“Let me read you the first five verses of the sixty-second chapter of Isaiah—­they are so beautiful.

“’For Zion’s sake will I not hold My peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.

“’And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory; and thou shalt be called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord shall name.

“’Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.

“’Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate:  but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah:  for the Lord delighted in thee, and thy land shall be married.

“’For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee:  and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.’”

Mr. and Mrs. Dinsmore sat together not many paces distant, each with a book; but hers was half closed while she gazed out over the sea.

“I am charmed with the quiet of this place,” she remarked presently; “never a scream of a locomotive to break it, no pavements to echo to the footsteps of the passer-by, no sound of factory or mill, or rumble of wheels, scarcely anything to be heard, even on week-days, but the thunder of the surf and occasionally a human voice.”

“Except the blast of Captain Baxter’s tin horn announcing his arrival with the mail, or warning you that he will be off for Nantucket in precisely five minutes, so that if you have letters or errands for him you must make all haste to hand them over,” Mr. Dinsmore said, with a smile.

“Ah, yes,” she assented; “but with all that, is it not the quietest place you ever were in?”

“I think it is; there is a delightful Sabbath stillness to-day.  I cannot say that I should desire to pass my life here, but a sojourn of some weeks is a very pleasant and restful variety.”

“I find it so,” said his wife, “and feel a strong inclination to be down here, close by the waves, almost all the time.  If agreeable to the rest of our party, let us pass the evening here in singing hymns.”

“A very good suggestion,” he responded, and Elsie and the others being of the same opinion, it was duly carried out.

CHAPTER V.

“Sudden they see from midst of all the main
The surging waters like a mountain rise,
And the great sea, puff’d up with proud disdain
To swell above the measure of his guise,
As threatening to devour all that his power despise.”

—­Spenser.

What with bathing, driving, and wandering about on foot over the lovely moors, time flew fast to our ’Sconseters.

It was their purpose to visit every point of interest on the island, and to try all its typical amusements.  They made frequent visits to Nantucket Town, particularly that the children might take their swimming lessons in the quiet water of its harbor; also repeated such drives and rambles as they found exceptionably enjoyable.