most shells.

A few there were, but none like those that Polly wanted, and she
trudged along, looking sharply at every shell that lay imbedded in the
hard, wet sand, from which the tide had receded.

She had been gone nearly an hour although she did not dream that it
was so long since she had left the house.

She had known that Polly would not follow her, because of the cold
wind that was blowing so briskly. A rift in the clouds had let the
sunlight through, and when she reached the gate, the garden was bathed
in sunlight.

Rose paused for a moment to look at the flowers, now gay in the bright
sunshine, when the sound of voices came toward her, and while one was
the pleasant voice of Mrs. Sherwood, the other was surely the voice
of--Great Aunt Rose!

"Captain Atherton asked that Rose might remain with us while he is
away," Rose heard Mrs. Sherwood say to which the cold voice of Great
Aunt Rose replied sternly:

"Well, and if he did, I see no reason why she can not spend a part of
the time with me at the old Atherton house which I have always felt
was her proper home."

Little Rose Atherton's heart beat faster. She still stood at the
gate, and she wondered that, for a moment, neither spoke.

Then Great Aunt Rose broke the silence.

"I was away at the time of the wedding, but had I been present, I
should have at that time _insisted_ that the Captain leave her with
me, not only during his cruise on the _Dolphin_, but after his return.

"The young woman whom he has married is a beauty, and so of course,
will be too full of dress and society to have any interest in little
Rose. If John has chosen to wed a flighty beauty, he should at least
give Rose to me."

"Miss Vandmere is indeed beautiful to look at, but she is lovely in
character as well, and I know that she loves Rose," Mrs. Sherwood said
quietly.

She would not argue, but she felt that, in justice she must give
utterance to the fine regard in which she held Iris Vandmere.

[Illustration: "She still stood at the gate."]

"There are, I suppose, some beauties who are neither vain nor foolish,
but however that may be, I am determined to see Rose to-day, and to
ask her if she does not wish to return with me."

At these words uttered in a shrill, angry voice, Rose turned and raced
down the beach.

She dropped the shells that she had been tightly holding, and without
a thought of recovering them, she ran at top speed, as if, at that
very moment sta