Mary Jane helped herself very daintily but Mrs. Bryan said, "Here, honey, that’s no way to eat at my house! You take a big helping and then pass up! There’s three more platterfuls like this out on the kitchen table!" The girls needed no second urging; they liked lobster, but as they polished off claw after claw, they agreed that never _never_ had they eaten lobster before—not really truly lobster as this luscious food proved to be. As the maid appeared to ask what dessert they wanted, Mrs. Merrill said, "Do you want any dessert, girls? You’ve had such a good supper already." "Why mother!" exclaimed Mary Jane, "we _were hungry_!" And then as the maid said, "Huckleberry shortcake and apple pie" (meaning of course that Mary Jane should take her choice), Mary Jane, not understanding, replied blissfully, "I like ’em both, thank you!" "Bless her heart!" laughed Mrs. Bryan, "she shall have ’em both, Ann. You bring the girls each a helping of pie and shortcake—it’s not too rich, it won’t hurt ’em for once," she added as she saw Mrs. Merrill starting to object, "remember how you used to eat two helpings of dessert and how _you_ made your dear father so ashamed!" Mrs. Merrill and the good lady laughed in recollection—and the girls had their double dessert. In the long twilight the Merrills took a leisurely walk through the pine tree grove off toward the south of the cottage and home along the rocks by the ocean. By the time they turned toward home the sun had set in rosy glory and through the gathering shadows could be seen the gleam of lights in lighthouses near and far. ’Way down the coast on some jutting rocks, still farther down on an out-reaching promontory, straight off to the northeast on the Isle of Shoals and away toward the north was the Portsmouth Light. Some lights burned steadily, red or white; some flashed on and off as though making a signal. Mrs. Merrill explained that each different location had its own light and method of burning it, so that a pilot, out in the ocean when he saw a light burning red, white, red white, could look on the chart and see just where that light belonged; and then, when he saw one burning white, white, red, he could look again and see where that one was. The girls loved to watch the lights and to listen to the pound of the waves on the rocks near by. They would have liked to stay and watch a long time, but Mrs. Merrill led them back toward the cottage by dark and, to tell the truth, beds didn’t feel so very bad after such a big day and, soon after the stars peeped out, two tired travelers were sound asleep.