"Oh, a blue envelope, with probably a card inside. I hadn't opened it, so I don't know what was in it." "Who was it from?" "Why, how could I tell, when I hadn't opened it! In fact, that's just what I want to know." "What makes you think I know anything about it?" "Oh, Chub, don't tease me! I haven't time, now; and truly, I want that letter! Do you know anything about it?" "No, Patty, I don't. I didn't see any letters addressed to you, except the bunch you had in your hand. Have you really lost one?" "Yes," said Patty, seeing that Hal was serious. "Jim told me there was one for me from Mr. Farnsworth, and I want it." "Bill Farnsworth! What's he writing to you for? I didn't know you knew him." "I don't know him very well; I only met him last summer. And I don't know that he did write to me; it was probably just a card. But I want it." "Yes, you seem to. Why, Patty, you're blushing." "I am not any such thing!" "You are, too! You're as pink as a peach." "Well, I only blushed to make you call me a peach,--and now that I've succeeded, I'll run away." So blushing and laughing both, Patty ran upstairs to her own room. Hal had been so frank that she was convinced he knew nothing about the letter, and she began to fear it must have been tossed into the fire, with the many waste papers that were scattered about. CHAPTER XIII HIDE AND SEEK All the time Patty was dressing she wondered about that letter; and when Mona, ready for dinner, stopped at her door, Patty drew her into the room. "Mona," she said, "did you get a Christmas card from Mr. Farnsworth?" "Yes," said Mona, "in a big blue envelope. Daisy had one, too. Didn't you get one?" "No; Jim said there was one for me, but it got lost somehow. Thrown in the fire, I shouldn't wonder." "Well, don't mind," said Mona, cheerfully. "You can have mine. It isn't very pretty, and Daisy's isn't either, but I suppose they're the best Bill could find out there in Arizona. Do you want it now, Patty?" "I don't want it at all, Mona. What would I want with your card, or Daisy's either? But if Little Billee sent one to me, I'd like to have it, that's all." "Of course you would; but truly, they don't amount to much." "Jim must have been mistaken about there being one for me," said Patty, and then the two girls went downstairs. The Christmas dinner was practically a repetition of the feast of the night before; but as Adele said, how could that be helped if people would have two Christmas celebrations on successive days? There were four extra guests, who proved to be merry and jolly young people, and after dinner Hal declared that his reign as Lord of Misrule was not yet over. "Don't let's do any more stunts like we had last night," said Mona. "They wear me out. Let's play easy games, like blindman's buff, or something." "Or Copenhagen," said Hal, but Patty frowned at him.