“We’re going to the real seashore!” he exclaimed.  “It’s down to Seaview where Cousin Tom lives, and we can dig for treasure there!”

“Can we really?” asked Violet.  “What’s treasure, Russ?  Is any of it good to eat?  And look at that robin!  What makes him waggle his tail that way?  And look at the cat!  What’s she lashing her tail so for?”

“Wait a minute, Vi!” cried Russ with a laugh.  “You mustn’t ask so many questions all to once.”

“Treasure isn’t good to eat!” said Laddie.  “But if you find a lot of gold you can buy ice-cream sodas with it.”

“Maybe the robin is flitting its tail to scare the cat,” suggested Rose, who remembered Violet’s second question.

“Well, I know why the cat is lashing her tail,” said Russ.  “Cats always do that when they think they’re going to catch a bird.  This cat thinks she’s going to catch the robin.  But she won’t!”

“Why not?” asked Rose.

“’Cause I’m going to throw a stone at it—­at the cat, I mean,” explained Russ.  He tossed a pebble at the cat, not hitting it, and the furry creature slunk away.  The robin flew off, also, so it was not caught, at least not just then.

“I know a riddle about a robin!” said Laddie.  “Only I can’t think of it now,” he added.  “Maybe I shall after a while.  Then I’ll tell it to you.  Go on, Sammie.  Tell us more about how your father got the gold on the desert island.”

“He dug for it,” Sammie answered.  “He and the other sailors just dug in the sand for it.”

“With shovels?”

“No, they used big shells.  It’s easy to dig in the sand.”

“Is sand the best place to dig for gold?” Rose wanted to know.

“I guess so,” answered Sammie.  “Anyhow there’s always sand on a desert island, like that one where my father was.”

“There’s sand down at Cousin Tom’s,” put in Laddie.  “I heard my mother say so.  I’m going to dig for gold, and if I get a lot, Sammie, I’ll send you some.”

“I hope you find a big lot!” exclaimed the visiting boy with a laugh.

They talked over their hopes of finding treasure in the seashore sand, forgetting all about the soap bubbles they had been blowing.

“I’ll be lonesome when you go away,” said Sammie to Russ.  “I like you Bunkers.”

“And we like you,” said Russ.  “Maybe if we dig for gold down at Cousin Tom’s, and can’t find any, you’ll come down and help us.”

“Sure I will!” exclaimed Sammie, as if that would be the easiest thing in the world.  “I’ll ask my father the best way, and then I’ll come down.”

“Could you bring a diving suit?” asked Laddie.  “Maybe the gold would be down on the bottom of the ocean, and we’d have to dive for it.  Would your father let you take a diving suit?”

“No, I don’t guess he would,” said Sammie, shaking his head.  “They are only for big men, and you have to have air pumped down to you all the while.  It makes bubbles come up, and as long as the bubbles come up the diver is all right.”