“Neither of ’em,” answered she. “I like to go on the beach and pick up things, but they won’t ever do that except in summer when they bathe.”
Neither of the little girls cared much about the walk in the town; for though some of the shops looked interesting, these were not the ones near which Nanna and Margaretta lingered. They only stopped and looked in at the windows of bonnet shops or jewellers’ shops, and these were not attractive to Sophia Jane or Susan. But after a while they turned down a street where there were no shops at all, and at the end of it they came on to the parade and saw the sea. It was a wonderful sight to Susan, for she had been too tired to notice it much the day she had arrived, and now it burst upon her suddenly like something new. It was so beautiful and there was so much of it that it made her quite gasp for breath; the sun shining on it made a great glittering high-road stretching away in the distance till it joined the sky and was lost there; the waves came rolling, rolling, one after the other, up to the shore, curled over, and dashed themselves down so hard that they were broken up into hissing silver foam and tossed their spray high in the air. Everything seemed to be silver and gold and diamonds at the sea-side, it all sparkled, and twinkled, and shone so much. Susan’s eyes were dazzled and she put up her hand to shield them, for she was used to the shadow and gloom of the London streets.
“Oh,” she cried, “how I should like to go down on the sands!”
“Perhaps they’ll let us go some day,” said Sophia Jane. “It’s best to go on the rocks when the sea’s out.”
“Out!” said Susan in astonishment. “Does it ever go quite away?”
Sophia Jane was so amused at this innocent question that she was unable to answer for some moments. She giggled so much and so loud that Margaretta turned round and said angrily:
“Vulgar child! Be quiet and walk properly.”
Susan did not like to be laughed at. She walked along in silence, with hot cheeks, and determined that she would ask no more questions.
Sophia Jane continued to chuckle softly to herself for a little while and then said:
“There’s a low tide and a high tide, of course. When it’s low it’s ever so far out, and when it’s high it’s ever so far in.”