Next morning, Marjorie was greatly interested in Kitty"s story.
"Oh, Kit," she exclaimed, "I wish I had seen you step off! Though, of course, if I _had_ seen you, you wouldn"t have done it! For I should have waked you up. Well, it"s a wonder you didn"t smash yourself. Come on, let"s hurry down and look at that flower bed."
But by the time the girls got down there, the hotel gardener had remade the flower bed, and it now looked as if no one had ever set foot on it.
"Pshaw!" said Marjorie, "they"ve fixed it all up, and we can"t even see where you landed. Did it make a big hole, Kit?"
"I don"t know, Mops. About as big as I am, I suppose. Can"t you imagine it?"
Marjorie laughed. "Yes, I can imagine you landing there, in your nightgown and bare feet! How you must have looked!"
"I s"pose I did. But, somehow, Mops, when I found myself there, it didn"t seem queer at all. I just wanted to float on the red flowers."
"Kit, I do believe you"re half luny," observed King; "you have the craziest ideas. But I"m jolly glad you didn"t get hurt, you old sleep-trotter!" and the boy pulled his sister"s curls to express his deep affection and grat.i.tude for her safety.
Kitty was none the worse for her fall. The soft loam of the newly made flower bed had received her gently, and not even a bruise had resulted.
But the elders decided that hereafter the exits from Kitty"s bedroom must be properly safeguarded at night, as no one could tell when the impulse of sleep-walking might overtake her.
There was plenty to do at Lakewood. Uncle Steve took the children for a brisk walk through the town, and bought them souvenirs of all sorts. The shops displayed tempting wares, and the girls were made happy by bead necklaces and pretty little silk bags, while King rejoiced in queer Indian relics found in a curio shop. Then back to the hotel, for a game of tennis and a romp with Cousin Jack, and in the afternoon a long motor ride, with occasional stops for ice cream soda or peanuts.
And the next day Kitty and Uncle Steve went home. They concluded to take the train from Lakewood, and not return again to Seacote.
"Grandma will be getting anxious to see us," Uncle Steve declared. "I did not intend to stay as long as this when I left home."
"Good-bye, old Kitsie," said Midget; "don"t walk into any more red seas, and write to me often, won"t you?"
"Yes, I will, Midge; but you don"t write very often, yourself."
"I know it; it"s a sort of a bother to write letters. But I love to get them."
"Well, the summer will be over pretty soon," returned Kitty, "and then we"ll all be back in Rockwell."
The Maynard children were philosophical, and so they parted with cheery good-byes, and the train steamed away with Uncle Steve and Kitty waving from the window.
"Now, for our own plans," said Mr. Maynard. "What shall we do next, Jack?"
"I know what I"d like," said Cousin Ethel.
"What is it, my Angel?" asked her husband. "You may most certainly have anything you want."
"Well, instead of going right back to Seacote, I"d like to go to Atlantic City."
"You would!" said Mr. Bryant. "And would you like to go around by Chicago, and stop at San Francisco on your way home?"
"No," said Cousin Ethel, laughing; "and I don"t think Atlantic City is so very far. We could go there to-day, stay over to-morrow, and back to Seacote the day after. What do you think, Jack?"
"I think your plan is great! And I"m more than ready to carry it out, if these Maynards of ours agree to it."
"I"d like it," declared Marjorie. "I"ve never been to Atlantic City."
"But it isn"t exactly a summer place, is it?" asked Mrs. Maynard.
"Neither is Lakewood," said Cousin Ethel. "But it"s a cool spell just now, and I think it would be lots of fun to run down there."
"All right," said Mr. Maynard, "let"s run."
And run they did. Considering they had nine people and two motors, and several suitcases to look after, they displayed admirable expedition in getting started, and just at dusk they came upon the brilliant radiance of the lights of Atlantic City.
"This was a fine idea of yours, Ethel," said Mrs. Maynard. "This place looks very attractive."
"Oh, isn"t it!" cried Marjorie. "I think it"s grand! Can"t we stay up late to-night, Mother?"
"You may stay up till nine o"clock, Midget, and we"ll go down and see the crowds on the Boardwalk."
So after dinner they went down to the gay thoroughfare known as the Boardwalk. It was crowded with merry, laughing, chattering people, and Midget danced along in an ecstasy of enjoyment.
"I never saw such a lot of people!" she exclaimed. "Where are they all going?"
"Nowhere in particular," said her father. "They"re just out here to look at each other and enjoy themselves."
"See those funny chairs, on rollers," went on Midget. "Oh, can"t we ride in them? Everybody else does."
"Of course we must," said her father. "It"s part of the performance."
He engaged three rolling chairs, and as each chair held two people, he said, "How shall we divide up?"
"I"ll take Mehitabel," said Cousin Jack, "and Hezekiah can go with my wife. Then you two elder Maynards can use the third. How"s that?"
This arrangement was satisfactory and they started off, a strong man pushing each chair.
"Don"t you think this is fun, Cousin Jack?" asked Marjorie, as she watched the crowds and the lights, and Old Ocean rolling big black waves up on the sh.o.r.e.
"Yes, Mehitabel, I think it"s gay. There"s a certain something at this place that you never see anywhere else."
"Yes, it"s quite different from Seacote, isn"t it? Everybody here seems to be in a hurry."
"That"s only because it"s such a big and lively crowd. Here we are at the pier. I think we"d better go in and hear the music."
So they dismissed the chairmen, and went far down the long pier to listen to a concert.
A children"s dance was being held, and Marjorie sat down, enraptured at the sight.
Lots of boys and girls about her own age, in fancy costumes, were dancing and pirouetting in time with the fine music. One little girl, especially, Marjorie admired. She was a pretty child, in a white frock and blue sash, and she wore a wreath of small rosebuds on her curly, flaxen hair. She seemed to be the best of all the dancers, and twice she danced alone, doing marvellous fancy steps and receiving great applause from the audience.
"Isn"t she lovely!" exclaimed Midget. "I wish I could dance like that."
"You never can, Mopsy," said King. "You"re too heavy. That girl is a featherweight."