"
"All right, I'll stand," said Patty, goodnaturedly. "Now you can
return the favour by helping me out of a quandary. Won't you
advise me what part to take in the Pageant? As a matter of fact, I
think all the best parts are assigned, and I don't want to be 'one
of the populace,' or just 'a voice heard outside'! I want a
picturesque part."
"I should say you did! Or, rather the picturesque parts all want
you. Now, _I_'M designing the Niagara Float. It's unfinished, as
yet,--the scheme, I mean,--but I know I want a figure for it, a
sort of a,--well, a Maid of the Mist, don't you know. A
spirituelle girl, draped all in grey misty tulle, and dull silver
wings,--long, curving ones, and a star in her hair."
"Lovely!" cried Patty. "And do you think I could be it?"
"Well, I had a brown-haired girl in mind. Your colouring is more
like 'Dawn' or 'Spring' or 'Sunshine.'"
"Oh, I HATE my tow-head!" exclaimed Patty. "I wish I was a nut-
brown maid."
"Don't be foolish," said Cromer, in a matter-of-fact way. "You are
the perfection of your own type. I never saw such true Romney
colouring. Pardon me, Miss Fairfield, I'm really speaking of you
quite impersonally. Don't be offended, will you?"
"No, indeed," said Patty.
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