As they were walking back from school, they saw on the beach the signal which was always used to show that there were fish in sight.
"Oh, let us hurry through our dinner," said Ollie, "and go down to the beach. I love to see them draw in their big nets full of fish. It is such fun."
Mrs. Rogers was astonished to see two wild children rush into the house, all out of breath, exclaiming,
"Isn't dinner ready? We are in such a hurry to get down to the beach."
"Yes, dinner is ready," said Mrs. Rogers; "you can sit down as soon as you like."
As soon as they had eaten as much as they wanted, and had been excused, they rushed to the beach. The men were just preparing to launch the big boat through the surf. When the children came in sight, the captain of the crew saw them and said,
"Hold up a minute; here are our little friends; they always enjoy a dance on the waves; let's wait, and take them in."
So they beckoned to the children, and in a few minutes they were seated in the boat. The word of command was given, and off they went—now up on the top of the wave, now down, down, down.
They had an unusually good haul of fish, which the men insisted was all owing to the presence of the two little girls. They stayed on the beach or in the boat all the afternoon, and finally went home to supper so hungry that Mrs. Rogers laughingly declared that she could not possibly cook enough in one day to satisfy them.
Mrs. Coit kept her promise and wrote to Lucy every day, and between her letters and her good times with Ollie, the days passed so quickly that Lucy was surprised to find at last that the hour for her departure had arrived.