InstantlyMrs。Coleknewthatshehadforgottenit。ShecouldseeherselfstandingthereinMrs。Monk’skitchenforgettingit。Howcouldshe？AndMrs。Monk，howcouldSHE？Ithadneverbeenforgottenbefore。
“Oh，no，“shesaidwildly。“Oh，no！I’msureIcan’thaveforgottenit。“
Sheplungedabout，herredfaceallcreasedwithanxiety，herhatononeside，herhandssearchingeverywhere，underthetablecloth，inthebasket，amongsttheknivesandforks。
“Jim，youhaven’tdroppedanything？“
“No，mum。Beggin’yourpardon，mum，thebasketwasclosed，sotospeak——closeditwas。“
No，sheknewthatshehadforgottenit。
“I’msosorry，Mrs。LePage，I’mafraid——“
“MydearMrs。Cole！Whatdoesitmatter？Notintheleast，Iassureyou。Inthisheatit’simpossibletofeelhungry，isn’tit？IassureyouIdon’tfeelasthoughIcouldtouchathing。Alittlefruit，perhaps——anappleorapeach——“
Fruit？Whyhadn’tMrs。Colebroughtfruit？Shemightsoeasilyhavedoneso，andshehadneverthoughtaboutit。Theythemselveswererathertiredoffruit，andso——
“I’mafraidwe’venofruit，butanegg-sandwich——“
“Eggsneedsalt，don’tyouthink？Notthatitmattersintheveryleast，butsothatyoushouldn’tthinkmefussy。Really，dearMrs。
Cole，Ineverfeltlesshungryinmylife。JustadropofmilkandI’mperfectlysatisfied。“
“Jeremyshallrunuptothefarmforthemilk。Youdon’tmind，Jeremydear，doyou？It’sonlyastep。Justtakethissixpence，dear，andsaywe’llsendthejugbackthisafternoonifthey’llspareone。“
Jeremydidmind。Hewasenjoyinghisluncheon，andhewasgazingatCharlotte，andhewasteasingHamletwithscraps——hewasveryhappy。
Nevertheless，hestartedoff。
Sosoonasheleftthesandsthenoiseoftheseawasshutofffromhim，andhewasclimbingthelittlegreenpathupwhichtheScarletAdmiralhadoncestalked。
Suddenlyheremembered——inhisexcitementaboutCharlottehehadforgottentheAdmiral。Hestoodforamoment，listening。Thegreenhedgeshutoffthenoiseofthesea——onlyabovehisheadsomebirdsweretwittering。Hefanciedthatheheardfootsteps，thenthatbeyondthehedgesomethingwasmoving。Itseemedtohimthatthebirdswerealsolisteningforsomething。“Well，it’sthemiddleoftheafternoon，anyway。“Hethoughttohimself，“Henevercomesthere——onlyinthemorningorevening，“buthehurriedforwardafterthat，wishingthathehadcalledtoHamlettoaccompanyhim。Itwasapleasantclimbtothefarmthroughthegreenorchard，andhefoundatthefarmdooranagreeablewomanwhosmiledathimwhenshegavehimthemilk。Hehadtocomedownthehillcarefully，lestthemilkshouldbespilt。Hewalkedalongveryhappily，hummingtohimselfandthinkinginaconfusedsummerafternoonkindofmannerofCharlotte，Hamlet，Mrs。LePageandhimself。“ShallIgiveherthethimbleorshan’tI？Icouldtakehertothepoolswherethelittlecrabsare。She’dlikethem。Iwonderwhetherwe’regoingtobathe。
Mrs。LePagewilllookfunnybathing……“Thenhewasinthegreenlaneagain，andatoncehisdiscomfortreturnedtohim，andhelookedaroundhisshoulderandintothehedges，andstoppedonceandagaintolisten。Therewasnosound。Thebirds，itseemed，hadallfallentosleep。Thehedges，hethought，werecloserabouthim。Itwasveryhothere，withnobreezeandnocomfortingsoundofthesea。“Iwonderwhetherhereallydoescome，“hethought。“Itmustbehorridtoseehim——comingquiteclose。“AndthethoughtoftheFoolalsofrightenedhim。TheFoolwithhistongueoutandhisshakinglegs，liketheidiotwholivedneartheCathedralathome。AtthethoughtofthisJeremysuddenlytooktohislegsandran，coveringthetopofhisjugwithhishand；then，whenhecameoutontothestripofgrassthatcrossedthetopofthebeach，hestopped，suddenlyashamedofhimself。ScarletAdmirals！ScarletAdmirals！HowcouldtherebeScarletAdmiralsinaworldthatalsocontainedsoblazingasun，soblueasea，andthegorgeousrealitiesoftheLePagefamily。Hearrivedattheluncheonpartyhotandproudandsmiling，socheerfulandstolidandagreeablethatevenMrs。LePagewascompelledtosay，“Really，Mrs。Cole，that’saverynicelittleboyofyours。Comehere，littleJeremy，andtalktome！“Howdeeplyhehatedbeingcalled“littleJeremy“onlyMaryandHelenknew。
Theireyesflewtohisfacetoseehowhewouldtakeit。Hetookitverywell。HesatdownbesideMrs。LePage，whoverygracefullyandlanguidlysippedatherglassofmilk。
“Howoldareyou，Jeremydear？“sheaskedhim。
“Eight，“heanswered，wriggling。
“Whataniceage！Andonedayyou’llgotoschool？“
“InSeptember。“
“Andwhatwillyoubewhenyou’reaman？“
“Oh，Idon’tknow。I’llbeasoldier，perhaps。“
“Oh，I’msureyouwouldn’tliketobeasoldierandkillpeople。“
“Yes，Iwould。There’slotsofpeopleI’dliketokill。“
Mrs。LePagedrewherskirtsbackalittle。
“Howhorrible！I’msureyourmotherwouldn’tliketohearthat。“
