e town; for
though some of the shops looked interesting, these were not the ones
near which Nanna and Margaretta lingered. They only stopped and looked
in at the windows of bonnet shops or jewellers' shops, and these were
not attractive to Sophia Jane or Susan. But after a while they turned
down a street where there were no shops at all, and at the end of it
they came on to the parade and saw the sea. It was a wonderful sight to
Susan, for she had been too tired to notice it much the day she had
arrived, and now it burst upon her suddenly like something new. It was
so beautiful and there was so much of it that it made her quite gasp for
breath; the sun shining on it made a great glittering high-road
stretching away in the distance till it joined the sky and was lost
there; the waves came rolling, rolling, one after the other, up to the
shore, curled over, and dashed themselves down so hard that they were
broken up into hissing silver foam and tossed their spray high in the
air. Everything seemed to be silver and gold and diamonds at the
sea-side, it all sparkled, and twinkled, and shone so much. Susan's
eyes were dazzled and she put up her hand to shield them, for she was
used to the shadow and gloom of the London streets.

"Oh," she cried, "how I should like to go down on the sands!"

"Perhaps they'll let us go some day," said Sophia Jane. "It's best to
go on the rocks when the sea's out."

"Out!" said Susan in astonishment. "Does it ever go quite away?"

Sophia Jane was so amused at this innocent question that she was unable
to answer for some moments. She giggled so much and so loud that
Margaretta turned round and said angrily:

"Vulgar child! Be quiet and walk properly."

Susan did not like to be laughed at. She walked along in silence, with
hot cheeks, and determined that she would ask no more questions.

Sophia Jane continued to chuckle softly to herself for a little while
and then said:

"There's a low tide and a high tide, of course. When it's low it's ever
so far out, and when it's high it's ever so far in."

"Oh yes, I know, I remember now; I've learned that," said Susan hastily,
for she did not wish Sophia Jane to think her quite ignorant. "It has
something to do with the moon."

"The moon!" exclaimed Sophia Jane with utter disdain in her voice,
"you're muddling things up."

"It has," repeated Susan positively, "it's in the geography book."

"I don't believe it," said Sophia Jane.