'And the little girl was sensible too. She had quite left off crying and held out her hand to her preserver.
'"Oh, thank you, thank you so velly much," she said, "for saving me. I was velly neely drowned, wasn't I? Please go home and get dry quick, or else you'll catch cold."
'But before he had time to reply, a figure came rushing up to them in great excitement. It was the little girl's nurse, dreadfully frightened and ashamed, especially when the boy officer turned upon her very sharply and asked her what on earth she had been thinking of to leave her charge in such danger.
'She had a long story to tell, which he had not patience to listen to--how she had almost finished dressing the young lady when she found she had left her parasol on the sands, and had climbed over into the next van where a friend was, just as it was being drawn out, as she was so afraid of the parasol being stolen, thinking no harm could come to the child in that minute or two till the bathing-man came back again, and how her friend had seen the parasol higher up on the stones, and how--and then came the bathing-man lumbering up with _his_ story--or how he had thought there was no one in the van, and he was just a-goin' to fetch it out--not that it would have gone far----
'"But it _would_," said the soldier; "and even if it had stuck, the young lady would have been half killed with fright and soaked through, and perhaps fallen into the water bodily. The bathing-man deserved to be reported, and----"
'There came a shout for the young officer just then. Some one, thinking _he_ had got drowned or something of the kind, had hurried back to see. So he rode off though just as he was going, the little girl stopped him for a moment.
'"Oh, please, Mr. Soldier," she said, "will you tell me your name, so that mamma can write to thank you?"
'He laughed, but he was already in the saddle, and all she heard was the one word, "Jack."'
Mamma stopped when she got to this. I waited an instant to see if she was going on again. I felt a little puzzled, though I thought the story so interesting.
'That isn't all, is it, mamma?' I said. 'I do so like it, but--didn't you say--something about papa--and you and the sea, being mixed up?'