THE RUNAWAY BOAT A week went past, during which there were no particular adventures.

The weather was fine, crisp with light frost, and sunny in the mornings, so that the children had long rambles out-of-doors in the care of a young housemaid, who allowed them a good deal of liberty.

In this way they worked off a great deal of energy, and did not get into any serious scrapes.
Bridget told them fairy tales as they trotted along, one on each side of her, but that was only when they were tired of running and exploring everything.
Sometimes they went down to the sea-shore and built castles of stones, and picked up shells washed in by the waves.

A few little houses stood just above the shore, and Bridget had friends in these houses, and while the children were playing she would often leave them on the beach and go to pay visits to her friends.
One day when the children had been left alone in this manner they wandered out of sight of the houses, getting across some rocks and into a little creek which was quite new to them.

They saw some more fishermen's cottages at a distance, and one or two boats were lying on the shingle.