The Holiday Round | Page 8

to refuse him. It was, he said, the way they lit fires on
the veldt (and other places where they wanted fires), and it went out the
first time because the wind must have changed round after he had
begun to lay the wood. He got the draught in the right place the next
time, and for a moment we thought we should have to take to the boats;
but the captain averted a panic, and the fire was got under. Then the
kettle was put on, and of all the boiled water I have ever tasted this was
the best.

"You know," said Archie, "in Simpson the nation has lost a wonderful
scoutmaster."
"Oh, Samuel," cried Myra, "tell us how you tracked the mules that
afternoon, and knew they were wounded because of the blood."
"Tell us about that time when you bribed the regimental anchovy of
Troop B to betray the secret password to you."
"I ignore you because you're jealous. May I have some more tea, Miss
Mannering?"
"Call me Myra, Scoutmaster Simpson of The Spectator troop, and you
shall."
"I blush for my unblushing sex," said Dahlia.
"I blush for my family," said Archie. "That a young girl of gentle birth,
nurtured in a peaceful English home, brought up in an atmosphere of
old-world courtesy, should so far forget herself as to attempt to
wheedle a promising young scoutmaster, who can light a fire,
practically speaking, backwards--this, I repeat, is too much."
It was Thomas who changed the subject so abruptly.
"I suppose the tide comes as far as this?" he said.
"It does, captain."
"Then that would account for the boat having gone."
"That and Simpson's special knot," I said, keeping calm for the sake of
the women and children.
Archie jumped up with a shout. The boat was about twenty yards from
the shore, going very slowly upstream.
"It's very bad to bathe just after a heavy meal," I reminded him.

"I'm not sure that I'm going to, but I'm quite sure that one of us will
have to."
"Walk up the river with it," said Myra, "while Dahlia and I pack, and
the one who's first digested goes in."
We walked up. I felt that in my own case the process of assimilation
would be a lengthy one.

VI.--A LITTLE CRICKET FOR AN ENDING

We came back from a "Men Only" sail to find Myra bubbling over with
excitement.
"I've got some news for you," she said, "but I'm not going to tell you till
dinner. Be quick and change."
"Bother, she's going to get married," I murmured.
Myra gurgled and drove us off.
"Put on all your medals and orders, Thomas," she called up the stairs;
"and, Archie, it's a champagne night."
"I believe, old fellow," said Simpson, "she's married already."
Half an hour later we were all ready for the news.
"Just a moment, Myra," said Archie. "I'd better warn you that we're
expecting a good deal, and that if you don't live up to the excitement
you've created, you'll be stood in the corner for the rest of dinner."
"She's quite safe," said Dahlia.
"Of course I am. Well, now I'm going to begin. This morning, about
eleven, I went and had a bathe, and I met another girl in the sea."

"Horribly crowded the sea is getting nowadays," commented Archie.
"And she began to talk about what a jolly day it was and so on, and I
gave her my card--I mean I said, 'I'm Myra Mannering.' And she said,
'I'm sure you're keen on cricket.'"
"I like the way girls talk in the sea," said Archie. "So direct."
"What is there about our Myra," I asked, "that stamps her as a cricketer,
even when she's only got her head above water?"
"She'd seen me on land, silly. Well, we went on talking, and at last she
said, 'Will you play us at mixed cricket on Saturday?' And a big wave
came along and went inside me just as I was saying yes."
"Hooray! Myra, your health."
"We're only six, though," added Archie. "Didn't you swim up against
anybody else who looked like a cricketer and might play for us?"
"But we can easily pick up five people by Saturday," said Myra
confidently. "And oh, I do hope we're in form; we haven't played for
years."
. . . . . . .
We lost the toss, and Myra led her team out on to the field. The last five
places in the eleven had been filled with care: a preparatory school-boy
and his little sister (found by Dahlia on the beach), Miss Debenham
(found by Simpson on the road with a punctured bicycle), Mrs Oakley
(found by Archie at the station and re-discovered by Myra in the
Channel), and