4. Sand Castle Contest.—­Open to all families of eight.  Twenty minutes time limit.  Largest castle wins.  Moats must contain real sea-water.

5. Impromptu Picnic.—­Ladies only.  Materials must be collected from the village shops, brought down to beach and spread out at winning flag.  For the purpose of this competition the sports must take place on a Thursday, when the weekly visit of the greengrocer coincides with one of the bi-weekly visits of the baker from Framford.  Eggs and butter must be obtained at the Mill Farm, and you can do the rest at the post-office.

6. Fifty Yards Hat Race.—­Under five.  Fathers to be seated in a row on beach.  Competitors to remove fathers’ hats, run twenty-five yards, fill hats with sand, return and replace hats.

In order to prevent any ill-feeling that might arise from the thought that I had practised any of these races in private beforehand I have elected to be the judge.

EVOE.

* * * * *

[Illustration:  A SESSION OF COMMON SENSE.

ERIN.  “I’VE GREAT HOPES OF THIS NEW DEVELOPMENT; BUT OF COURSE IT’S NOT AN
OFFICIAL CONFERENCE.”

PEACE.  “WELL, TO JUDGE BY MY EXPERIENCE, IT’S NONE THE WORSE FOR THAT.”]

* * * * *

[Illustration:  MODERN BUSINESS METHODS.

Patron. “DIDN’T I GIVE YOU SOMETHING IN HIGH STREET THIS MORNING?”

Artist. “YES, MUM.  I’VE A BRANCH THERE.”]

* * * * *

[Illustration:  “OH, MUMMY, WILL YOU GET THE TWOPENCE BACK?”]

* * * * *

THE ROOM AT THE BACK.

    [A story of the supernatural, which should not be read late at night by
    persons of weak nerves.]

Outwardly, “Chatholme” was as all the other villas in Dunmoral Avenue, which were just detached enough to allow the butcher’s boy to squeeze himself and his basket—­and perhaps the cook—­between any two of them, and differed from each other in nothing but names, numbers and window-curtains.

And the interior of the house, when the Pottigrews took possession of it, seemed equally commonplace.  There is no need to show you all over it, but if you intend to peruse this narrative, in spite of the warning above, it is desirable that you should at least inspect the ground-floor.

On one side of the hall, which was faintly illumined in the daytime by a fanlight, was the drawing-room; on the other side was the dining-room, and behind the dining-room was a smaller room with a French-window looking on to the back-garden, which probably was described by the house-agents as the “morning-room,” but was by Mr. Pottigrew designated his “study.”

Prosaic enough, you will say.  And yet there was that about the ground-floor of “Chatholme” which was anything but matter-of-fact, as the Pottigrews began to discover before they had been in residence many days.