Some of the young ladies and girls were famous swimmers,and looked very pretty in their bright red and blue costumes,with loose hair and gay stockings,as they'd anced into the water and floated away as fearlessly as real mermaidens.Jill had her quiet dip and good rubbing each fine day,and then lay upon the warm sand watching the pranks of the others,and longing to run and dive and shout and tumble with the rest.Now that she was among the well and active,it seemed harder to be patient than when shut up and unable to stir.She felt so much better,and had so little pain to remind her of past troubles,it was almost impossible to help forgetting the poor back and letting her recovered spirits run away with her.If Mrs.Minot had not kept good watch,she would have been off more than once,so eager was she to be "like other girls"again,so difficult was it to keep the restless feet quietly folded among the red cushions.
One day she did yield to temptation,and took a little voyage which might have been her last,owing to the carelessness of those whom she trusted.It was a good lesson,and made her as meek as a lamb during the rest of her stay.Mrs.Minot drove to Gloucester one afternoon,leaving Jill safely established after her nap in the boat,with Gerty and Mamie making lace beside her.
"Don't try to walk or run about,my dear.Sit on the piazza if you get tired of this,and amuse yourself quietly till I come back.I'll not forget the worsted and the canvas,"said Mamma,peeping over the bank for a last word as she waited for the omnibus to come along.
"Oh,don't forget the Gibraltars!"cried Jill,popping her head out of the green roof.
"Nor the bananas,please!"added Gerty,looking round one end.
"Nor the pink and blue ribbon to tie our shell-baskets,"called Mamie,nearly tumbling into the aquarium at the other end.
Mrs.Minot laughed,and promised,and rumbled away,leaving Jill to an experience which she never forgot.
For half an hour the little girls worked busily,then the boys came for Gerty and Mamie to go to the Chasm with a party of friends who were to leave next day.Off they went,and Jill felt very lonely as the gay voices died away.Everyone had gone somewhere,and only little Harry Hammond and his maid were on the beach.Two or three sand-pipers ran about among the pebbles,and Jill envied them their nimble legs so much,that she could not resist getting up to take a few steps.She longed to run straight away over the firm,smooth sand,and feel again the delight of swift motion;but she dared not try it,and stood leaning on her tall parasol with her book in her hand,when Frank,Jack,and the bicycle boy came rowing lazily along and hailed her.
"Come for a sail,Jill?Take you anywhere you like,"called Jack,touched by the lonely figure on the beach.
"I'd love to go,if you will row.Mamma made me promise not to go sailing without a man to take care of me.Would it spoil your fun to have me?"answered Jill,eagerly.
"Not a bit;come out on the big stones and we'll take you aboard,"said Frank,as they steered to the place where she could embark the easiest.
"All the rest are gone to the Chasm.I wanted to go,because I've never seen it;but,of course,I had to give it up,as I do most of the fun";and Jill sat down with an impatient sigh.
"We'll row you round there.Can't land,but you can see the place and shout to the others,if that will be any comfort to you,"proposed Frank,as they pulled away round the pier.
"Oh,yes,that would be lovely!"and Jill smiled at Jack,who was steering,for she found it impossible to be dismal now with the fresh wind blowing in her face,the blue waves slapping against the boat,and three good-natured lads ready to gratify her wishes.
Away they went,laughing and talking gayly till they came to Goodwin's Rocks,where an unusual number of people were to be seen though the tide was going out,and no white spray was dashing high into the air to make a sight worth seeing.
'What do you suppose they are about?Never saw such a lot of folks at this time.Shouldn't wonder if something had happened.I say,put me ashore,and I'll cut up and see,"said the bicycle boy,who was of an inquiring turn.
"I'll go with you,"said Frank;"it won't take but a minute,and I'd like to discover what it is.Maybe something we ought to know about."So the boys pulled round into a quiet nook,and the two elder ones scrambled up the rocks,to disappear in the crowd.Five,ten,fifteen minutes passed,and they did not return.Jack grew impatient,so did Jill,and bade him run up and bring them back.
Glad to know what kept them,Jack departed,to be swallowed up in his turn,for not a sign of a boy did she see after that;and,having vainly strained her eyes to discover the attraction which held them,she gave it up,lay down on their jackets,and began to read.
Then the treacherous tide,as it ebbed lower and lower down the beach,began to lure the boat away;for it was not fastened,and when lightened of its load was an easy prize to the hungry sea,always ready to steal all it can.Jill knew nothing of this,for her story was dull,the gentle motion proved soothing,and before she knew it she was asleep.Little by little the runaway boat slid farther from the shore,and presently was floating out to sea with its drowsy freight,while the careless boys,unconscious of the time they were wasting,lingered to see group after group photographed by the enterprising man who had trundled his camera to the rocks.