said Ollie; "but I must take this sugar to mamma first. Let's climb over these bars and cut across this field. It is a great deal shorter than by the road."

There were some geese in the field, which evidently did not like to have their privacy intruded upon, for they set up a terrible quacking as the children passed them. Ollie and Lucy, however, quacked back again, and the geese soon left them and continued to nibble away at the grass.

Ollie soon reached her home, and leaving her basket on the table she ran up-stairs to find her mother, for she wanted permission to go to the beach.

"Yes," said Mrs. Rogers, "you may go; but it looks a little showery, and I don't want you to get wet. Watch the clouds, and if you see a storm coming, hurry home, so as to get in before the rain."

Ollie promised to do as she was told and kissing her mother good-by she ran down-stairs. She found Lucy standing by the fence, looking over into Mr. Beech's yard. Mr. Beech lived next to Ollie's papa, and he had one little girl. Every one called her "Chubby," because she was so plump and round.

"Lucy," called Ollie, "what are you doing?"

"Come here a minute," said Lucy.

Ollie went to the fence, and there she saw Chubby holding a basket full of delicious ripe strawberries. "Why, Chubby," said Ollie, "what are you going to do with those lovely berries? How good they look, don't they, Lucy?"

"Oh," said Chubby, "I must be very careful, for they do roll about so that I can hardly carry them. You may each have one, but I cannot spare more, because they are for my tea-party."

So Chubby passed the basket very carefully to the children, while each one helped herself, and then she started to walk carefully over the grass toward a seat under a big tree.

"And what is your party?" asked Lucy. "It must be a very nice one, I think, if you have such things as those to eat."

"Oh, there it is," said Chubby; and looking in the direction of her finger the children saw a table covered with a white cloth, and a pretty blue tea-set upon it.

They had evidently been very hungry when they began the feast, for not a crumb remained upon one of the plates, and three little girls were sitting there, waiting patiently for a fresh supply of good things. Ollie and Lucy watched Chubby till she set her plate of berries safely upon the table, and then, turning around, they remembered that they had only a short time to stay at the beach, and that consequently they had better not lose any more time in loitering by the way.

It was only a quarter of a mile from Ollie's house to the water, and it did not take long to get over the ground which lay between. Ollie was never tired of the ocean, and it was a rare thing for her to let a day pass without spending some time on the shore.

Some one was there before them, and at first the children could not imagine whom it could be; but as