d the middle of the bay before the guardian caught sight of her
and called to her to return. The Meadow-Brook girl did so, though it
had been her intention to swim all the way across the bay and back.

In the meantime the other girls had begun their swim. Jane was
splashing about in deep water, Hazel doing likewise, while Margery was
swimming in water barely up to her neck. Tommy, on the other hand,
appeared to be afraid to venture out. Every time a ripple would break
about her knees she would scream and run back out of the way.

"'Fraid cat!" jeered Margery. "'Fraid to come in where the water is
deep."

"Yeth, I am," admitted Tommy.

"I told you so, I told you so," shouted Buster. "I always said she was
a 'fraid cat, and now she has shown you that I am right."

"Who is a 'fraid cat?" demanded Miss Elting, pulling herself up on the
beach with her hands.

"I am," answered Tommy, speaking for herself.

"Who says you are?"

"Buthter."

"Margery, I am ashamed of you. You have evidently forgotten that Grace
showed how little she was afraid when she was lost at sea the other
night," chided the guardian.

"Yeth, I'm a 'fraid cat. But I'd rather be a 'fraid cat than a fat
cat!" declared the little, lisping girl with an earnestness that made
them all smile. Harriet came swinging in with long, steady strokes,
the last one landing her on the sand with the greater part of her body
out of the shallow water.

"Why wouldn't you let me go across, Miss Elting?" she asked.

"You would be late for breakfast."

"Oh! I thought you feared I might drown," answered Harriet
whimsically.

"Once is enough," answered Jane. "There goes the fish horn. Hurry,
girls! We are going to be late."

"The fithh horn? Are we going to have fithh for breakfatht?"
questioned Tommy.

"Never mind what, girls. Tuck up your blankets and get busy. Remember,
you must braid your hair before going to breakfast. I don't like to
see you at meals with your hair down; you girls are too old for that."

"Yes, Miss Elting," answered Harriet.

"I gueth I'll cut my hair off. It ith too much trouble to fix it every
morning," decided Grace. "But, Mith Elting, couldn't I fix it the
night before and thleep in it?"

"Certainly not! How can you suggest such a thing?"

Tommy twisted her face out of shape and blinked solemnly at Margery,
whose chin was in the air. They were all hurrying now, for their
morning bath had given them keen appetites. Miss Elting was