"I'm sorry you're not going to call, she's such a nice young lady. Everybody likes her." And then, after a few moments, she looked up with a smile, and said, "Is there anything else I can tell you about the people of the town? There's a man going by in the rain with a lot of planks on his head--would you like to know who he is and all about him?" "Oh yes, certainly," I replied. "But of course I don't care so much about him as I do about that little brown girl from the farm, and the nice Miss Langton from the White House. But it's really very pleasant to listen to you whatever you talk about. I really think you one of the most charming little girls I have ever met, and I wonder what you will be like in another five years. I think I must come and see for myself." "Oh, will you come back in five years? Just to see me! My hair will be grown then and I won't have a nightcap on, and I'll try to wash off the freckles before you come." "No, don't," I said. "I had forgotten all about them--I think they are very nice." She laughed, then looking up a little archly, said: "You are saying all that just for fun, are you not?" "Oh no, nothing of the sort. Just look at me, and say if you do not believe what I tell you." "Yes, I do," she answered frankly enough, looking full in my eyes with a great seriousness in her own. That sudden seriousness and steady gaze; that simple, frank declaration! Would five years leave her in that stage? I fancy not, for at ten she would be self-conscious, and the loss would be greater than the gain. No, I would not come back in five years to see what she was like. That was the end of our talk. She looked towards the wet street and her face changed, and with a glad cry she darted out. The rain was over, and a big man in a grey tweed coat was coming across the road to our side. She met him half-way, and bending down he picked her up and set her on his shoulder and marched with her into the house. There were others, it seemed, who were able to appreciate her bright mind and could forget all about her freckles and her nightcap. XIX ON CROMER BEACH