The girls being very much absorbed in their gardens, Schillie and I took a scramble one day round the point she had wished to go when we commenced building our hut. We privately told the servants if we were not at home to dinner, to explain the cause, and not to expect us until tea-time.

It was very hard work, but when we had accomplished it, we came to another bay, not so pretty as ours, but much more extensive. There were scarcely any cliffs, but the great trees came bending down to the water's edge in many places. Here Schillie gave full scope to her enquiring mind, and we progressed at the rate of twenty yards every half hour, while she exhausted herself in vain conjectures without end. Going over the rocks, among the caverns and crevices we found a curious creeping plant, the stems trailing two or three feet long, the leaves were rather oval, of a bright green, and the flowers large beautiful white ones, each composed of four petals tinged with red. At last from the unopened buds being so like capers, we tasted them, and they were so sharp and as acid as we could wish. So we decided they were, or rather it was the caper plant, and while Schillie felicitated herself upon having settled that matter satisfactorily, she groaned over the notion of our having no boiled mutton.

The next thing we discovered was a bright green shrub, apparently an evergreen, with bunches of white flowers, which were sweet scented. There being no seeds formed, we were sometime in making it out to be the coffee tree, but Schillie remembered once seeing a coffee plant at Chatsworth. So she was in high spirits until we came to another shrub with purple and white flowers. Some of the green leaves were exceedingly light, and some nearly black, and they almost seemed to be turning colour, as we looked at them.

We wasted a whole hour over this shrub and a tree close by rather small with foliage like a birch. It had fruit somewhat like a hop, only very much larger.

We now came to an immense Banana tree, out of which flew a cloud of blueish pigeons. The leaves of this Banana looked six or seven feet long and about one wide; the fruit was hanging in every direction, looking like large misshapen cucumbers. Benjie had taught us not to cut it crossways, but from end to end, as it tasted better when cut wrong. But it was curious when cut wrong what an exact cross was pictured in the middle. Twined in the Banana tree was an immense gourd plant. At this minute I shuddered with horror. We had been so secure, so careless, so utterly unmindful of any danger that I was quite unnerved at seeing a huge thing three or four feet long drop from the Banana, close between us. "Keep back, keep back," said Schillie, "I have got my hatchet." But she never could bear to kill anything, so we looked on the creature, and it on us. It was very ugly and formidable to look at, but it had a quiet eye, and after a little while it crawled gently away, and commenced trying to get up the tree again. "I think it must be an iguana," said I at last.

"Whatever it is I admire its civility," said Schillie.

"If it is they are quite harmless, though he looks very horrible," said I.

"He does not intend to harm us, it appears, so we will go on," said Schillie, "because I begin to feel very hungry, and we had better look out for a comfortable spot on which to dine."

"I have been hungry more than an hour, but you were so absorbed in your discoveries you would not listen to my hints. I should like to go to that little knoll, in which those four cocoa-nut trees stand, we shall have a little air then, and can see any danger all round, and, perchance find a cocoa-nut."

"Which you may have all to yourself, June, for I think them unwholesome things."

After a dinner and a successful nutting, I proposed a siesta, as it was impossible to move during the sultry noon, which Schillie agreed to provided I went to sleep first, whilst she watched for an hour, then she was to waken me, and I was to watch in my turn.

After a profound sleep of some duration I awoke, and found my guard in a helpless state of somnambulism, which was so very deep I did not like to disturb her; neither could I move, as the better to guard me she was lying half over me, I, therefore, though anxious about the time we had been sleeping, decided to sit still and wait until she showed some signs of waking. She had the watch round her neck, and I could not look at it without disturbing her, so I amused myself with watching the curious and strange things around me. I noticed some black things in the water, which came nearer and nearer, and I gave a start of pleasure when I perceived that they must be turtle; at last one landed and crawled in the most extraordinary manner some way up the sands. After spending what I thought was half an hour in the oddest movements and vagaries for such an unwieldy thing as a turtle to indulge in, it returned to the sea, and was the only one that landed. The sleeper at last moved, and I roused her up. At first she declared she had not been asleep at all, but when time and circumstances made that assertion untenable, she fell back upon the excuse that it was so dull sitting there with no one to talk to, and nothing to do, and, besides, her thoughts were very melancholy.

June.—"Your thoughts melancholy! That's the first time, then, since I have known you."

Schillie.—"I was thinking of my poor little children, and how wrong I was to go and leave them all."

June.—"But you have not yet been away from them half the time, or, indeed, one-third of what was originally intended, when we left England."

Schillie.—"I know that quite well, but, if you will go to sleep, and leave me to my own dull thoughts, how can I help thinking of my being so ill-behaved as to leave them for such a period."

June.—"It was you that made me go to sleep first. But, however, I must comfort you, and remind you how kind your father is to them, and how your mother's sole business in life is to see that they have double as much as they ought to have. And how your sister, that best of Kittie's, is more than a mother to them; indeed most strangers take her for their mother, and you for an unnatural sort of aunt."

Schillie.—"Well, that may be true, June, but you should not upbraid me with it now I am so sad; I don't pretend to be a fond mother, but I hope I am a good one."

June.—"Come! don't be so horribly pathetic; it does not suit you at all, but, if you are really very unhappy, the captain will be here in ten days or so, and then we will all go home."

Schillie.—"But, how do I know if we may not all be drowned in going home, or have a fire at sea, or something should occur which will prevent me ever seeing my little chicks again," and the great tears rolled one by one down her round blooming cheeks.

