"And that's greedy," said Tom: "you want every one."

"Yes, I do," said d.i.c.k st.u.r.dily.

"Us two," said Dot suddenly, "have adopted you for our mother. It is the only way we can have you for our own."

"You can't have her," cried Tom indignantly; "she's ours."

"That doesn't matter," said Dot; "us two have settled it. She can't help us adopting her. We are her kind of children now.--Aren't we, father?"

Mr. Amherst removed the twins before it came to blows, and left the excited family sitting silently in the dusky room.

Mrs. Beauchamp, very tired and peaceful, was drawing a dispirited darning needle through very worn stockings, and by Susie's sofa sat an upright figure with keen eyes and silver hair.

"The little lady will be sleeping soon," he said. He rose and held out a h.o.r.n.y hand.

"In a softer bed than she had last night," said Mrs. Beauchamp gently.

"Well, as we make our bed so we lie in it," he said.

"Yes," said Susie, in a subdued voice.

He paused and smiled at her.

"But so much we didn't know of went to the making of the bed," he said, "that perhaps little missy lay softly enough after all."

"It is a pity about Miss Susie's boot," nurse said regretfully. "Of course it's a mercy the poor child was brought back safe; and never shall I forget what we suffered unknowing. But talking of beds brings back that boot to me, and it's no use telling me it doesn't matter, for it's sheer waste of the pair."

Life in London seemed rather tame to the little Beauchamps after that summer holiday, with the paddling and the boats, the rocks and the island! They took as much of it all home as they could convey in biscuit tins, and buckets, and cardboard boxes. But, after all, one cannot shut the ocean into a gla.s.s aquarium or hold the sunset on a palette, and there were many things that only memory could bring back to them--the sea-birds wheeling against the blue sky, for instance, the ebbing and flowing tide, the miles of seaweed on the beach, and one night the memory of which will only die with Susie.

d.i.c.k has long forgotten it, for he lay "very softly" in the bed that Susie made for him; but at any moment Susie can shut her eyes and hear the trampling of the surf and the beating of the rain, and see the misty stars!

The twins have taken their adopted mother very seriously, and have established her in the citadel of their hearts. Like the pirates that they are, they have stolen her love, and love her pa.s.sionately in return.

Their undivided affection does not give her a very peaceful life, but it is certainly never dull, and the bold black eyes have grown very dear to her.

The traditions of the Royal Navy are always the mainspring of life in the Beauchamps' nursery; they "carry on" under the auspices of Nelson, and in obedience to his signal they do what England expects! Duty is their watchword, and Ben is their model. Nurse often stands amazed at an obedience that is almost alarming; but when she begins to think that Miss Susie or Master Tom is growing too good to live, she is generally rea.s.sured by some quite unlooked-for crime, and, to her relief, the "troublesome comforts" remain troublesome.