154 THE OPEN AIR. 



and picked their way with delicate feet on the hard, 

 hard stones back again to the water, again to meet 

 their inevitable fate. 



The white ankles of the blonde gleaming in the 

 sunshine were distinguishable, even at that distance, 

 from the flesh tint of the brunette beside her, and 

 these again from the swarthiness of still darker ankles, 

 which did not gleam, but had a subdued colour like 

 dead gold. The foam of a lesser wave ran up and 

 touched their feet submissively. Three young girls 

 in pink clustered together; one crouched with her 

 back to the sea and glanced over her timorous 

 shoulder. Another lesser wave ran up and left a 

 fringe of foam before them. I looked for a moment 

 out to sea and saw the smack roll heavily, the big 

 wave was coming. By now the bathers had gathered 

 confidence, and stepped, a little way at a time, closer 

 and closer down to the water. Some even stood where 

 each lesser wave rose to their knees. Suddenly a few 

 leant forwards, pulling their ropes taut, and others 

 turned sideways ; these were the more experienced or 

 observant. Boom ! The big roller broke near the 

 pier and then ran along the shore ; it did not strike 

 the whole length at once, it came in aslant and 

 rushed sideways. The three in pink went first they 

 were not far enough from their machine to receive its 

 full force, it barely reached to the waist, and really 

 I think it was worse for them. They were lifted off 

 their feet and shot forward with their heads under 

 water; one appeared to be under the two others, a 

 confused mass of pink. Their white feet emerged 

 behind the roller, and as it sank it drew them back, 