ButMr。Colehadcaughtthelastwordsofthedialogueandinterruptedwith：
“Butwhatcouldbefiner，Mrs。LePage，thanthedefenceofone’scountry？Wouldyouhaveouryoungladsgrowupfaint-heartedandfailtheirMotherlandwhenshecalls？Whatcanbefiner，Isay，thantodieforQueenandcountry？Wouldnoteverymotherhavehersonshedhisbloodforlibertyandfreedom？……No，Jeremy，notanother。You’vehadquiteenough。Itwouldindeedbeadishearteningsightifweeldersweretowatchoursonsandgrandchildrenturningtheirswordsintoploughshares——“
HewasinterruptedbyashrillcryfromMrs。LePage：
“Charlotte，darling，doholdyoursunshadeup。Alltheleftsideofyourfaceisexposed。That’sbetter，dear。Ibegyourpardon，Mr。
Cole。“
ButMr。Colewasoffended。
“Ihopenosonofminewillevershowhimselfafaintheart，“heconcludedseverely。
Theluncheon，infact，hadbeenamostdismalfailure。TheColescouldflingtheirmindsbacktoluncheonsonthissamebeachthathadbeensimplyriotoussuccesses。Whatfuntheyhadhad！Whatgames！Whatbathes？NowtheverysightofMr。LePage’sblackbeardwasenough。EvenJeremyfeltthatthingswerewrong。ThenhelookedatCharlotteandwassatisfied。Thereshesat，straightandstiff，herhandsonherlap，herhairfallinginlovelygoldenripplesdownherback，hergazefixedondistance。Oh！shewasbeautiful！Hewoulddowhatevershetoldhim；hewouldgiveherMissNoahandtheappletree；hewould——Asounddisturbedhisdevotions。Heturned。
BothMr。andMrs。LePagewerefastasleep。
IV
“Children，“whisperedMrs。Cole，“veryquietlynow，sothatyoudon’tdisturbanyone，runofftothefartherbeachandplay。Helen，you’llseethateverythingisallright，won’tyou？“
ItwasonlyjustintimethatJeremysucceededinstranglingHamlet’sbarkintoasnort，andeventhentheyalllookedroundforamomentatthesleepersinthegreatestanxiety。Butno，theyhadnotbeendisturbed。IfonlyMr。LePagecouldhaveknownwhatheresembledlyingtherewithhismouthopen！Buthedidnotknow。Hewasdoubtlessdreamingofhisproperty。
Thechildrencreptaway。CharlotteandJeremytogether。Jeremy’sheartbeatthickly。Atlasthehadthelovelycreatureinhischarge。Itwastruethathedidnotquiteknowwhathewasgoingtodowithher，andthatevennow，intheheightofhisadmiration，hedidwishthatshewouldnotwalkasthoughsheweretreadingonred-
hotploughshares，andthatshecouldtalkalittleinsteadofgivinglittleshiversofapprehensionateverystep。
“Imustsay，“hethoughttohimself，“she’srathersillyinsomeways。Perhapsitwouldn’tbefuntoseeheralways。“
Theyturnedthecornerroundaprojectingfingerofrock，andanewlittlebeach，whiteandgleaming，layinfrontofthem。
“Well，“saidJeremy，“hereweare。Whatshallweplay？“
Therewasdeadsilence。
“Wemightplaypirates，“hecontinued。“I’llbethepirate，andMarycansitonthatrockuntilthewatercomesroundher，andCharlotteshallhideinthatcave——“
Therewasstillsilence。Lookingabouthim，hediscoveredfromhissisters’countenancesthattheywereresolvedtolendnokindofassistance，andhethenfromthatdeducedthesimplefactthathissistershatedCharlotteandwerenotgoingtomakeitpleasantforherinanywayiftheycouldhelpit。Oh！itwasamiserablepicnic！
Theworstthathe’deverhad。
“It’stoohottoplay，“saidHelenloftily。“I’mgoingtositdownoverthere。“
“SoamI，“saidMary。
Theymovedaway，theirheadsintheairandtheirlegsridiculouslystiff。
JeremygazedatCharlotteindistress。Itwasverywickedofhissisterstogoofflikethat，butitwasalsoverysillyofCharlottetostandtheresohelplessly。HewasbeginningtothinkthatperhapshewouldgivethethimbletoMissJonesafterall。
“Wouldyouliketogoandseethepoolwherethelittlecrabsare？“
heasked。
“Idon’tknow，“sheanswered，herupperliptremblingasthoughsheweregoingtocry。“IwanttogohomewithMother。“
“Youcan’tgohome，“hesaidfirmly，“andyoucan’tseeyourmother，becauseshe’sasleep。“
“I’vemademyshoesdirty，“shesaid，lookingdownatherfeet，“andI’msotiredofholdingmysunshade。“
“Ishouldshutitup，“Jeremysaidwithoutanyhesitation。“Ithinkit’sasillything。I’mgladI’mnotagirl。Doyouhavetotakeitwithyoueverywhere？“
“Notifit’sraining。ThenIhaveanumbrella。“
“Ithinkyou’dbettercomeandseethecrabs，“hesettled。“They’reonlyjustoverthere。“
Shemovedalongwithhimreluctantly，lookingbackcontinuallytowherehermotheroughttobe。
“Areyouenjoyingyourself？“Jeremyaskedpolitely。
“No，“shesaid，withoutanyhesitation，“Iwanttogohome。“
“She’sasselfishasanything，“hethoughttohimself。“We’regivingtheparty，andsheoughttohavesaid’Yes’evenifshewasn’t。“
“Doyoulikemydog？“heasked，withanothereffortatlightconversation。