ea and were splashing about up to their knees in water. Kitty
went after them and dragged them back. She said that if they wanted to
bathe they ought to take their clothes off. Kitty is a good swimmer,
and I think she wanted those children to bathe so as to have a chance
of saving their lives when they began to drown. Fortunately, Miss Lane
discovered what was going on and put a stop to the bathing. She was
breathless but firm. I do not know whether she shrank from drowning
the children or held conventional ideas about the necessity of bathing
dresses for girls. Whatever her reasons were she absolutely forbade
bathing. The day was extraordinarily hot and our work was most
strenuous. We paddled, and I had to wade in several times, far above
the part of my legs to which it was possible to roll up my trousers. We
built elaborate sand castles, and enormous mounds, which Kitty called
redoubts. I was made to plan a series of trenches similar to those used
by the armies in France, and we had a most exciting battle, during which
Kitty compelled me to become a casualty so that six girls might have the
pleasure of dragging me back to a place of safety. We very nearly had a
real casualty afterwards when the roof of a dug-out fell in and buried
two infants. Kitty and I rescued them, digging frenziedly with our
hands. Miss Lane scooped the sand out of their mouths afterwards
with her forefinger, and dried their eyes when they had recovered
sufficiently to cry. We fed the whole party on buns and lemonade and
became sticky from head to foot. We ran races and had tugs-of-war with a
rope made of stockings tied together. It was not a good rope because it
always broke at the most exciting moments, but that only added to our
pleasure; for both teams fell flat on their backs when the rope gave
way, and Miss Lane looked particularly funny rolling on the sand.

At six o'clock the gardener and the cook, sent by Kitty's mother, came
down from the house carrying a large can of milk and a clothes basket
full of bread and jam and cake. We were all glad to see them. Even the
most active children were becoming exhausted and were willing to sit
down and be fed. I was very nearly done up. Poor Claire was seated on
a stone, nursing her blistered foot. Only Miss Lane and Kitty had any
energy left, and Miss Lane was in an appalling state of heat. Kitty
remained cool, owing perhaps to the fact that she was soaked through
from the waist down, having carried