Jon smiled and went on. "There's nothing about the place on the first page except that she says she has kept on the manager, which is a big help; but of course we shall have to help her to make a real success of it. I believe Americans come to Rye a lot and we hope some will stay at the Gay Dolphin. And will you tell your friends about it, too, Miss Ballinger? It's decent of you to say you'll come, but what about your cottage? You won't want to stay with us if you've got somewhere else to live, will you?"

"Oh, yes, I will. My bungalow - it's not a cottage - was the only place in Winchelsea I could get and, as I told you, I like the Dolphin, and I'll like it better still if it's got a new owner... Does your mother say when she's going to open? But you can ask her to put my name down, anyhow. Read me what she says about Rye, for I say it's a magic little town that casts a spell over everyone who comes in under the old gateways and climbs its cobbled streets."

Penny looked up in surprise. Miss Ballinger's voice changed as she spoke the last words quite softly.

"Yes," replied Jon. "Mother says that, too. She says we'll never want to go away again, for Rye is like home at once... Here it is... She tells us about Winchelsea, too. 'I can hardly believe that two such places as these ancient ports really exist,' she says, 'and because I want you both to see them for the first time in the best way I want you to come to Hastings, and Vasson, my nice porter, will bring the old car over to meet you there... Our Gay Dolphin is great fun, and I know you'll both love it! Your rooms are ready, and Jon's is in the front with a little window looking two ways - one out into the street in front and the other down the street, right over the very edge of the town across the flat marsh to the sea.' What does she mean by the marsh, Miss Ballinger?" he added as he turned the page.

"It's the flat land reclaimed from the sea that stretches from Rye on its hill to the sand dunes. I'll tell you more about it presently if there's time, but we're getting on fast now. It's really the western edge of Romney Marsh... I'd like to hear what else your mother says."