'll be all right in a day or two,won't I? It's so silly to get tired just walking downstairs."
"Don't be alarmed," said the old doctor, "you will be all right in a dayor two. By day after to-morrow you can walk downstairs, or run down, ifyou like, without feeling tired at all."
"Then that's all right," said Patty. "I suppose I did do too much with myschool work, and the play, and everything, but I couldn't seem to helpit, and if I get over it in a week I'll be satisfied. In fact, I shan'tmind a bit, lounging around and resting for a few days."
"That's just the thing for you to do," agreed Dr. Martin, "and I'll giveyou another prescription. After a week or two of rest, you needrecreation. You must get out of the city, and go somewhere in thecountry. Not seashore or the mountains just yet, but away into thecountry, where you'll have plenty of fresh air and nothing to do. Youmustn't look at a book of any sort or description for a month or two atleast. Will you promise me that?"
"With great pleasure," said Patty, gaily, "I don't think I shall care tosee a book all summer long; not a schoolbook anyway. I suppose I may readstorybooks."
"Not at present," said the doctor. "Let alone books of all sorts for acouple of months, and after that I'll see about it. What you want isplenty of fresh air and outdoor exercise. Then you'll get back the rosesin your cheeks, and add a few pounds of flesh to your attenuated frame."
"Your prescription sounds attractive," said Patty, "but where shall Igo?"
"We'll arrange all that," said Mr. Fairfield. "I think myself that allyou need is recreation and rest, with a fair proportion of each."
"So do I," said Patty; "I don't want to go to an old farmhouse, wherethere isn't a thing to do but walk in the orchard; I want to go whereI'll have some fun."
"Go ahead," said the doctor, "fun won't hurt you any as long as it'soutdoor sports or merry society. But don't get up any plays, or any suchfoolishness, where fun is only a mistaken name for hard work."
Patty promised this, and Dr. Martin went away without any doubts as tothe speedy and entire recovery of his patient.
Mr. Fairfield and Nan quite agreed with the doctor's opinion that Pattyought to go away for a rest and a pleasant vacation. The next thing wasto decide where she should go. It was out of the question, of course, toconsider any strange place for her to go alone, and as Mr. Fairfieldcould not begin his vacation until July, and Nan was not willing to leavehim, there seemed to be no one to accompany Patty.
The only places, therefore, that Mr. Fairfield could think of, were forher to go to Vernondale and visit the Elliotts, or down to theHurly-Burly where the Barlows had already gone for their summer season.
But neither of these plans suited Patty at all, for she said thatVernondale would be no rest and not much fun. She was fond of her Elliottcousins, but she felt sure that they would treat her as a semi-invalidand coddle her until she went frantic.
The Hurly-Burly, she said, would be just the opposite. They would have noconsideration down there for the fact that she wanted a rest, but wouldmake her jog about hither and thither, taking long tramps and going ontiresome picnics whether she wanted to or not.
So neither of these plans seemed just the thing, and Nan's proposal thatPatty go to Philadelphia and spend June with Mrs. Allen wasn't quite whatPatty wanted. Indeed, Patty did not know herself exactly what she wanted,which was pretty good proof that she was not so far from the borders ofNervous Land as they had believed.
And so when Elise came over one afternoon, and brought with her aninvitation for Patty, that young woman showed no hesitation in announcingat once that it was exactly what she wanted. The invitation was nothingmore nor less than to go on a long motor-car trip with the Farringtons.
"It will be perfectly splendid," said Elise, "if you'll only go, Patty."
"Go!" said Patty, "I should think I would go! It's perfectly splendid ofyou to invite me. Who are going?"
"Just father and mother, and Roger and myself," said Elise, "and you willmake five. Roger can run the car, or father can, either, for that matter,so we won't take a man, and father has had a new top put on his bigtouring-car and we can pile any amount of luggage up on it, so you cantake all the frocks you want to. We'll stop at places here and there, youknow, to visit, and of course, we'll always stop for meals and to stayover night."
"But perhaps they wouldn't want me," said Patty, "where you go to visit."
"Nonsense, of course they will. Why, I wrote to Bertha Warner that Iwanted to bring you, and she said she'd love to have you come."
"How could she say so? she doesn't know me."
"Well, I told her all about you, and she's fully prepared to love you asI do. Oh, do you suppose your people will let you go?"
"Of course they will. They'll be perfectly delighted to have me go."
Patty was right. When she told her father and Nan about the delightfulinvitation, they were almost as pleased as she was herself, and Mr.Fairfield gave ready permission.
The projected trip entirely fulfilled Dr. Martin's requisites of freshair, out-of-door exercise, and a good time, and when he was told of theplan he also expressed his entire approval.