A bit of a departure from the normal tone of the Patty books. The theme of this one might well be "Patty in trouble, please rescue." First she is kidnapped and held for ransom. That takes up at least half of the book. Then, when Phil Van Reypen (one of Patty's most serious suitors) gets his aunt to ask Patty to take a road trip with them by way of giving her opportunity to recover her nerves from the ordeal of being kidnapped, most everything goes well, but just at the last Patty is marooned for a while on a little island, because another suitor (but this one an undesirable, crass one that Patty and her people agree is not "nice") stole her canoe so that he could show up in the guise of rescuer. Fortunately Patty escapes from his clutches and gets rescued by the right people.

One thing that never ceases to amaze me is the frequency with which Bill Farnsworth, Patty's other serious suitor, gets to make trips to New York. He is from somewhere out west, and it's got to be at least a few days by train, and this is the early 1910s, so travel is not exactly as simple as it is today. Yet he always seems to be showing up exactly when wanted, because a business deal has coincidentally brought him back east. Were young men really that mobile in 1915 or whenever it was, that they could cross the country at the drop of a hat? It just seems like he gets to be around for a lot more than is realistic. And then he's always like, "Rats, I have to take the next train back home because of a business deal, and it's absolutely imperative that I leave now," but then if he doesn't get to see Patty and say farewell he somehow manages to postpone that oh-so-imperative departure without it materially making a difference. Oh, well.

This is one of the few Patty books that's unavailable online, and not too common in print. It's not the best example of what, to me, typifies the Patty books, but I'm glad I can check it off the list as I read the series in order. ( )