forty pupils as they stood on the
jetty--a precaution that seemed more of a formality than a necessity,
as everyone had taken good care not to be left behind.

"We have exactly three and a half hours here," she said. "The steamer
will be back at five o'clock. That gives us plenty of time to walk to
the Abbey, and enjoy the ruins. I have ordered tea to be ready for us
as soon as we return on board. We shall be very hungry by then, I'm
afraid, but there is nowhere to buy refreshments in this tiny place."

Avonmouth was, indeed, only a little fishing village, composed of an
irregular row of cottages, huddled together on the beach, and a small,
not-too-clean inn, which looked as if it would be quite incapable of
providing even seats for a party of forty-three, to say nothing of cups
and saucers.

"We're such an army!" said Vivian. "If we were to have tea here we
should clear the whole place of provisions. I don't suppose there'd be
enough milk and bread and butter to go round."

"Couldn't they have been ordered beforehand?" asked Lettice, who had a
leaning towards picnic meals. "We might have sat on the grass outside
the inn."

"Yes, no doubt. But suppose the day had been wet and we hadn't come,
then all the things would have been wasted. A steamer is generally
prepared to cater for any number of people."

St. Kolgan's Abbey stood about two miles from the village, on a
headland overlooking the sea. It was a steady toil uphill the whole
way, but the glorious view at the top was ample reward for the hot
climb between high walls. The beautiful old ruin faced the Channel, and
commanded a wide prospect of blue waves, flecked here and there with
little, foamy crests.

"I wonder if that's the coast of Ireland, on the other side?" remarked
Honor, shading her eyes with her hand to gaze over the dancing water.

"I'm afraid the wish is father to the thought," said Ruth Latimer. "I
don't honestly see anything that can possibly be construed into a
distant coast line, and I've about as long sight as anybody in the
school. Don't you want to come and listen to Miss Maitland? She's going
to tell us a story about St. Kolgan, who founded this place."

Honor followed to the corner of the fallen transept, where Miss
Maitland was installed on a fragment of broken column. The girls, in
various attitudes of comfort, had flung themselves on the grass within
earshot, prepared to listen lazily while revelling in the calm,
tranquil beauty