"What a persistent child you are. You positively look frightened. Well, three fifty will do for the present. That oughtn't to stump anyone, ought it?" "I suppose not," answered Kate, in a bewildered way. She put her hand to her forehead, bade her brother good-night, and sought her room. "Three hundred and fifty pounds!" she murmured. "And mother won't buy herrings more than eightpence a dozen! And we scarcely eat any meat, and lately we have begun even to save the bread. Three hundred and fifty pounds! Well, I won't tell Mabel. Does Mabel really know the world better than I do, and is it wrong of me in spite of everything to love Loftus?" CHAPTER VI. FOR MY PART, I AM NOT GOING TO TAKE ANY NOTICE OF THE BERTRAMS. But notwithstanding all worries, the world in midsummer, when the days are longest and the birds sing their loudest, is a gay place for the young. Catherine Bertram stayed awake for quite an hour that night. An hour was a long time for such young and bright eyes to remain wide open, and she fancied with a wave of self-pity how wrinkled and old she would look in the morning. Not a bit of it! She arose with the complexion of a Hebe, and the buoyant and gladsome spirit of a lark. As she dressed she sang, and when she ran downstairs she whistled a plantation melody with such precision and clearness that Loftus exclaimed, "Oh, how shocking!" and Mabel rolled up her eyes, and said sagely, that no one ever could turn Kate into anything but a tom-boy. "Girls, what are we to do after breakfast?" asked the brother. "Have you any money at all in your pocket, Loftie?" demurely asked Mabel, "for if so, if so--" her eyes danced, "I can undertake to provide a pleasant day for us all." "Well, puss, I don't suppose an officer in her Majesty's Royal Artillery--is quite without some petty cash. How much do you want?" "A few shillings will do. Let us pack up a picnic basket. Kate, you needn't look at me. I have taken Mrs. Masters into confidence, and there's a cold roast fowl downstairs--and--and--but I won't reveal anything further. We can have a picnic--we can go away an hour after breakfast, and saunter to that place known as the Long Quay, and hire the very best boat to be had for money, and we can float about on this lovely harbor, and land presently on the shore over there where the ruins of the old Port are; and we can eat our dinners there and be jolly. Remember that we have never but once been on the water since we came. Think how we have pined for this simple pleasure, Loftie, and fork out the tin." "My dear Mabel, I must place my interdict on slang." "Nonsense. When the cat's away. Oh, don't look shocked! Are we to go?" "Go! of course we'll go. Is there no pretty girl who'll come with us? It's rather slow to have only one's sisters." "Very well, Loftus. We'll pay you out presently," said Kate.