sed, indeed, if she
had known of the sufferings the French master endured.

When she inquired about the progress made, his reply was always the
same: "Assez bien," which she considered quite satisfactory.

Time went on. Monsieur had given four lessons, Susan had written four
letters to Mother and had been four times to chapel with Aunt Hannah.
She had, therefore, now been four whole weeks at Ramsgate, and the days
seemed to go by quickly, instead of creeping along as they did at first.
And this was in a great measure owing to the companionship of Sophia
Jane, for, though Aunt Hannah was kind and Nanna and Margaretta
caressing, Susan's life would have been dull without someone to invent
games with her and play in the attic; and, although she thought herself
far superior to Sophia Jane, she knew this very well. When she wrote to
her mother she was able to say that she liked being at the sea-side very
much, but she always added: "We have not been on the sands yet." Now
this was a thing she longed to do, for Sophia Jane had told her of so
many delightful things to do and find there, that it seemed the most
desirable place on earth; besides, she wanted very much to begin a
collection of shells and sea-weed for Freddie. There was a card hanging
in her bed-room, on which pink and green sea-weeds were arranged in a
sort of bouquet, with some verses written underneath, each ending with
the line: "Call us not weeds, we are flowers of the sea." Susan thought
that very beautiful, and determined to try and make one just like it for
Mother. But the right day never seemed to come for the sands; it was
always too cold, or too windy, or Nanna and Margaretta wanted to go
somewhere else. Almost in despair, Susan made her usual request to Aunt
Hannah one morning: "May we go on the sands?" It was a Saturday, a
whole holiday, and the day was sunny and mild.

"On the sands, my dear?" said her Aunt. "I am too busy to go, but I
daresay the girls will take you."

But as usual, Nanna and Margaretta had widely different plans for
spending their Saturday, and neither of them wished to go on the sands.
Nanna had a hat to trim, and Margaretta was to visit some friends. Aunt
Hannah saw Susan's disappointment.

"Well," she said, "we will manage it in this way. I will spare Buskin
to go with you and Sophia Jane as far as the little cove near the pier;
there she shall leave you to play for an hour and then fetch you again.
You must both p