"It is a quest with a certain amount of romance in it," agreed Anonyma. "We are seeking a House By The Sea. We know very little about it except that it exists. We know that its windows look west, and that the sun sets over the sea. We know that it stands ungardened on the cliff and has a great view. We know that it is seven hundred years old, and full of inspiration ..." "We know," continued Kew, "that you can--and often do--drop a fishing-line out of the window into the sea when you are tired of playing the goldfish in the water-butt. We know that the owner of the house is a rotten shot, and that the stone balls from the balustrade are not at this moment where they ought to be. We know that aeroplanes as well as seagulls nest in those cliffs...." "We know--" began Mr. Russell, but this was too much for Mrs. Gustus. After all, the lady was her admirer. "What's all this?" said Mrs. Gustus. "What do you people know about it?" "I just thought I would talk a little now," said Kew. "I get quickly tired of hearing other people giving information without help from me." "At any rate, Russ," continued Mrs. Gustus, "you can't know anything whatever about the matter. You have hardly listened when I read Jay's letters." "I told you that I remembered," said Mr. Russell. "I don't know how. I remember sitting on a high cliff and seeing three black birds swim in a row, and dive in a row, and in a row come up again after I had counted hundreds." "Nonsense," said Mrs. Gustus, trying not to appear cross before the visitor, "you're thinking of something else. You can see such a sight as that at the Zoo any day." "You all seem to know quite a lot about the place," said the admirer, "yet not much of a very practical nature, if I may say so." "Everything practical is unromantic," said Mrs. Gustus. "There is nothing true or beautiful in the world but poetry. If we seek in real simplicity of mind, we shall find what we seek, for simplicity is poetry, and poetry is truth." "Also, of course, England has only one west coast," added Kew, "and if we don't find the place we shall have found a good many other things by the time we have finished." "It may be in Ireland," suggested the admirer. "No, because she answers our letters so quickly." "She?" "My young cousin, the object of our search." "Did she run away?" asked the admirer, in a voice strangled with excitement. To admit that a young relation of Anonyma's should run away from her would be undignified. "You mustn't take us too seriously," said Mrs. Gustus lightly. "It isn't a case of an elopement, or anything like that. Just an excuse for a tour, and a rest from wearisome war work. A wild-goose chase, nothing but fun in it." "Wild goose is a good description of Jay," said Cousin Gustus. It was rather. Next morning the admirer, twittering with excitement, came in upon the Family while it was having its breakfast.