At that moment, Ruth observed the children, and said something to Mr. and Mrs. Frothingham, who turned and bowed. Mr. Frothingham spoke to the driver, who drove more slowly as he turned in the direction of the Harbor; so that Oliver speedily overtook him, and the two carriages were side by side.
"So you are alone by yourselves?" said Mr. Frothingham.
"Father and Pierre have gone into town," replied Johnny, "and we are riding until they come back. We came down this morning, and took dinner at the hotel."
"Ah!" said Mr. Frothingham: "that was a good idea. I think, Grace, we had better take Ruth to the hotel for an ice-cream. Suppose we all take some cream or ices?"
Mr. Frothingham then said, turning to the children, "Mrs. Frothingham and I have been over to the lighthouse to get Ruth: she is to make us a visit. We rode around here to give her a little drive before we went home. You must come up to the house and see her this week: I expect she will be a little homesick at first, away from her uncle."
But Ruth did not look at all homesick yet; her eyes sparkled, and her cheeks were glowing; she looked so happy and so handsome, that even the plain dark-blue calico seemed very becoming.
When they reached the hotel, Mr. Frothingham insisted upon their all going in for ice-cream and cake and maccaroons.
Julia was rather horrified at first, at entering the big hotel dining-room, with its groups of richly dressed guests, accompanied by a girl in a calico dress; but seeing that the waiters treated Mr. and Mrs. Frothingham with great deference, and the gentlemen and ladies bowed very respectfully as they passed, she concluded that the honors of the occasion quite offset the disgrace, and enjoyed the entertainment very much. Ruth, in her pretty, modest way, seemed quite happy and animated, much more so than at the time she had spent the day at Mr. Le Bras', with, the going down to the cottages to find a place to work on her mind.
Mr. and Mrs. Frothingham and Ruth rode directly home after leaving the hotel; and as Mr. Le Bras and Pierre had not returned, Oliver drove the children up and down near the pier until they arrived. It appeared that Pierre, having come across an old grist-mill in the suburbs, as Mr. Le Bras and he were walking about the town, had wished to stop and sketch it, and Mr. Le Bras had waited for him; for the sketch was to be a present to Mrs. Le Bras, who might like to make a painting from it.
"I must begin to make some sketches too," said Johnny.