over your trunk this afternoon," she continued to
Lucy. "It is all packed, and William Henry Johnson said he'd bring it
over on his way to the mill this evening. Good-by, my dear," and Lucy
was seized, hugged, and kissed, and almost before she knew what it was
all about her mother had gone, and she was left alone, watching the
wagon as it rolled slowly down the road.

She was roused by hearing Ollie's voice close behind her.

"Oh, Lucy, let's go up-stairs, and get the room ready for you. I must
move the things in my closet, and make enough bare nails for your
dresses."

So the two girls went up-stairs together, and the afternoon was passed
in preparations for the coming week.

The next morning Lucy and Ollie went to school as usual, only instead of
having a long solitary walk, they each had the other's company, which
they found very pleasant. The girls at school were quite astonished to
hear that they were spending the week together.

As they were walking back from school, they saw on the beach the signal
which was always used to show that there were fish in sight.

"Oh, let us hurry through our dinner," said Ollie, "and go down to the
beach. I love to see them draw in their big nets full of fish. It is
such fun."

Mrs. Rogers was astonished to see two wild children rush into the house,
all out of breath, exclaiming,

"Isn't dinner ready? We are in such a hurry to get down to the beach."

"Yes, dinner is ready," said Mrs. Rogers; "you can sit down as soon as
you like."

As soon as they had eaten as much as they wanted, and had been excused,
they rushed to the beach. The men were just preparing to launch the big
boat through the surf. When the children came in sight, the captain of
the crew saw them and said,

"Hold up a minute; here are our little friends; they always enjoy a
dance on the waves; let's wait, and take them in."

So they beckoned to the children, and in a few minutes they were seated
in the boat. The word of command was given, and off they went--now up on
the top of the wave, now down, down, down.

They had an unusually good haul of fish, which the men insisted was all
owing to the presence of the two little girls. They stayed on the beach
or in the boat all the afternoon, and finally went home to supper so
hungry that Mrs. Rogers laughingly declared that she could not possibly
cook enough in one day to satisfy them.

Mrs. Coit kept her promise and wrote to Lucy every day, and between her