"Then we'll get some."
"It's a fairly long way to the end of the pier."
"Well, when we've been away so long already, I can't see that a few extra minutes matter."
"'As well be hung for a sheep as a lamb'!" quoted Phœbe.
"Yes; Blanche and Freda will wait, and they'll scold in any case."
"You'll have to pay for me, then," said Myfanwy, "for I haven't any money left."
"All right; I have plenty," responded Aldred, putting down her pennies on the counter of the toll gate, and pushing hastily through the turnstile. "Now we can run, if you like. How jolly it is on these boards! You can just see the water through the chinks."
The pier was even more interesting than the promenade. There were so many different kinds of automatic machines, which, by the magic of a penny in the slot, would set a team of miniature cricketers to work, and cause mimic soldiers to drill, or ships to sail across imitation oceans. There was a little chalet where cheap jewellery and the polished stones of the neighbourhood were displayed; a fruit shop, and an emporium for sticks and fishing-rods. All these seemed to attract Aldred, and delayed her so much that the others were obliged to take her by the arms and tug her along towards the confectionary kiosk. She had just made an investment in chocolates and popcorn, and the girls were turning to hasten back along the pier, when Dora had an idea.
"Look!" she said; "the steamer's just starting. It always stops at the jetty, and it will take us to the other end of the promenade far faster than we can walk. It's only a penny fare."
"Yes, it would save time," agreed Phœbe. "Come along!"