"The brightest and wittiest of Mrs. Burnett's stories."--_Baltimore Every Saturday._ "A particularly sparkling story, the subject being the young heiress of a Pacific-slope silver-mine, thrown amid the very proper petty aristocracy of an English rural town."--_Springfield Republican._ "Mrs. Burnett's new and charming story, which is much different from, and much better than, 'The Lass of Lowrie's.'"--_Philadelphia Evening News._ FOR SALE EVERYWHERE. JAMES R. OSGOOD & CO. PUBLISHERS, =BOSTON.= _ROUND-ROBIN SERIES._ _Patty's Perversities._ [Illustration: "PERHAPS IT MAY TURN OUT A SONG, PERHAPS TURN OUT A SERMON."] BOSTON JAMES R. OSGOOD AND COMPANY 1881 COPYRIGHT, 1881, BY JAMES R. OSGOOD AND COMPANY. _All rights reserved._ _Stereotyped and Printed by Rand, Avery, & Co., 117 Franklin Street, Boston._ CONTENTS. CHAPTER. PAGE. I. MORNING 1 II. "A BIRD IN THE BUSH" 5 III. "A BIRD IN THE HAND" 12 IV. THE PICNIC 20 V. A MISHAP 26 VI. CHIT-CHAT 35 VII. A BUSINESS INTERVIEW 43 VIII. ON THE PIAZZA 49 IX. AN ARRIVAL 55 X. A CHANCE MEETING 61 XI. A BUNDLE OF PAPERS 67 XII. AN AFTERNOON RIDE 73 XIII. AT REHEARSAL 79 XIV. AN ELOPEMENT 86 XV. A CASTLE IN THE AIR 95 XVI. THE CHURCH AT SAMOSET 111 XVII. A CONFIDENCE 121 XVIII. A CHAPTER OF SHREDS AND PATCHES 129 XIX. TOXTETH SEEKS AN ALLY 136 XX. AN OUTBURST 144 XXI. THE PRODIGAL'S RETURN 151 XXII. A MISUNDERSTANDING 156 XXIII. NOTES AND SOUVENIRS 163 XXIV. MRS. SANFORD SPEAKS 171 XXV. CLARENCE SPEAKS 181 XXVI. MULLEN HOUSE 186 XXVII. THE RUSTIC ROAD 194 XXVIII. THE THEATRICALS 199 XXIX. NIGHT-SCENES 206 XXX. THE WOUNDS OF A FRIEND 211 XXXI. AUNT JEFF REMONSTRATES 219 XXXII. HEADS AND TAILS 227 XXXIII. "WHEN SHE WILL, SHE WILL" 233 XXXIV. THE MASKERS 241 XXXV. PETER MIXON 246 XXXVI. MRS. SMITHERS 250 XXXVII. THANKSGIVING 256