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。