Rarely villagers were to be found on this part of the beach, unless it might be a few children gathering shells. Now, however, an odd party was slowly advancing along the shore. Two women with little shawls tied over their heads, long, full skirts and big shoes, were behind a few children who were shouting in their delight.
The women were talking together and madly gesticulating as they talked. One of the peculiarly dressed children went too near the water and a wave which came in farther than the last one, as waves have a habit of doing, drenched the little one’s feet. His mother, presumably, jerked him away roughly and spanked him soundly.
Beth halted a moment at that and eyed the woman with some disgust. But that was an ignorant woman’s way of bringing up her family. As Beth paused, one of the older children saw her and ran to show her a shell, probably attracted by Beth’s face. An elfin face, none too clean, looked up at Beth, speaking a jumble of words in a foreign tongue. Beth shook her head to indicate that she did not understand, but she smiled and patted the little shoulder. In a moment the motley group stood around her.
As Beth had picked up a handful of pretty shells when she first walked out upon the beach, she divided them impartially among the children. The mothers began to talk in guttural and foreign words, but Beth replied in English, knowing that it would be useless to try French, the only foreign tongue in which she could speak at all.
The women and children laughed, and one little chap spoke proudly, waving his hand around. “’Merica!” he repeated several times.
“Yes, this is America and the United States,” Beth added.
The child nodded. He understood that.
Beth turned to the women and inquired, “New York?” But they looked at each other and obviously did not understand.
Beth tried it again. “Boston?” she asked, for she felt that they must have come in on some recent immigrant trip. Again the women shook their heads. If they had docked at either New York or Boston they had not learned the name of the port.
The older boy who had spoken before was watching Beth closely. He now pointed out to sea and said, “Ship,—’Merica.” Beth nodded, smiled and turned to go, with her inadequate words of farewell. But they understood the friendliness in Beth’s eyes and responded with more unintelligible words from the women and farewell shouts from the children, who went back to the swirling foam, or as near as they were allowed to go.