After lunch, following the orders which Mrs. Dore had given them, they sat on the beach for an hour before they went in bathing again. This prolonged itself to much more than an hour because they began making the inevitable collections of shells and stones to take home. Floribel said that moon-stones were sometimes found on this beach and there instantly began a frantic search for the small, translucent white stones. Of course everybody found several of what he supposed were invaluable gems. By this time the tide, which had turned just as they left the fish weir, was now galloping up on the beach in great waves. They had to pull the turtle farther and farther in shore. At length they all went in bathing again; the Big Six diving through the waves and occasionally getting “boiled”—which was the local term for being whirled about—for their pains. Floribel permitted the Little Six to play only in the rush of the waves after they broke.
After five o’clock, blissfully tired, excitedly happy, they piled the little children into the machine; packed the turtle in the big lunch hamper, tied the cover securely over him and started home.
Wild with excitement and the news of their find, they dashed into the Little House.
“Oh Granny you’ll never guess what we’ve brought home with us,” Maida exclaimed.
“And oh what a wonderful day we’ve had,” Rosie added.
“And how tired we are and how hungry,” Laura concluded.
The little children were all chattering with excitement; the boys were attending to the turtle in the barn, preparatory to taking it to the Magic Mirror.
“I’m glad you’ve had a good time, children,” Granny said gravely. “Your father is here, Maida, and he wants to see you all in the living room.”
Something seemed to have gone out of the gayety of the day. What it was or what made it go or where it went, Maida could not guess. Perhaps it was a quality in Granny’s air and words. At any rate she said instantly, “I’m going right in there, Granny, and Rosie will you please tell the boys to come at once?”