here, and thus spoiling its solitude for the few?" inquired Trixie.

"It is very unkind of them to come, if it be so," thoughtfully murmured Dot.

"That is what I mean," answered Great-heart.

The children went upstairs presently, and selected their chamber, one getting a side-glance of the beautiful sea; then joined the man half-an-hour later in the large room below, where they found other guests assembled, taking their meals in common. They, too, had some refreshment, although almost too excited to eat. Then all three went forth to inspect this seaside place, whether it were village, town, port, or whatnot.

Leaving the hotel, the party turned to the right, and walked along in front of the only terrace of houses the place could boast of, about fifteen of them, with a red-tile pavement before them. All the dwellings in this "Crescent" (that was what it was called; why, nobody knew, as there was nothing of that about it, except the name) were alike, and dull-looking in the extreme. They were nearly all lodging-houses, and many had announcements on cardboard as to "Apartments to Let" hanging in their windows or on their bell-handles. It seemed "the badness of the season necessitated these announcements at a time when the houses

ought all to have been full.

little ones that he had visited

Great-heart told the many watering-places,

large and small, and never yet found one where the people, having their lodgings to let, had spoken otherwise as to their "seasons." They always had a grievance against it, of some sort or another. It was either so "short," or so "bad," that they had to ask such fabulous prices of travellers (in order that they, the owners, might be duly recompensed for the time their houses stood empty) as to frighten them away altogether; or it was so near its "beginning" that they really must do so-and-so, or so near its "end" that such and such a thing must happen. They never seemed at peace with their seasons at all, these lodging-house folks. As a rule, they defeated their own ends entirely; for, letting the time slip by in their eagerness after gain, their rooms often remained unoccupied all through the summer, or they "took in " people (often in more senses than one!) at much less money than they had asked from the first applicant. Great-heart said this exemplified the errors of greed, showing the blessing of content. Had these people been satisfied with a little at first, they would not have suffered afterwards, as so many of them did, through their avarice. He urged his listeners to lay these words to heart, which they promised they would do.

They turned sharp round the corner, and faced the railway station they had just left. There it stood, all by itself, with the diminutive train they had come by waiting to go back to the busy Junction, on its oft-repeated journey backwards and forwards. The "Assembly Rooms" were at their elbows. This was where entertainments of a very varied character took place, chiefly of the conjuring, ventriloquist, dissolving-view class. To anything beyond those the visitor or resident was rarely treated. Travelling theatrical companies did not find it pay by any means to come to that quiet nook, even "for one night only." But "penny readings," miscellaneous and very harmless affairs, came off sometimes. Once, too, and once only, there had been a "ball." Then the draper, whose shop stood close by, had had such a run on his establishment in the matter of muslins, ribbons, and "one-and-elevenpenny whites," that he had hardly as yet recovered from the effects of it. Next to the Rooms was the Library; not only that, but the toy-shop, the tea-warehouse, the house-agency, all in one. The window was stuffed full of all sorts of things, chiefly to supply the wants of juvenile visitors pails, spades, dolls, hoops, butterfly-nets, views of the place in long strips. All these were, of course, so necessary to the full enjoyment of the

seaside. In the place of honour in front was a painting purporting to be a view of the "Bay," which the children thought lovely, but which Great-heart said was the most terrible libel in oils he had ever seen. Attached thereto was a piece of paper, telling passers-by that the picture was to be "raffled for" at a certain date, and inviting subscribers at one shilling a-piece. Then followed a a list of these very moderate-minded gamblers, from which it would appear that the sketch had not found much favour amongst the inhabitants. The miller's daughter, who had painted the picture, generously headed the list with two chances; "An Idler by the Sea" roused himself sufficiently to embark one shilling in the venture, as had "An Admirer of Nature;" ""Sandshoes " had invested his or her coin boldly, and both "X Y Z" and "A Widow," with her mite, had tempted the fickle goddess Fortune to a like amount. At the foot of the paper, modestly leaving room for many more names than would be certainly forthcoming to make the requisite number for this raffle, came the formidable "Neptune" (with no less than three chances), under which aweinspiring title the proprietor of the shop, one of the mildest of men, sought to veil his identity. It certainly looked, then, as if the subscribers would

get their money "returned in full," which was one of the stipulations attaching to the venture, if sufficient were not found to "promote" it. But perhaps the picture had only just been placed in the window.

Trixie took a great fancy to a pasty-faced doll, which sat in the front row of quite a school of them, staring vacantly out into space, and (no doubt on account of the heat of the day) almost totally devoid of clothing. Dot had her eye on a model ship. Although the little ones were too well bred, after London fashion, to put their desires into words, it was evident they would like to possess these articles as their own.

66

So Great-heart opened the door, and bade them come in and buy what they pleased. They found the shop full of children, who had all come on one and the same errand, to purchase a toy-pistol, of the value of one penny, for a member of the party. Neptune" was not there in the flesh, but his terrible voice was heard giving instructions from an inner chamber as to the whereabouts of the required weapon of destruction. Amphitrite, to whom he addressed himself, was hunting aimlessly amongst all sorts of unlikely objects for it. At times she wrung her withered hands, and raised a feeble cry of "Oh dear! oh dear! where are them pistols !"