‘I smell the sea,’ said Sweet-Tooth, who, being a cook, had a very sharp nose.
On they ran, and at a turn in the road they came upon the sea, wide and blue and sparkling under a summer sky. Far out in the water stood a Lighthouse. Below the road stretched the beach, a long curve of firm, white sand, and back of the beach lay the little Town of Bo-Peep.
It was a pretty little Town with red roofs and chimney pots, and each little house had its own gay little garden plot.
But the Town was quiet, no one walked about the streets. And though the tide was low and the cool wet sand lay bare, not a single child was playing on the beach.
‘They have all gone away,’ said Kindheart. ‘The Town seems empty to-day.’
‘Perhaps they have gone on a picnic,’ suggested Silvertongue, ‘or for a sail across the bay.’
But Sweet-Tooth shook his head.
‘The mothers are at home,’ said he. ‘I can see the smoke rising from the chimneys and I think I can smell baking bread.’
‘Let us go down into the town,’ said Kindheart, ‘and look about. Santa Claus said there might be work to do.’
Down in the town the three little Brownies walked quietly along, past the neat houses, past the gay flower-beds, until they came to a little shop, and here the Brownies stood stock still on the sandy road.