"Do you think so? I think it is awfully small and poky. And we are both
to sleep here, which I am sure will be very inconvenient; but we
couldn't get anything better, so I suppose we must put up with it.
Lodgings are always the great drawback to the sea-side, you know."

Ruth did not know what reply to make, she was so taken aback by the
grandeur of Julia's air and manner.




CHAPTER V.

COUSINS.


"Tea is ready, miss," said a trim maid-servant at the door of the
bedroom where the two girls were talking, and Ruth followed her cousin
downstairs to the large cheerful room she had entered upon her arrival.

Mrs. Woburn had already taken her seat behind the urn, and the two boys
who were sitting beside her rose to meet their cousin. Ernest, the elder
of the two, was a tall, thin lad of fifteen, with a pair of large brown
eyes, the only striking feature in his plain but sensible face.

Rupert was a merry little schoolboy of seven, bright-eyed and
curly-haired, a mischievous little sprite, no doubt, but a very
affectionate lovable little fellow. He chattered continually during the
meal, and did a great deal to take off the sense of shyness that Ruth
felt in the company of Julia and Ernest, and her aunt asked questions