E-text prepared by Stephen Hutcheson, Rod Crawford, Dave Morgan, Emmy, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustrations. See 36046-h.htm or 36046-h.zip: (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/36046/pg36046-images.html) or (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/36046/36046-h.zip) [Illustration: Annie Pore has bloomed forth into a regular English rose!--_Page 89_] VACATION WITH THE TUCKER TWINS by NELL SPEED Author of "At Boarding School with the Tucker Twins," "The Molly Brown Series," etc. With Four Half-Tone Illustrations by Arthur O. Scott New York Hurst & Company Publishers Copyright, 1916, by Hurst & Company CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. THE BEACH 5 II. "SLEEPY" 18 III. OUR FIRST NIGHT AT THE BEACH 28 IV. BUBBLES 36 V. BLANCHE 45 VI. A ROMANCE 57 VII. OH, YOU CHAPERONE! 67 VIII. LETTERS 83 IX. THE START 91 X. THE FINISH 102 XI. CAPE HENRY 111 XII. FRECKLES AND TAN 126 XIII. THE TURKEY-TAIL FAN 134 XIV. A LETTER AND ITS ANSWER 150 XV. THE JUDGE 158 XVI. AN AXE TO GRIND 175 XVII. MR. ARTHUR PONSONBY PORE 187 XVIII. THE MACHINATIONS OF MABEL 198 XIX. THE WEDDING 205 XX. THE AFTER-MATH 225 XXI. SETTLING UP 241 XXII. GOOD-BYE TO THE BEACH 261 XXIII. UNTIL NEXT TIME 268 XXIV. A BREAD-AND-BUTTER LETTER 282 XXV. BRACKEN IN AUGUST 285 XXVI. THE PICNIC 298 ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Annie Pore has bloomed forth into a regular English rose _Frontispiece_ A tousled head emerged and then a hot, fat, red face 19 Peeping in, we saw the game in full swing 145 "Why don't you speak up, girl?" 255 Vacation with the Tucker Twins. CHAPTER I. THE BEACH. My first impression of Willoughby Beach gave me keen disappointment. It was so sandy, so flat, and so absolutely shadeless. I longed for the green hills far away and in my heart felt I could not stand a month of the lonesome stretches of sand and the pitiless glare of the summer sun. It took great self-control and some histrionic ability for me to conceal my emotions from my enthusiastic hostesses.