Page:010 Once a week Volume X Dec 1863 to Jun 64.pdf/653

 4, 1864.]

a bright morning, about the middle of last summer, we started from the Waterloo Station. The day was sufficiently fresh and sunny to make our spirits rise, as London and its smoke and dust were left behind, and we began to breathe the pure country air. The road had nothing of special interest to beguile the way. At Salisbury we caught a glimpse of the cathedral and its elegant spires. Exeter seemed hardly interesting as we passed it; but we were pleasantly whirled on to Barnstaple, in the hope of much enjoyment to come. Here we at once found ourselves in the midst of Devonshire country life. It was fair-day. The carriage was full in a minute with farmers and their wives. Very merry they were, relating to each other the various experiences of the day, but in a language almost unintelligible to us, the broadest brogue we heard during our journey. Bideford was our destination by train; but we had determined that Clovelly should be our resting-place that night; and, as the evening was drawing in, we at once set to work to find out the quickest way there. A little patience was needed, as conveyances were scarce that day at Bideford. We loitered about the old bridge, with its twenty-five