CHAPTER 1 SAND DOLLARS

“WATCH me dive into that big wave! I’m a fish!”

Vevi McGuire shouted the words as she ran along the sandy beach toward the ocean. In her red bathing suit, the dark-haired, freckled little girl made a bright flash of color against the blue sky.

“Be careful, Vevi!” called Connie Williams. “The tide is coming in, and those waves are strong.”

Now Vevi did not heed the warning of her friend. In fact, she didn’t even hear what Connie had said. That was because she was thinking only of being the first Brownie Scout to get into the water.

Flinging her arms wide, she ran to meet a big saucy wave. Icy cold, it slapped hard at her knees.

Vevi squealed and turned her head to see if the other girls were watching.

“Last one in is a sissy!” she challenged the group of Brownie Scouts. “Who says the water is cold?”

“Watch out!” shouted Connie.

Another big foam-flecked wave came rolling slowly in. Vevi did not turn quickly enough to see it.

Before she could brace herself, a great wall of water washed over her.

Now Vevi was very much surprised, for she had not known that a wave could be so rough. Her feet were swept from beneath her and she fell flat on her knees.

Spluttering and choking, Vevi clawed at the sand. For a second she could not get her breath and was very frightened. She was afraid she might drown.

Then the wave was gone, and Vevi found herself lying in a puddle of salt water. When she scrambled to her feet, her bathing suit was gritty with sand. Her elbow had been skinned too.

“My, if you didn’t look funny when that big wave slapped you!” laughed Connie Williams.

Connie was Vevi’s very best friend, and a leader in the Rosedale Brownie Scout troop. Her blue eyes twinkled, for she always enjoyed a joke.

“It’s not funny,” Vevi protested, rubbing the skinned place on her elbow.

“Look out, or you’ll be knocked flat again,” warned Jane Tuttle, another Brownie Scout. She had long yellow braids which shone in the bright sunlight.

This time, Vevi saw the wave coming and raced to safety. She did not feel nearly so brave now that she knew how hard water could slap.

The five Brownies, Vevi, Connie, Jane, Sunny Davidson and Rosemary Fritche, were spending their very first day on Silver Beach along the Atlantic Coast.

All the girls were looking forward to ten wonderful days as guests of Miss Gordon, the troop leader. Rosemary, Jane and Sunny were staying at the teacher’s vine-covered cottage overlooking Silver Beach. Vevi and Connie bunked at Starfish Cottage rented by Connie’s mother.

Now as Vevi shook sand from her bathing suit, the other girls waded into the water. They were careful though, not to get knocked down by a wave.

Nearby, Connie’s mother, Mrs. Williams, and Miss Gordon sat watching from beneath the shade of a yellow beach umbrella.

“Oh, see what I’ve found!” cried Jane Tuttle suddenly.

She stooped to pick up something from the sand.

“What is it?” demanded Rosemary, running up. Jane showed her an odd-appearing, round, gray object. “It doesn’t look like a shell,” she said, “and it isn’t alive either.”

“Let’s ask Miss Gordon,” proposed Rosemary.

The Brownies ran over to the beach umbrella where the two women were reading magazines.

“Why, Jane, you’ve found a sand dollar!” the Brownie leader exclaimed when she saw the gray-purplish colored disc.

“A sand dollar!” echoed Jane, greatly excited. “Is it real money?”

“Dear me, no,” laughed the teacher. “It is only called by that name because of its shape. Sand dollars really are like sea urchins, having five parts to their shells. They have many hair-like spines or legs, and eat tiny pieces of seaweed.”

“I’m going to find a sand dollar!” announced Vevi. “A dozen of ’em!”

All the Brownies joined in the search. No one, however, could find another sand dollar. Connie picked up a pretty clam shell and Rosemary found one of pure white which Miss Gordon told her was called an angel’s wing.

“I wish the Brownies could gather shells every day we’re here,” Connie declared. “And then maybe have an exhibition of them.”

Miss Gordon nodded approval.

“Perhaps we can, Connie,” she replied. “I thought too that we might study sea life and perhaps learn a little about the birds.”

“And the ocean,” broke in Vevi. “I want to know where it came from and how it got its salt.”

“The story of how the ocean became salty must wait until tomorrow,” Miss Gordon said, smiling. “This afternoon we are to have a swimming lesson. Barney Fulsom, the life guard, has promised to give the Brownies a few pointers.”

“Is that Barney coming now?” asked Connie.

A deeply-tanned, broad-chested young man was walking briskly toward the group of Brownies. The girls knew he was a life guard for he wore a Red Cross emblem on his black bathing trunks.

“That’s Barney,” agreed Miss Gordon. “Now we must all do exactly as he tells us.”

Barney carried a rubber sea horse under his arm.

“Hi, kids,” he greeted the Brownies. “All set for your first lesson?”

“I want to ride the sea horse,” announced Vevi. “I already know how to swim—at least a little.”

