cally onward
towards the sea, singing silvery songs to the little speckly trout which
hide beneath the granite shelves in their crystal homes. Verdure rich
and bright on every side, and above all ferns--ferns of the tiniest, and
ferns tall and towering, spreading luxuriant fronds, and sending up
spikes of flowers, while lesser neighbours form patches of wondrous
beauty--tropic palm forests in miniature.

"Now, then, who's going to take my picture?" cried Fin Rea, plumping
herself down on a mossy stone, and snatching off her hat. "Should I do
now, Tiny?"

Undoubtedly: for her lithe, slight form, in its grey muslin, stood out
from the ashy brown of the oak trunk that formed the background, while a
wondrous beauty of light and shade fell through the leafy network above.

"Oh, isn't it heavenly to be back? I couldn't live in London. I liked
the theatres, and going to the race, and seeing pictures, but I should
soon be tired of it all. It makes you so cross. I believe the blacks
get into your temper. I say, Tiny, I wonder what Aunt Matty would be
like if she lived in London?"

"Don't make fun of poor Aunt Matty," said her sister. "She has had a
good deal of trouble in her life."

"And made it," said Fin, jumping up. "Oh, I say, look down there," she
cried, pointing through the ferns at her feet to a cool, dark pool,
twenty feet below; "there's a place. Oh, Tiny, if I thought I should
ever grow into such a screwy, cross old maid as Aunt Matty, I think I
should jump down there and let the fishes eat."

"Fin, that little tongue of yours goes too fast," said her sister.

"Let it," was the laconic reply. "Tongues were made to talk with.
Let's go on; I'm tired of digging up ferns. Wasn't it funny, seeing
Humphrey Lloyd at that race? And I wonder who those gentlemen were."

"Do you mean the people who stared at us so through the race-glass?"

"No, I don't, Miss Forgetful. I mean the big, dark man, and the funny,
little fierce fellow with his hair brushed into points. You don't
remember, I suppose?"

"Oh yes," said Tiny, quietly. "I remember, for I was very much
frightened."

"Ah, I hope the knight-errant wasn't hurt; and, oh, do look, Tiny," Fin
cried, putting down her basket. "What's that growing in that tree?"

As she spoke, she climbed from stone to stone up the steep bank, till
she was stopped short by her dress being caught by a bramble.

"Oh, Tiny, come and unloose me, do. I'm caught."

Ther