Page:Caroline Lockhart--The Fighting Shepherdess.djvu/323

 There was a quizzical smile upon Kate's face as she

passed down the steps of the bank and turned up the

street on another errand. She was walking with her

eyes bent upon the sidewalk, thinking hard, when her way

was blocked by Mrs. Abram Pantin extending a high

supine hand with the charming cordiality which distin-

guished her best social manner. Mrs. Pantin slipped her

manner on and off, as the occasion warranted, as she did

her kitchen apron.

The suddenness of the meeting surprised Kate into a look of astonishment.

" This is Miss Prentice, isn't it? "

"That's the general impression," Kate answered.

Mrs. Pantin registered vivacity by winking rapidly and twittering in a pert birdlike fashion :

" I've so much wanted to know you I "

The reply that there always had been ample opportunity seemed superfluous, so Kate said nothing.

" I've been reading about you, you know, and I want to tell you how proud we all are of you and of what you have accomplished. This is Woman's Day, isn't it ? "

Since she seemed not to expect an answer, Kate made none and Mrs. Pantin continued :

" I've been wanting to see you that I might ask you to come to me — say next Thursday?"

Mrs. Pantin's manner was tinged with patronage.

Kate's silence deceived her. She imagined that Kate was awed and tongue-tied in her presence. The woman was, as Prissy had assured Abram, " tickled to pieces."

In the meanwhile, interested observers of the meeting were saying to each other cynically:

" Nothing succeeds like success, does it? "

This time, apparently, Mrs. Pantin expected an answer^ so Kate asked bluntly: