"May I wade in, Mother?" asked Harry.
"It isn't deep," said Bunny, as Mrs. Slater hesitated. "And we won't have to wade out very far."
"All right," agreed Harry's mother, with a smile. "You two boys may wade in, and Sue and I will watch you. But maybe the box will be too heavy for you."
"Oh, no!" exclaimed Bunny, as Harry began taking off his shoes and stockings. "Things in the water move easy. I can push or pull a big boat all alone, if it's in the water, but I can't if it's on land. And the box isn't very big."
"I wonder what's in it," said Sue, as her brother and Harry prepared to wade out. "Maybe it's a lot of dolls from China."
"What makes you think it might be that?" asked Mrs. Slater, as she put the boys' shoes and stockings up on the sand.
"Once some Chinese dolls came ashore at Bellemere," said Sue. "I got one, but her eyes were washed out. I always had to make believe she was asleep."
"How did they happen to come ashore?" asked Mrs. Slater.
"A ship that was coming from China got wrecked," explained Sue, "and the boxes with the dolls in washed up on shore. But I guess this isn't a doll box," she added.
"It doesn't look so," said Harry's mother. "It seems to be a very heavy case, such as machinery comes in, but of course there can't be machinery in it, or it would sink."