to turn him over and make him "say his prayers," as some of the
children did. I thought it must be wicked. And then he looked so
uncomfortable, imploringly wriggling his claws while he lay upon
his back! I believe I did, however, make a small collection of
the shells of stranded horseshoe crabs deserted by their tenants.

There were also pretty canary-colored cockle-shells and tiny
purple mussels washed up by the tide. I gathered them into my
apron, and carried them home, and only learned that they too held
living inhabitants by seeing a dead snail protruding from every
shell after they had been left to themselves for a day or two.
This made me careful to pick up only the empty ones, and there
were plenty of them. One we called a "butterboat"; it had
something shaped like a seat across the end of it on the inside.
And the curious sea-urchin, that looked as if he was made only
for ornament, when he had once got rid of his spines, and the
transparent jelly-fish, that seemed to have no more right to be
alive than a ladleful of mucilage,--and the razor-shells, and the
barnacles, and the knotted kelp, and the flabby green sea-aprons,
--there was no end to the interesting things I found when I was
trusted to go down to the edge of the tide alone.

The tide itself was the greatest marvel, slipping away so
noiselessly, and creeping back so softly over the flats,
whispering as it reached the sands, and laughing aloud "I am
coming!" as, dashing against the rocks, it drove me back to where
the sea-lovage and purple beach-peas had dared to root
themselves. I listened, and felt through all my little being that
great, surging word of power, but had no guess of its meaning. I
can think of it now as the eternal voice of Law, ever returning