We went down to the beach. A deep line of shade still extended at the foot of the cliffs; the sky had not a cloud; the sea lay calm beneath; it looked one of Nature's happy days. I said so to Cornelius, adding, in the fulness of my joy, "How kind of Kate to tell you to take me!" "Yes," he replied, wilfully misunderstanding me, "she always was a good sister." "Now, Cornelius, you know very well she did it to please me." He smiled without looking at me. "One to please you, Daisy, and a great deal more to please me. You will ascertain it thus: state that D is to C in K's estimation, what 1 is to _x_ in figures: then multiply by C (that's me) and divide by D (that's you), and you will know all about it." "I don't want to multiply by you and to divide by myself, to know why Kate told you to take me." "She's as obstinate as the other one," said Cornelius, stopping short to look at me. I replied, "Is she?" and we went on, until a promontory of steep rock barred our passage. "We must cross that," I said. "Humph! Can you manage it, Daisy?" "Can you, Cornelius?" He told me I was very saucy. I laughed and ran up the rocks so fast, he could scarcely overtake me. When we reached the highest peak, we stood still, and thence looked down on a wild narrow spot below, shut in between cliff and wave. Long ridges of sharp rocks, stretching out far into the sea, and impassable when the tide was full, enclosed it on either side. The cliffs at the back stood steep and perpendicular within a few yards of the breaking surf, but the strata of earth that ran through them in slant and undulating lines, gave them a distant and receding aspect, which, like the glamour of enchantment, vanished with a closer view; then they suddenly rose on the eye, near, stern, and threatening. Undermined by the high spring tides, rocks had fallen from above, and now lay thickly strewn about the beach, as if tossed there by the sea in angry or sportive mood. From the deep gap thus made in the cliff descended a narrow stream, which spread on a flat advancing ledge of rock, fell again a wide and clear stream of sparkling water, into a basin which itself had made, and thence glided away with a low splash and faint murmur, through worn-out old stones green with slime, until it lost itself for ever in the great rush of the wide waters. We descended silently; when we stood within the enclosed space, Cornelius said-- "Of all wild and barren spots this is the gem." "It is sterile, Cornelius, and that is its beauty."