son, was flying with a piece of hay in her bill, as if actually
contemplating another nest. The sun shone with an almost August glare as
the girls left the Grange and started for their walk over the downs; but
there was a pleasant breeze to temper the heat, and, as Freda declared,
the dash of the waves always had a cool sound, at any rate. The road ran
parallel with the cliffs, so that for the whole of the two miles they
had an uninterrupted view of the sea, which lay calm and sparkling, with
a gleaming sail here and there, or the smoke of a Channel steamer on the
horizon.

"I've never been to Chetbourne," announced Aldred. "I suppose it's very
jolly, with a promenade, and all that sort of thing?"

"It's the ordinary kind of seaside place," said Blanche Nicholls. "It's
generally very full in the summer."

"Are there any entertainments on the pier?"

"Oh, yes!--pierrots, and a band."

"Shall we have time to go and hear them?"

"We're not allowed. Our bounds stop just at the beginning of Chetbourne.
We mayn't go into the town, nor along the promenade."

"Why, what a swindle!" exclaimed Aldred. "I thought we were going to
have some fun!"

"Isn't the walk enough for you?" asked Freda.

"It's very nice; but it would have been amusing to see a few niggers, or
some performing dogs."

"The post office is our limit," said Blanche. "We always call a halt
there. They have a splendid set of picture postcards, and some nice Goss
china. A good many of us are collecting Goss."

"Then mayn't we go the least little scrap farther?" pleaded Aldred.

"Not a step!" replied Freda decisively.

Aldred said no more, and the six walked on, chatting of other matters,
until they reached the outskirts of the town. The post office was a
large shop, of a kind common at seaside resorts. A variety of
miscellaneous articles were on sale--shell boxes, photograph frames,
wicker baskets, cheap ornaments, and materials for fancy-work--and the
younger girls found their allowances burning holes in their pockets, and
stayed so long choosing souvenirs that their elders waxed impatient.

"Haven't you finished yet?" said Freda. "You must have turned over every
postcard in the box. Blanche and I want to go to the bookseller's. I
think we might leave you here for ten minutes. You'll be all right till
we come back," and she departed with her fellow-prefect to a shop
opposite.

The others finished their purchases and paid for them, then stood
waiti