romise me, however, not to stray further away, not to get
wet, not to lose sight of the pier, and to come back with Buskin
directly you see her. Can I trust you?"

They both promised eagerly, much excited at the thought of such an
expedition, and above all at the idea of being left alone for a whole
hour. During the morning they watched the weather anxiously and made
many plans.

"I shall take Grace," said Susan, "and my little basket. What shall
_you_ take?"

Poor Sophia Jane had not many possessions to choose from.

"I shall take my skipping-rope," she said.

Thus provided, they set forth at three o'clock with the grave Buskin in
attendance. Susan jumped, and laughed, and chattered with pleasure, she
was so glad to think that she was going on the sands at last, and Sophia
Jane, though she never showed high spirits in the same manner, was in a
cheerful and agreeable mood.

Soon they came to the little cove. The sea was as she had expressed it,
very far out indeed, and had left the great black rocks wet and shining,
all ready to be played on. Between them there were deep quiet pools, so
clear that you could see down to the very bottom, and watch all sorts of
cunning live things, which darted, or or lay motionless in them;
shrimps, tiny pale crabs, pink star-fishes, and strange horny shells
clinging so tightly to the rock that no small fingers could stir them.
Some of the rocks were bare, and others covered with masses of dark
sea-weed which made a popping noise when it was trodden on, like the
sound of little pistols. Here and there were spaces of sand, so white
and firm that it made you long to draw pictures on it, or at least to
write your name there. Could there, altogether, be a better playground
than this on a sunny day? Sophia Jane had been quite right; it was a
lovely place!

It offered so many attractions, and was so new to Susan, that she did
not know where to begin first, but stood still uttering exclamations of
delight and wonder. Sophia Jane, however, had made the best of her time
already. As soon as Buskin disappeared, she at once removed her shoes
and stockings, and now stood bare-legged in the middle of a deepish pool
poking out crabs from under a ledge of rock.

"You'd better begin to collect things," she called out to Susan, "or
you'll waste all your time."

Susan felt that this was true, but the difficulty now was what to put
into the basket, and what to leave out; there were so m