There was something irresistible in the impudent, freckled face turned up to father's; and although my first thought was that Rupert was decidedly ugly, I soon came to see that there was the beauty of goodness in eyes and mouth and general expression.
Mother was the first to regain her self-possession.
"You naughty children," she said, stepping out on the lawn, "you will catch your death of cold, and I suppose you haven't even got any other clothes to put on. Edric's won't fit any of you but Harold."
"Don't you fret, auntie," said Jack, who had been capering about, and leaving little rivulets of water wherever he went. "We don't think anything of wet clothes, we just run about till they are dry."
"But where's your box?" said father.
"It's the other side of the water," said Rupert, laughing; "I know now what King John felt like when he lost all his luggage in the Wash. We lost half our things in the wash at school, and now we've lost the other half in your Wash. My word, hasn't the tide gone down quick! The old fellow was right after all. Why, it's only up to Kathleen's ankles now. Here she comes, shoes and all. Ugh! go away, you horrid, wet girl."
A well-aimed shoeful of water went over Jack's head, and then with a queer, uneven step, due to having one shoe off and one on, my Cousin Kathleen advanced to greet my father and mother.
"What do you think of that, Uncle John?" she said, putting her dry arm round his neck. "Those naughty boys left me to get on as well as I could with one foot stuck in the mud; but I'll pay them out. Ah, there's Cousin Edric," and there was such a change in the merry face, that a glow of pleasure spread over mine.
"We know each other already, don't we, dear? Isn't it lovely to think that we are going to be here six whole weeks? Can't you really walk, Edric?"
There was something so very funny in the whole scene, the dripping boys outside, the girl with hat thrown back and tumbled, curly hair, with skirts wet to the waist, and one shoe in her hand, that I burst out laughing. Of course, everyone joined, and it was thus that we received the savages into our home circle. But mother now interposed, and marched them all off to their bedrooms, while father sent a man in one of the carts to fetch the boxes, which the Colchester fly-driver had so unceremoniously deposited on the other side of the stream.