No answer. This was irritating, so she repeated her question in a louder tone. Instead of speaking, Milly held up her hands, as if to impose silence on her.
This was too much for Lena in her present mood. Giving her sister a push, she exclaimed angrily, "How rude you are not to answer me! What are you looking at?"
"There now, Lena, you have spoilt it all."
"Spoilt all what? How tiresome you are, Milly!"
"I was counting the ships that passed, or that I could see, and I wanted to count twenty, and I had only got to fourteen when you disturbed me. Now I must begin again."
"Oh, that's silly. It's all very well when you are by yourself, but not when you have any one to play with."
"What shall we do then?" asked Milly, who was now getting over her disappointment; and as she was more accustomed to give up her own wishes than Lena was, she was naturally of a far happier disposition. Little Lucy had been her constant companion; and Milly was so fond of her little sister, that she never thought it hard or disagreeable to put aside her own pleasures and wishes to please Lucy. So now she found it easy to give in to Lena also. Lena had not found out how much pleasanter and happier life is when one studies the happiness of others. Her happiness had been so studied by Aunt Mary that she took Milly's good-natured assent as a matter of course.
"There is nothing nice to do here, the garden is so small; and Milly, don't you think that Mama might let us go to the beach? Aunt Mary would, I know."
"Mama will if she can; she always is good to us," and she gave Lena a reproachful look for her last words.
Lena noticed the reproach in both words and look, but she answered, without remarking upon it, "She would not even let us stay and ask about it. I always coax and coax Aunt Mary till she says 'Yes.'"