Aunt Emma and mother laughed; for it doesn’t seem so delightful to grown-up people to have dinner at the railway station.

“Well, Olly,” said mother, “I hope we shall often have tea out of doors while we are at Ravensnest.”

Milly shook her head.  “It’ll rain, mother.  That old gentleman said it would be sure to rain.”

“That old gentleman is about right, Milly,” said Mr. Norton.  “I think it rains dreadfully here, but mother doesn’t seem to mind it a bit.  Once upon a time when mother was a little girl, there came a funny old fairy and threw some golden dust in her eyes, and ever since then she can’t see straight when she comes to the mountains.  It’s all right everywhere else, but as soon as she comes here, the dust begins to fly about in her eyes, and makes the mountains look quite different to her from what they look to anybody else.”

“Let me look, mother,” said Olly, pulling her down to him.

Mrs. Norton opened her eyes at him, smiling.

“I can’t see any dust, father.”

“Ah, that’s because it’s fairy dust,” said Mr. Norton, gravely.  “Now, Olly, don’t you eat too much cake, else you won’t be able to row.”

“It’ll be my turn first, father,” said Milly, “you know I haven’t rowed at all yet.”

“Well, don’t you catch any crabs, Milly,” said Aunt Emma.

“Catch crabs, Aunt Emma!” said Milly, very much puzzled.  “Crabs are only in the sea, aren’t they?”

“There’s a very big kind just about here,” said Mr. Norton, “and they’re always looking out for little children, particularly little girls.”

“I don’t understand, father,” said Milly, opening her eyes very wide.

“Have some more tea, then,” said Mr. Norton, “that always makes people feel wiser.”

“Father, aren’t you talking nonsense?” said Olly, stopping in the middle of a piece of cake to think about what his father was saying.

“Very likely, Olly.  People always do at picnics.  Aunt Emma, when are you going to tell us your story?”

“When we’ve washed the things and put them away,” said Aunt Emma, “then Olly shall sing us two songs, and I’ll tell you my story.”

But the children were so hungry that it was a long time before they gave up eating bread and butter, and then, when at last tea was over, what fun it was washing the cups and plates in the lake!  Aunt Emma and Olly washed, and mother and Milly dried the things on a towel, and then everything was packed away into the baskets, and mother and Aunt Emma folded up the table-cloth, and put it tidily on the top of everything.

“I did like that,” said Milly, sighing as the last basket was fastened down.  “I wish you’d let me help Sarah wash up the tea-things at home, mother.”

“If Sarah liked to let you, I shouldn’t say no, Milly,” said Mrs. Norton.  “How soon would you get tired of it, old woman, I wonder?  But come along, let’s put Olly up on a rock, and make him sing, and then we’ll have Aunt Emma’s story.”