the
delight of her admiring friends. She swam on her side and on her back,
dived to pick up stones, and even contrived to make a wheel.

"How plucky you are!" exclaimed Lettice. "I should never dare to
attempt such feats; but then, I haven't the sea to practise in at home.
Look at Chatty; she's trying to do a wheel too. I know she'll come to
grief. Chatty! Do you want us to have to practise life-saving?"

"No, thank you," said Chatty; "I was only seeing what I could manage.
Look here! suppose we swim right round the bay. We can take a rest
every now and then by floating and towing each other along."

Though there were no excursionists on the shore that day, the girls
noticed a small boat bobbing about near the point of the cliffs. It
contained three people, who were evidently visitors from Dunscar. A
young man in his shirt sleeves, with a pocket-handkerchief tied over
his head, was rowing in a very awkward fashion, as if it were the first
time he had handled a pair of oars; while his companions, girls of
about sixteen and seventeen, kept jumping up and changing places, or
leaning suddenly over the side to catch pieces of seaweed.

"Vivian might complain of their laughing," said Lettice. "Just listen
to them! Aren't they fearfully vulgar?"

"Cheap trippers come over for the day, no doubt," said Chatty. "Look!
One of the girls is pretending to throw the young man's hat overboard,
and he's trying to clutch it."

"The silly things! They're making that boat heel over far more than I
should appreciate, if I were inside her," remarked Honor. "I don't
believe they know there's any danger."

"I wonder they were allowed to go out without taking a boatman. I'm
sure it's not safe," said Lettice.

The three young excursionists were still struggling and fighting over
the hat when round the corner of the headland came the steamer from
Westhaven, steering much closer to the shore than was her custom. She
had started late, and her captain was trying to make up for lost time;
and, in consequence, she was going at top speed. Her screw made such a
tremendous wash that in a moment the sea was as rough as if there had
been a storm. The bathers felt themselves tossed about like corks, and
struck out as hard as they could for the shore, trying to keep abreast
of the waves that threatened to overpower them. The next moment there
was a chorus of wild, agonized shrieks, and the little cockle-shell of
a boat whirled rapidly past, upside