nurse to watch them, I should be
happier. But perhaps not; they would grow up so fast!"

"Then I will leave you alone without compunction," said Kate.

"I am not alone," said Aunt Jane; "I have my man in the boat to watch
through the window. What a singular being he is! I think he spends hours
in that boat, and what he does I can't conceive. There it is, quietly
anchored, and there is he in it. I never saw anybody but myself who
could get up so much industry out of nothing. He has all his housework
there, a broom and a duster, and I dare say he has a cooking-stove and
a gridiron. He sits a little while, then he stoops down, then he goes to
the other end. Sometimes he goes ashore in that absurd little tub, with
a stick that he twirls at one end."

"That is called sculling," interrupted Kate.

"Sculling! I suppose he runs for a baked potato. Then he goes back. He
is Robinson Crusoe on an island that never keeps still a single instant.
It is all he has, and he never looks away, and never wants anything
more. So I have him to watch. Think of living so near a beaver or a
water-rat with clothes on! Good-by. Leave the door ajar, it is so warm."

And Kate went down to the landing. It was near the "baptismal shore,"
where every Sunday the young people used to watch the immersions; they
liked to see the crowd of spectators, the eager friends, the dripping
convert, the serene young minister, the old men and girls who burst
forth in song as the new disciple rose from the waves. It was the
weekly festival in that region, and the sunshine and the ripples made it
gladdening, not gloomy. Every other day in the week the children of the
fishermen waded waist-deep in the water, and played at baptism.

Near this shore stood the family bathing-house; and the girls came down
to sit in its shadow and watch the swimming. It was late in August, and
on the first of September Emilia was to be married.

Nothing looked cool, that day, but the bay and those who were going into
it. Out came Hope from the bathing-house, in a new bathing-dress of dark
blue, which was evidently what the others had come forth to behold.

"Hope, what an imposter you are!" cried Kate instantly. "You declined
all my proffers of aid in cutting that dress, and now see how it fits
you! You never looked so beautifully in your life. There is not such
another bathing-dress in Oldport, nor such a figure to wear it."

And she put both her arms round that supple, stately wa