This was getting a most serious business, so I said in an angry manner as it were, "You are too absurd! just as if every day when at home you don't put your life into imminent danger, riding that frangy beast, who every ten yards has either his heels or his toes in the air."

Schillie.—"Heels and toes! Whoever heard a horse spoken of in such terms? And after all the pains I have taken with your equine education, to talk in such terms of a little playfulness! I would not give two-pence to ride a horse that goes straight along."

June.—"I should not call that playful riding to come home with one's hands all blistered from holding the animal in. For my part, I never saw you go down the carriage road, on that beast Staunton, with his tail flying and his legs anywhere but on the road, without preparing my nerves for seeing your mangled remains brought home on a shutter."

Schillie.—"Mangled fiddlesticks! Did you ever see such a butterfly? Don't catch it; you'll hurt it. There, it is settled now. I wonder what his name is?"

So her thoughts being diverted we wandered on, the heat dried the big tears, and we made many grand discoveries; amongst others, that the rocks were wholly composed of coral.

But, before we left the spot, without telling her that I had seen the turtle, we went to the place I had seen it throwing up the sand, and, upon examination, found a great quantity of eggs. For some time Schillie would not believe that I had seen a turtle, or that these were turtle's eggs. However we kept our eyes on the black specks on the water, and, turning a corner of the bay, we came upon a whole colony of turtles, all on shore. I was afraid at first to run after them and turn them, and Schillie could not manage it by herself, so that ere I had conquered my reluctance they all got away from her but one, which we turned over all right, and nothing was more ridiculous than to see the poor hideous creature sprawling and straggling with ineffectual efforts. But we could not lift it by any means, and Schillie felt half inclined to let it go again, as it would be exposed so many hours to the broiling sun, ere we could come back with the others to despatch it. So we covered it over with Banana leaves, fastening them safe over the poor beast with bits of wood stuck through the leaves into the sand; and there we left it, making our way homewards over the rocks. The moment we appeared on the top seemed the signal for a general commotion amongst our people, and they all came running round the bay to meet us; Gatty reached us first, followed closely by Serena. They could not speak, they were so completely out of breath; but the first thing Gatty could say was a vehement reproach for leaving them all day. They had been so dull, and, coming out of school they had rushed immediately to join the two Mothers, and had found none; and the dinner was so stupid, and the lessons had been so tiresome, and Madame had been so particular, and it had been so hot; in fact, all had gone wrong.

But we were soon very merry at tea, all except Madame, who looked a little stately; and, after tea, she said she had a complaint to make against a certain person, for misconduct during my absence.

She was interrupted by Gatty's jumping up, and saying. "Oh yes! yes! such a glorious thing happened, it was so killing!—"

"Gertrude, you shock me," said Madame, "to talk of so grave a misdemeanour, in such terms."

"Indeed! Madame, I cannot help it. I never laughed so much in my life. Did you, Sib? Did you, Serena?"

Whereupon all the girls, big and little, tittered and laughed according to their different natures, and I felt relieved. But I was convinced that Felix was the culprit he was so red, and, while his brother rolled on the sand with merriment, he said nothing.

But Madame was so very grave, and seemed really so annoyed, that the laughing ceased, except when Gatty burst into a fresh fit, though she was cramming her handkerchief into her mouth, and that set Oscar off too.

"The young gentlemen came to their lessons in very good time," proceeded Madame, "and Master Oscar immediately proceeded to learn his Latin declensions and to little Felix I gave a short lesson in French, out of that small book which, as you know, Madam, contained a page or two of first French lessons for young beginners." I nodded as much as to say I knew the book. "And then, Madam, as he was so giddy and volatile, I put him under the table to learn it, with the cloth all round him, that his attention might be distracted by nothing that he saw."

Here the tittering was vehement. "He was I must acknowledge, very quiet and good, so much so, that perhaps it was half an hour ere I called him to say it." Here Gatty became convulsed. Oscar in a similar state, and not all Madame's gravity could restrain the others.

"You may imagine my surprise, Madam, when I found the book gone, he had it not. In vain I made him look for it, nay, I acknowledge that I went down on my knees under the table to look for it also, thinking he must be telling an untruth, in saying it was not there. I could find it nowhere, neither can I find it now, and though I have made him confess what he did with it, yet, I assure you, Madam, the matter seems so extraordinary to me, I beg you will ask him yourself." In spite of the laughter, I called Felix, and with a half impudent air, emboldened by his companion's merriment, half frightened at what I might say. He said in a low clear voice, "Mama, I ate it!"

Mother.—"Ate it, child!"

Felix.—"Yes, Mama, I ate it every bit."

Madame sat down in triumph; the young ones made the air sound with their laughter; Jenny looked appealingly to me. Schillie said, "What a nasty boy." I exclaimed in horror and wonder, "Good heavens! suppose it disagrees with him." This frightful notion spread; Jenny took to tears—Madame was quite affected—Schillie recommended an emetic—Hargrave rushed to put it in force—and Felix was overwhelmed with questions as to what he felt; had he a pain?—where was his pain?—did he feel odd?—was he sure he felt nothing?—and it was nearly an hour ere he was suffered to go to bed, with no other remedy than a good fright, and the next day he appeared as pert as ever, recommending those that did not like certain lesson books to eat them up, for, after all, he added, "books are not so nasty to eat as to learn."