“It didn’t look like it a minute ago when that wave smacked you,” teased Connie.

Barney told the Brownies that the one who did the best in the swimming lesson would be the first to ride the sea horse.

Mrs. Williams and Miss Gordon decided they would go into the ocean too. The teacher removed her wrist watch, slipping it into the pocket of her beach robe. She left the robe lying in plain view on the sand.

“Now kiddies,” said Barney when the Brownies had gathered in a circle about him. “We’re going to pretend to be jellyfish. Watch me!”

Wading out a few feet into deeper, smoother water, he flung himself face downward in the water.

The Brownies were surprised to see that although he didn’t move arms or legs, he floated easily on the water’s surface.

“How do you breathe?” Connie asked when the life guard stood up again.

“Just hold it,” Barney instructed. “And lie perfectly still on the water. It’s easy.”

One by one the Brownies tried to float like jellyfish. Connie and Jane weren’t afraid to put their faces in the water. They learned to float quite easily.

Sunny, Rosemary and Vevi didn’t like to get their feet off the sand even when Barney held their hands and pulled them along.

“I don’t like being a jellyfish,” Vevi complained. “Whenever I put my face in the water, I taste salt.”

“You’ll soon get used to it,” Barney told her. “Only the Brownies who do as I say may ride my sea horse.”

Vevi wanted very much to ride the rubber steed, so she gritted her teeth and ducked her head into the water. After the first time or two it was easy.

“Lesson’s over for today,” Barney announced after the Brownies had practiced for awhile. “Connie did the best so she may ride the horse first.”

Connie tried to climb on the back of the rubber pony. She could not get on until Barney lifted her up.

“Kick your feet,” he advised. “That will make the old boy go.”

Connie thrashed her legs back and forth and the horse moved with little jerks through the water.

“This is fun!” she cried.

“Let me try next,” pleaded Vevi.

Just then a wave upset the horse, and Connie fell off. Barney picked her up and sat Jane astride the rubber steed.

“I’m going to stay on a long while,” she boasted.

Even as she spoke, a wave struck the horse, and over she went!

One by one the Brownies took their turn. Vevi was the last one to ride. When a wave upset the horse, she clung to his neck for a long while. But finally she ran out of breath and had to let go.

“That was fine!” approved Barney. “You stayed under water a long time, Vevi.”

Connie stood watching a swimmer far out near the pier. She was afraid he might be in danger for she could see he was in very deep water.

“Oughtn’t you to save him?” she asked the lifeguard anxiously.

“That’s Raymond Curry, a guard at the hotel beach,” Barney told her. “He’s an expert swimmer. Each day he swims from the hotel beach over here, a distance of nearly a quarter of a mile.”

“My, he must have strong muscles!” exclaimed Rosemary. “Will we be able to swim that far after we’ve had a few more lessons?”

“I’m afraid not,” Barney smiled. “Raymond has been swimming all his life and has won several medals.”

The children watched the lifeguard for awhile.

He was swimming very smoothly away from Silver Beach. At times his head would disappear from view. But a moment later, it would pop up again between the waves.

“I wish we could take lessons from him,” remarked Vevi.

“Raymond doesn’t care too much about teaching youngsters,” Barney told her. “Figures it’s too hard work. He has a son of his own only a little older than you girls.”

The Brownies were starting to shiver, so Miss Gordon sent them to get their beach robes.

“It’s time to dress now,” she said. “But before you race to the showers, I must tell you of our plans for tomorrow.”

“Another swimming lesson?” pleaded Connie.

Miss Gordon nodded. “We’ll have an early beach breakfast,” she promised. “I’ll tell the Brownies how the ocean got its salt. Meanwhile, I want you all to watch the sea birds. Learn the name of at least one and be prepared to report on its habits at the meeting.”

“I already have my bird!” cried Connie. “The gull.”

“And I’m going to tell about the sand piper,” added Rosemary.

“My report will be on the tern,” declared Sunny Davidson, quick as a flash.

“I’ll tell about egrets,” announced Jane. “I wrote a paper on them last year in school.”

Now all the girls except Vevi had named a bird on which they would report.

“Maybe I’ll tell about a robin,” she said.

“A robin isn’t a sea bird,” Jane reminded her. “Anyway, we know all about robins.”

“Vevi will think of a bird before our meeting tomorrow,” said Mrs. Williams kindly.

“I’ll think of the best one of all,” Vevi boasted.

Miss Gordon reminded the girls again that it was time to dress. She and Mrs. Williams began to gather up their sun glasses and other possessions.

“What time is it?” inquired Connie’s mother.

Miss Gordon had slipped on her beach robe. She reached into a pocket for the wrist watch she had left there.

A strange expression came over her face. The Brownies knew at once that something was wrong.

“What is it?” questioned Vevi. “What’s happened?”

“I can’t find my wristwatch,” Miss Gordon murmured. “It’s gone!”