THE BATTLE ON TIIE SANDS . 
333 
“AND BEHIND THEM — DULL, DRAB, MOROSE, SILENT, WEIGHTED WITH AN IMMENSE HAMPER — 
LABOURED THE TWO BEASTS.” 
have meant a great deal. It took on a clear 
meaning when, stooping for a stone, he hurled 
mightily — to be rewarded by a plop and a 
splash from the sea. 
They had resumed their load and were a 
hundred yards towards the Cove when Valen- 
tine made his comment. 
“ I was carrying with my right hand/’ he 
said. “ You can’t chuck so far when your 
arm’s fagged.” 
“ Try again,” says Hugh. “ My right’s 
fagged this time.” 
I protest you might have heard the very 
muscles, sinews, and tendons crack when 
Valentine, accepting the challenge, made his 
throw. The boy rushed a dozen yards, his 
hat flew off, his hair streamed — flick ! out 
went his arm, his shoulder and his right side 
so convulsively following that he fell to his 
knees and hands. With straining eyes from 
this position he followed the stone hurtling 
down from a great arc. It splashed a yard 
out. Valentine rose to his feet. “ Beat 
that ! ” he challenged. 
A knavish way this Hugh had with him. 
Thrice he drew back his arm, thrice extended 
it, squinting along it with one eye screwed 
and head cocked sideways, “ At decent 
sports,” said he, “ that would have been a 
No-throw — you fell. I’ll let you have it, 
though,” and he culminated his contortions 
in a mighty shy that sent his stone plump — 
indisputable — six feet beyond where Valen- 
tine’s had splashed. 
“ I’m pretty good at chucking,” said he, 
resuming his basket. “ 1 shall be in our 
House second next summer, I expect. You’re 
only at a dame school, aren’t you ? ” 
“ I’m not.” 
“ A day boarder at some place here, though, 
aren’t you ? ” 
“ Yes — for a bit.” 
“ It’s the same thing,” said Hugh. 
Valentine had no answer to give. His 
lower lip fluttered a trifle as they laboured on. 
He tightened it and broke abruptly into a 
very loud whistling. Master Hugh listened 
awhile, then wetted his lips, screwed them up, 
and himself shrilled off in a tune that had a 
defiant note to it. 
u That’s our school footer song,” he 
announced. 
“ What a rotten one ! ” Valentine said. 
Master Hugh eyed him sideways across the 
basket. He was upon the point of a speech 
that began threateningly with “ Look here — ” 
when upon the breeze there came to them 
faint girlish screams. 
“ Bo-o-ovs ! ” said the screams. (t Bo-o-oys ! 
Ma-ake haste ! Do-oo make ha-aste ! ” 
The couple shuffled along a little faster at 
the call, and, reaching the girls, were eased 
of their load by the contemptuous method of 
having it impatiently snatched from them. 
“ Well, you have been slow 1 ” was the form 
of Miss Milly’s thanks. “ The tablecloth 
and everything’s in here, and we’ve simply 
been waiting .” 
“ It’s jolly heavy, I can tell you,” says Hugh. 
“ Pooh ! ” says Yvonne de Ponthiere, in 
that scornful Frenchish way of hers. “ Pooh 1 
light as a feather ! ” and she gave a flick of 
her skirts and a squint from under her curls 
at Hugh. This girl eventually went on the 
stage— the best place for her ; she was always 
fast. 
