Patty's Social Season by Carolyn Wells

Before her mirror, Patty was putting the last touches to her Bo-Peep / costume, and it must be confessed she was viewing the effect with / admiration.

The gilt-framed glass gave back a lovely picture. The costume was one / of the prettiest Patty had ever worn, and was exceedingly becoming. / There was a short, quilted skirt of white satin and a panniered / overdress of gay, flowered silk, caught up with blue bows. A little / laced bodice and white chemisette completed the dress. Then there was / a broad-leafed shepherdess hat, trimmed with flowers, and under this / Patty's gold curls were bunched up on either side and tied with blue / ribbons. She wore high-heeled, buckled slippers, and carried a long, / white crook, trimmed with blossoms and fluttering ribbons.

She pranced and turned in front of the mirror, decidedly satisfied / with the whole effect. Then she caught up her basket of flowers, which / she carried because it added a pretty touch, and went downstairs.

It was a gay-looking party that waited for her in the hall. The two / Misses Crosby had been there to dinner, and also Mr. Hoyt and Mr. / Collins, and these, with the house party, were now all arrayed in / their fancy dress. As they had agreed on Christmas Day, they were all / in pairs, and as of course there could be no secrecy among them, they / had not yet put on their masks.

Mona and Roger were very magnificent as Queen Elizabeth and Sir Walter / Raleigh. Though Mona was not at all the type of the red-haired queen, / she looked very handsome in the regal robes and great, flaring collar, / while Roger was a veritable courtier in his picturesque garb.

Daisy and Mr. Collins were Pierrette and Pierrot. Their costumes were / black and white, Frenchy-looking affairs, with tossing pompons and / peaked caps.

The elder Miss Crosby and Jim Kenerley were Indians; and the warlike / brave and the young Indian maiden looked as if they might have stepped / out of the earliest pages of our country's history.

The other Miss Crosby and Hal Ferris were Italian peasants in national / costume.

Adele and Mr. Hoyt were the most simply dressed of all, but in their / plain Puritan garb they were effective and distinguished looking.

Perhaps, however, it was Philip Van Reypen whose costume received the / greatest applause. He had copied a picture of Bobby Shafto that had / been painted by a frivolous-minded artist, and his embroidered and / belaced coat of light blue silk was remindful of the period of the / gayest Louis. He wore white satin knee-breeches, white silk stockings, / and black slippers with enormous buckles. In accordance with the song, / there were large silver buckles at his knees; and his tri-corne hat / was a very marvel of gold lace and feathers. Full lace ruffles flapped / at his throat and wrists, and altogether he was an absolute dandy.

"You look like a valentine," said Patty, "or a birthday cake."

"You do look good enough to eat," declared Adele, as she took in the / gorgeous costume.

"Yes, I flatter myself it's the very last touch of Shaftoism," said / Philip, strutting about with an affected gait. "I say, Patty, you're / all kinds of a peach yourself."

"Yes, this frock is all right," said Patty, "but you simply take my / breath away, Phil. I didn't know anybody could look so beautiful! I / wish men dressed that way nowadays."

And then everybody admired everybody else until it was time to start. / Then each put on a little mask, which they were to wear at the ball / until supper-time. Patty's was of light blue silk with a short fall of / lace, and Philip's was of black satin.

"I can't wear this thing all the way there," declared Patty, taking / hers off again.

"Well, put it on just before you get there," enjoined Adele. "I've / taken great care that no one should know a word about our costumes, / and now if we are well masked they won't be able to guess who we are. / Even though they know we all came from our house, there are so many of / us, they can't tell us apart."

The Country Club was a handsome, spacious building, well away from the / outskirts of the town. But the motors took them there swiftly, and / soon they joined the large party of maskers in the Club ballroom. / There were perhaps a hundred people there, and Patty felt there was / little risk of being recognised. She did not know many of the Fern / Falls people, anyway, and they would scarcely know her in her / disguise.

"Of course the first dance is mine," said Philip, as the music began.

But after that dance was over, Patty was besieged by would-be / partners. Historical characters, foreigners, clowns, monks, and / knights in armour begged for dances with Little Bo-Peep. Patty was so / engrossed in looking at these wonderful personages, that she scarcely / noticed who put their names on her card. And in truth it made little / difference, as none of the men put their real names, and she hadn't / the slightest idea who they were.