s for a sight of the hole in the sand, to see if
they could discover any signs that those who hid the precious stones
there had come back to find their booty gone. But they did not think it
wise to visit the place, with that queer old woman in the nearby sand
dunes.

Now and then they would stop to pick up some prettier shell than usual,
or to gather a few of the odd-shaped pebbles.

"They look just like that queer candy they sell in Tracey's," commented
Grace, as she rattled a handful of the little stones of various colors,
shapes and sizes.

"Oh, the pebble candy--yes," assented Mollie. "I wonder what they will
imitate next?"

"Plenty of wood here for a marshmallow roast," commented Amy, a little
later, as she idly kicked the bits of drift on the beach.

"Yes!" exclaimed Grace. "But we didn't bring any. I meant to, but----"

"She had so much other candy she couldn't carry marshmallows,"
interrupted Betty.

Grace threw a wisp of seaweed at her chum, but the Little Captain easily
dodged it.

"I wonder if Percy will really come for us in the car?" asked Amy, after
a pause.

"Do you want him to?" asked Betty, with a smile.

"I? No, indeed!" and Amy's face was suffused with a blush.

"Oh, well, don't get fussy about it," mocked Mollie. "We don't want him,
either."

"He'd have trouble running his car through this sand," Grace said. "It's
awfully deep and dry. Let's stop. When are we going to eat?"

"Eat?" cried Mollie.

"Eat?" echoed Amy. "Why we just had breakfast!"

"Eat?" spoke Betty, in a tone characterized as "dull and hopeless," in
stories. "Why, Grace Ford, if you have done anything else but
eat--candy--ever since we started on this picnic, I'd like to know it!"

Poor Grace looked a little startled at this combined attack on her.

"Why, I--I haven't done anything," she said, innocently enough. "I just
asked when you were going to eat and you take me up as though I had
proposed throwing those--'apples'--we found, into the sea."

"If you look back along the way you'll see at least three empty candy
bags," declared Betty.

"Oh, well, they were little bags," protested Grace. "I had them put in
small bags on purpose so I would know just how much I was eating."

"I don't believe you ever know how much candy you are eating," laughed
Mollie. "Never mind, Grace, we all have our faults."

"We'll eat soon," promised Betty. "I want to get in the shade."

They strolled on, walking near the wet edge of