She flushed a little as she greeted him, and he greeted her with a seraph's smile.
"I thought you'd like a bathe before our coffee," he said.
"It would be nice," said Elsie wistfully.

"But my hair--it is such a trouble, even without being wetted by sea-water." Tinker looked at the fine silky mass of it, and said with sympathetic seriousness, "I saw it was beyond you; but we'll manage." He caught her hand, they ran down the stairs, out of the hotel, and most of the way to the beach.

Then he took her to a lady's bathing-tent, and instructed the attendant to provide Elsie with the prettiest costume she had; changed himself, and in five minutes they were in the sea.

To his joy, he found that she could swim nearly as well as he.

But he was very careful of her, and the moment she looked cold he took her ashore.
They came back to the hotel very hungry; and Tinker led the way through the passages at the back of the hall, down into the hotel kitchen, where he was welcomed with affectionate joy by the kitchen staff.