"So am I," the other little girl confessed with a sigh; and for the first time Salome noticed a look of discontent on her pretty face. The expression was gone in a minute, however, and with a smiling farewell Margaret Fowler hastened after her governess and Gerald.
These new acquaintances gave Salome plenty of food for thought; and when her father returned in the afternoon she greeted him cheerfully, and told him that the family had arrived at Greystone. He was in good spirits, having caught a nice lot of mackerel; and acting on his daughter's suggestion, he selected some of the finest, and started for Greystone to see if he could not sell them there. Meanwhile, Salome laid the tea cloth, and got the kettle boiling. In the course of half-an-hour her father returned, having sold his fish.
"I saw the cook," he informed Salome, "and she said any time I have choice fish to sell, she can do business with me. It seems she manages everything in the kitchen; she told me the mistress doesn't know what there's to be for dinner till it's brought to table."
"How strange!" Salome cried. "But I forgot, Mrs. Fowler has been ill, so perhaps she is too great an invalid to attend to anything herself."
"I don't know about that, I'm sure. It's likely to be better for us, Salome, now Greystone is occupied. Why, you're quite a business woman, my dear! I should never have thought of taking those mackerel up there, but for you. I should have let Sam Putt have the lot, as usual."
Sam Putt was the owner of a pony and cart. He lived in the village, and often purchased fish, which he conveyed to a neighbouring town for sale, hawking it from door to door.
Josiah continued to converse amicably during tea-time; and afterwards he went into the garden, and turned up a patch of ground in readiness for the reception of winter greens. To Salome's intense relief, he did not go to the "Crab and Cockle" that evening; but, instead, as soon as he had finished his gardening, suggested taking her for a sail.
"Oh, father, how delightful!" she cried, her face flushing with pleasure. "Oh, I haven't been on the water for weeks! It will be such a treat!"
So father and daughter spent the long summer evening on the sea, much to the contentment of both; and the sun had set before they returned to Yelton.
Salome chatted merrily as, their boat safely moored, she followed her father up the shingly beach; but on reaching their garden gate, Josiah paused, glancing towards the swinging sign-board outside the "Crab and Cockle," still visible in the gathering dusk.