一天，帕齐在一遍遍地演奏一支她唯一会的钢琴曲，她父亲一直在聚精会神地欣赏，时不时地点头表示赞许，忽然约翰叔叔的一声鼾声打断了这幅美丽的画面，而后他宣布了一个令父女俩都吃惊的计划……
It was Sunday afternoon in Miss Patricia Doyle's pretty ？at at 3708Willing Square.In the small drawing room Patricia—or Patsy，as she preferred to be called—was seated at the piano softly playing the one "piece"the music teacher had succeeded in drilling into her flighty head by virtue of much patience and perseverance.In a thick cushioned morris—chair reclined the motionless form of Uncle John，a chubby little man in a gray suit，whose features were temporarily eclipsed by the newspaper that was spread carefully over them.Occasionally a gasp or a snore from beneath the paper suggested that the little man was "snoozinga"as he sometimes gravely called it，instead of listening to the music.
Major Doyle sat opposite，stif？y erect，with his admiringeyes full upon Patsy.At times he drummed upon the arms of his chair in unisonb with the music，nodding his grizzled head to mark the time as well as to emphasize his evident approbationc.Patsy had played this same piece from start to finish seven times since dinner，because it was the only one she knew；but the Major could have listened to it seven hundred times without the ？icker of an eyelash.It was not that he admired so much the "piece"the girl was playing as the girl who was playing the "piece."His pride in Patsy was unbounded.That she should have succeeded at all in mastering that imposing looking instrument—making it actually "play chunes"—was surely athing to wonder at.But then，Patsy could do anything，if she but tried.
Suddenly Uncle John gave a dreadful snorta and sat bolt upright，gazing at his companions with a startled look that melted into one of benign complacency as he observed his surroundings and realized where he was.The interruption gave Patsy an opportunity to stop playing the tune.She swungaround on the stool and looked with amusement at her newly awakened uncle.
"You've been asleep，"she said.
"No，indeed；quite a mistake，"replied the little man，seriously."I've only been thinking.""An'such beautiful thoughts，"observed the Major，testily，for he resented the interruption of his Sunday afternoon treat."You thought 'em aloud，sir，and the sound of it was a bad imitation of a bullfrog in a marsh.You'll have to give up eating the salad，sir.""Bah！Don't I know？"asked Uncle John，indignantly."Well，if your knowledge is better than our hearing，I supposeyou do，"retorted the Major."But to an ignorant individual like meself the impression conveyed was that you snored like a man that has forgotten his manners an'gone to sleep in the presence of a lady.""Then no one has a better right to do that，"declared Patsy，soothingly；"and I'm sure our dear Uncle John's thoughts werejust the most beautiful dreams in the world.Tell us of them，sir，and we'll prove the Major utterly wrong."Even her father smiled at the girl's diplomacy，and UncleJohn，who was on the verge of unreasonable anger，beamed upon her gratefully.
"I'm going to Europe，"he said.
The Major gave an involuntary start，and then turned to look at him curiously.
"And I'm going to take Patsy along，"he continued，witha mischievous grin.
The Major frowned.
"Control yourself，sir，until you are fully awake，"said he."You're dreaming again."Patsy swung her feet from side to side，for she was such alittle thing that the stool raised her entirely off the ？oor.There was a thoughtful look on her round，freckled face，and a wistful one in her great blue eyes as the full meaning of Uncle John's abrupt avowala became apparent.
The Major was still frowning，but a half frightenedexpression had replaced the one of scornful railleryb.For he，too，knew that his eccentric brother—in—law was likely to propose any preposterousc thing，and then carry it out in spite of all opposition.But to take Patsy to Europe would belike pulling the Major's eye teeth or amputatinga his good right arm.Worse；far worse！It would mean taking the sunshine out of her old father's sky altogether，and painting it a grim，despairing gray.
But he resolved not to submit without a struggle.