ge:

"Charlotte, darling, do hold your sunshade up. All the left side of your
face is exposed. That's better, dear. I beg your pardon, Mr. Cole."

But Mr. Cole was offended.

"I hope no son of mine will ever show himself a faint heart," he
concluded severely.

The luncheon, in fact, had been a most dismal failure. The Coles could
fling their minds back to luncheons on this same beach that had been
simply riotous successes. What fun they had had! What games! What
bathes? Now the very sight of Mr. Le Page's black beard was enough. Even
Jeremy felt that things were wrong. Then he looked at Charlotte and was
satisfied. There she sat, straight and stiff, her hands on her lap, her
hair falling in lovely golden ripples down her back, her gaze fixed on
distance. Oh! she was beautiful! He would do whatever she told him; he
would give her Miss Noah and the apple tree; he would--A sound disturbed
his devotions. He turned. Both Mr. and Mrs. Le Page were fast asleep.

IV

"Children," whispered Mrs. Cole, "very quietly now, so that you don't
disturb anyone, run off to the farther beach and play. Helen, you'll see
that everything is all right, won't you?"

It was only just in time that Jeremy succeeded in strangling Hamlet's
bark into a snort, and even then they all looked round for a moment
at the sleepers in the greatest anxiety. But no, they had not been
disturbed. If only Mr. Le Page could have known what he resembled
lying there with his mouth open! But he did not know. He was doubtless
dreaming of his property.

The children crept away. Charlotte and Jeremy together. Jeremy's heart
beat thickly. At last he had the lovely creature in his charge. It was
true that he did not quite know what he was going to do with her, and
that even now, in the height of his admiration, he did wish that she
would not walk as though she were treading on red-hot ploughshares,
and that she could talk a little instead of giving little shivers of
apprehension at every step.

"I must say," he thought to himself, "she's rather silly in some ways.
Perhaps it wouldn't be fun to see her always."

They turned the corner round a projecting finger of rock, and a new
little beach, white and gleaming, lay in front of them.

"Well," said Jeremy, "here we are. What shall we play?"

There was dead silence.

"We might play pirates," he continued. "I'll be the pirate, and Mary can
sit on that rock until the water comes round her, and Charlotte