The Craig boys turned out to be jolly playfellows, and they and the
Maynards became inseparable chums. Marjorie often wished one of them had
been a girl, but at the same time, she enjoyed her unique position of
being the only girl in the crowd. The boys deferred to her as to a
princess, and she ruled them absolutely.

Of course the senior Craigs and Maynards became good friends also, and
the two ladies especially spent many pleasant hours together.

Baby Rosamond rarely played with the older children, as she was too
little to join in their vigorous games, often original with themselves,
and decidedly energetic. The beach was their favorite playground. They
never tired of digging in the sand, and they had a multitude of spades
and shovels and hoes for their various sand performances. Some days they
built a fort, other days a castle or a pleasure ground. Their sand-works
were extensive and elaborate, and it often seemed a pity that the tide
or the wind should destroy them over night.

"I say, let's us be a Sand Club," said Tom one day. "We're always
playing in the sand, you know."

"All right," said Marjorie, instantly seeing delightful possibilities.
"We'll call ourselves Sand Crabs, for we're always scrambling through
the sand."

"And we're jolly as sandboys!" said King. "I don't know what sandboys
really are, but they're always jolly, and so are we."

"I'd like something more gay and festive," Marjorie put in; "I mean like
Court Life, or something where we could dress up, and pretend things."