"Goodness me! don't be so indignant," cried Frank. "I meant no offence. I daresay Sophie is a regular angel."
"She's not quite that," said Miss Kerr as she opened the window and let the young people out upon the balcony. "But I am glad to hear the children stand up for her, for, as Mervyn says, they do torment her, and still she is very good-natured and kind to them on the whole."
"Yes, indeed she is," said Mervyn; "but oh! just look at that, isn't it exquisite?"
"Lovely!" cried Frank. "It's a regular shower of golden hail! But I think I like the Roman candles best. Look, Bunny, there's one—see—those two stars—watch how they change colour—first they're red—then blue—then—"
"Oh, yes, yes," cried Bunny dancing about. "There they go, right away over the sea! What lovely things fireworks are!"
"It is a pity we could not have gone down on the Spa to see the set pieces," said Frank. "I believe they are most beautiful. But then the crowd is something dreadful."
"Do they send the fireworks up from the Spa?" asked Mervyn; "they look just as if they were coming from the road up there in front of the Crown Hotel."
"No, they are sent from a place just over the Spa, up among the trees there, but a long way below the hotel."
"Oh dear! there goes a splendid rocket," cried Mervyn, "and doesn't it make a lovely noise?"
"Oh! I can't bear the noise," said Bunny, putting her fingers in her ears, "it makes me jump."