nce.

"Tell the truth," added Grace.

"Both of us," yelled Mollie.

"Or neither," Betty answered, getting to her feet and walking the rest
of the way in toward them. "We couldn't have done better team work if we
had tried. Oh, isn't it glorious?"

"We don't know yet--we're not even all wet," returned Mollie, adding, as
a great comber came rushing toward them: "Come on, Gracie, here's a good
one. Let's get under it."

And "get under it" they did, cleaving the water prettily, and in another
minute were up on the other side of the big wave. They shook the water
from their eyes and struck out merrily.

"Don't go too far," Mrs. Ford called after them, and two bare gleaming
arms waved back at her.

The hours that followed were just one long delight, and the girls looked
surprised and a little abused when Mrs. Ford reluctantly called them in.

"Why, it can't be more than eleven," protested Grace.

"And we haven't seen the water for, oh, ages," added Mollie.

"Please, can't we have half an hour more?" Amy added.

Mrs. Ford looked smilingly from one to the other and then at Betty.

"Well, haven't you any petition to make?" she asked of the latter.

"I was thinking," said Betty squinting up at the sun, "that Grace was
wrong when she said it wasn't more than eleven. It seems to me to be
after twelve."

"It is," said Mrs. Ford firmly. "Quarter past."

"Well, let's go!" cried Betty, starting toward the bluff. "I don't know
about the rest of you, but I'm starving to death."

"But we'll want to swim again after lunch, won't we?" protested Mollie.

"Of course."

"Well, then," she argued reasonably, "we don't want to change our
clothes just for lunch, and we can't very well go up to the house in
dripping bathing suits."

The girls groaned.

"Then we'll have to wait for lunch until we've sat here for hours and
dried off," wailed Grace.

"And she hasn't even a box of chocolates!" Betty mocked her. "It is a
desperate case, Grace."

With another groan Grace sank into the soft, warm sand while the others
followed suit, looking so mournful that Mrs. Ford was moved to take pity
on them.

"I dried off long ago," she said, adding, as they looked at her
hopefully: "I tell you what I'll do. I'll go up and open a couple of
cans of tongue and make some sandwiches and bring down the cake we
bought yesterday. And we can have some milk to drink, for I had the boy
leave a couple of extra quarts this morning. How will that d