Mr. Holiday stopped his horse by the side of the road, and Rollo, when he reached the place, stopped also.
"Here we are," said Rollo. "That's the sea."
"Where's the beach?" said Lucy.
Mary was silent.
"Come," said Rollo, "let's drive on."
"O no," said Mary, "wait here a few minutes."
"Jonas, what are you waiting for?" said Rollo.
"I wished him to stop here a few minutes," said Rollo's father, "to let us look at the prospect."
Rollo said no more, though he could not understand what his father was waiting for. They all sat still, looking at the view, and saying very little; Rollo was impatient and restless. In a short time, however, Jonas drove on, and Rollo followed him. They went down into a sort of valley, where they lost sight of the water again, and then, after winding around for some time among the rocks and sand hills, they came at length to a high ridge of pebble stones, which ran along the shore; and surmounting this, they found the white beach spread out close before them, while a long line of wave was just curling over and dashing into foam upon the sand. They fastened the horses to some heavy pieces of timber, the remains of a wreck, which lay up high upon the sand.
"O, what a wide beach!" said Rollo. The truth is, that when he saw the beach from the hill, it looked like a mere line of sand, extending along the shore. But now he found it was a broad and smooth area, gently descending towards the water. It was firm, so that the children could run about upon it. Rollo went down pretty near to the water's edge, and amused himself by watching the surf. Each wave would recede after it broke, and run off, leaving a broad piece of the beach dry; until, in a moment more, another wave would come curling on, and break over the retreating water of the former; and then it would rush up the sand, in a broad and rapid stream, all along the shore, almost to Rollo's feet.
Rollo asked his father to let him take off his shoes and stockings; and he did so. Rollo put each stocking into its shoe, to keep them dry, and then laid them down upon the sand beyond the reach of the waves. Then he would watch the waves, and whenever the water retreated, he would follow it down until he met the new wave coming curling up at him, when he would turn and run, the wave after him, to the shore; and when the wave broke, it would throw the water all around his feet.
Lucy and Mary walked along the other shore at a greater distance, looking for shells. They found a great many. Rollo could hear their exclamations of delight at every new shell they found, and they were continually calling upon him to come and get some too; but he was too much occupied with the surf.
At length, Rollo's attention was excited by hearing Lucy call out,
"O Mary, Mary! I have found a piece of sponge."
Rollo turned around to look. He had just run up from the water, and was standing beyond the reach of the surf, though the water which each wave, as it broke, sent up upon the shore, played around his feet.
"How big is it?" said Rollo,
"About as big as my finger."
"Ho!" said Rollo; "that is not very big."
Just at this instant, a wave larger than usual burst just behind Rollo, and it sent up a torrent of water all around him, which rose almost up to his knees. Rollo was frightened. He started to run; but so much water confused and embarrassed him. He staggered.
"Stand still, Rollo," said his father.
Rollo then stood still; but by this time the water was receding, and his eyes fell upon his two shoes, which had been taken up by the wave, and were now running rapidly down from the shore, each loaded with its stocking. Rollo ran to seize them, and had just time to get them before the next wave advanced and was ready to dash over them. He ran up upon the sand, and put his shoes several yards from the highest place that the water had come to.
"There," said he, looking back at the waves, "now get my shoes if you can!" The waves said nothing, but went on breaking and then retreating, just as before.
Rollo then went to where Mary and Lucy were, and began to collect shells. They found quite a number of different kinds, all along the shore. Some were large and coarse,-broken and worn by the water. Some were so thin and delicate that he had to wrap them up carefully in a paper, and put them into his waistcoat pocket, in order to get them home safely. The children found several other curiosities besides shells. They collected pebbles, and specimens of sand, of different colors. Mary found an old iron spike, perhaps part of a vessel, with the sand and gravel concreted around it. It looked like stone growing upon iron. Rollo also found a small piece of wood, battered and worn by the long-continued action of the waves, and he thought it was very curious indeed. In fine, the children filled their baskets with wonders, and, after about three quarters of an hour, they set out on their return home. When Rollo went to get his shoes, he found the water almost up to them. If he had staid away a little longer, they would have been washed away again. The truth was, the tide was rising.
THE CLIFFS.
As the party slowly rode away from the beach, Rollo's mother asked if it was too late to go to the cliffs. There was a splendid prospect from the cliffs. They were rocky precipices overhanging the sea, at the extremity of a point of land, about a mile from the beach where they had been. The two girls wanted to go very much; but Rollo did not care so much about it. He was in haste to get home and arrange his curiosities.
His father, however, after looking at his watch, said that he thought there would be time to go. So he turned his horse's head in the right direction, and they went to the cliffs.
The precipices were very high, and the swell of the sea dashed and roared against them at their foot; and yet the water looked very smooth at a little distance from the land. Rollo wondered why there should be waves along the beach and against the rocks, when there were none out in the open sea.
"I should think, father," said he, "that it would be calmer near the shore, and more windy out upon the water."
"It is," said his father.
"Then, why are not the waves bigger?"
"They are full as big."
"Why, father," said Rollo, "there are no waves at all out from the land."
"You can't see them very well," said his father, "because we look down upon them. When we are upon a mountain, the small hills below almost disappear. Besides, the waves out in the open sea, in such a still time as this, are in the form of broad swells; but these swells are broken when they roll against the shore, and so this makes the surf."
"I mean to look over and see," said Rollo, and he walked cautiously along towards the precipice.
"O Rollo," exclaimed Mary, "don't go so near!"
"Why, there is no danger," said Rollo.
"Rollo! Rollo!" exclaimed Mary again, as Rollo went nearer and nearer.
His father had turned away, just as he had finished what he said above, and so had not observed what Rollo was doing. In fact, he did not go near enough to the brink to be in any danger, though Mary was afraid to have him so near.