Page:Leah Reed--Brenda's summer at Rockley.djvu/16

2 “I know it; I think myself that it would be rather pleasant to walk. But Aunt Anna wants us to call for her at the village. She went down there after breakfast, and as the horse was harnessed she thought that we  might as well drive.”

“Oh,” said Brenda, “I did not even notice that she had gone out. I have been reading ever since breakfast. Where have you been?”

“I ’ve been pottering around in the garden. I filled the vases for the dining-room, and I 've just enjoyed  every minute. This seems like summer at last. It’s the first really warm day that we ’ve had.”

“Well, Julia, you are a funny girl,” and Brenda laughed brightly. “Just wait until it is a little warmer, and you won’t speak of enjoying a warm day. We can have it warm enough even here by the sea, I can assure  you, sometimes.”

“Yes, but I don’t believe that it can ever be unbearable, so near the sea. Why I have always heard that the North Shore is cool!”

“Oh, perhaps it is compared with some places. I dare say that to-day it is much cooler here than in the city. We ’ll ask papa when he comes down. At any rate I am glad that it is warm enough now to bathe.”

The girls took their places in the carriage, and in a few minutes they reached a group of houses and shops, called by the summer residents “the village,” although  it had no streets but the main road, no church or public  building, and consisted of hardly more than a dozen