The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-08-14

us in the END to Lynemouth. The sun
was shining bright on one side of Lyme
mouth bay, while on the other towering
c!lHs With sweeping trees and creeping
vines continued all the long way down:
| suddenly the charming villas and vine
Gao houses came in sight, and we heard
gne swlrllng sound of East Lynne water.
Lynemouth nestles at the foot Of Lyme
NOUN hill, the steepest climb of all,
whicn Ialrly made US hold our breath,
ana there we reached our stopping place
LINTON. There would we gladly spend
summer and each day find some fresh
c SaaG1 IN no spot have we met more
Kindly welcome, or seen more lovely
country; hills and valleys, with the sea,
making combination as delightful as
! IT Is unusual. The shaded walk to
waters Meet" is known to every visitor
TO Devon; here W. standing on a stone
served to mark the exact meeting place
OF OF, Ign and Badgeworthy waters, so that
II kodac might faithfully picture all
points of interest. Our first excursion
Ito the Doone Valley-was begun early
the next morning, being forever memora-
bic to us, not only for the sight of John
hldd's famous fishing ground-the
water. slide-which, truth compels us
rains to change it to the foaming torrent
OF Johns time-but also for our first ap.
pearance as equestriennes. AT nine
clock, our wagonette with horse and
driver stood ready, and with everything
we could wish for, sun included, we be-
| gan our one days adventures. Indeed
ma'am I will show you everything" our
young man said most earnestly, and he
faithfully kept his word. The path where
John Kidd walked SO many years ago to
| meet his Lorna, the very stones which
formed the old foundation of the Doone.
hut, the Church where John was welded,
all made the Devon story more real than
we had thought was possible. Three
mouths even, have not yet accustomed
us to the 1uxuriance of English vegetation
and each succeeding week brings it's new
and more beautiful wild flowers I'VE made
the pony walk or stop, to please our
wh1m, gathered punches of gorgeous
purple foxgloyes, and filed our hands
with pale crimson birds-eye; the very
| stones were covered thick with dainty
shades OF rose and yellow stone-crop mixed
with white. ALI too soon we reached
| The Lorna Doone' tiny farm, whose
owner propounded-much to our bewilder-
ment-the following question "Will you
| have one horse or two'; After the explain
alton that the purpose Of said horse, or
horses, was to carry us six miles up and
back, through the valley, over a billy and
stony road where no carriage could make
| Its way,-and all under sorching sum-
we were then confronted by the problem,
when TWO women have never mounted
horse, which would be the easier to man
age, one animal or two? But the warming
| came from the old farmer, that we would
| bitterly repent if we took but one, and
this decided us. w. magnanimously gave
e. first choice, and she in the ..vicious
pride Of her yohth,' chose outward
and work; but "Homely' gave her a
much needed lesson and proved that
handsome is that handsome does.'' Not
wishing to particularize, we draw veil
over the mount merely mentioning
that 1t was the most hilarious occasion
of our lives, in fact the whole six miles
was one continuous laugh. The Doone
valley ride we're positive would prove a
sure cure for any case of blues. At first
with measured step and slow, we crept
along each bearing in her hand a graceful
bough which served the double purpose
of fan and switch. Gaining courage as
! we walked, after consulting with each
other, we determined to try swifter gait;
| it proved rash decision; no words can
picture how we thumped and bumped;
Rise in your stirrup ladies!" screamed
our distant guide, as though we were not
rising all the time; and that was where
the difficulty lay, we did it SO in sections
that the rise was Indefinitely prolonged.
When we returned at night, our hostess
put before lis such a feast as can be found
only at Lynton. We will not linger over
chops and peas but pass the clothed cream
and whartleberry tart, the very memory
of which still brings the moisture to our
| lips. Ilfracombe, in spite of its melo-
dious name, proved something of q disap-
pointment, SO with no regret we left the
gay watering place behind us, and has
tened on to quaint Clovelly so different in
every way from any other spot in Britain.
Our three mile walk through the Hobby
drive,'' amid st the widest natural seen
cry, brought us in the end to an almost
| perpendicular cliff; here looking down
we saw, built upon its steep sides the
one street which makes this most pictur-
esque of places. This street (there is no
sidewalk) is paved with cobble-stones
down which we plunged, until rude
stone step stayed threatened disaster. Sue
ceeding this another plunge, and then n
| second step just in the nick of time, and
so On till we reached the foot. The houses
touch, they are built SO close together,
and nearly each one had small veranda
empowered in vines, and all the tiny gar
den plots were filled with flowers There
was a time, long past, when travellers
sought here resting place far from
excursions have changed all that. The
day we spent there the place swarmed
with picnic parties, tourists and a
sprinkling of visitors for a week. We
dined at the 'fNew Sum-" and readers of
Marie Corelli may be interested to learn,
that we were served by the same bar
maid, whose dyed hair and painted cheeks
were such shock to the authoress of
The Mighty Atom" Whatever Miss
Coreli writes is undoubtedly true, but
even with SO terrible an occasion for out
spoken condemnation, we remember
somewhere to have read of a 9'charity that
never fails, that suffered long and is
kind and to our--perhaps misguided
sense of other peoples rights it seemed
a cruel thing to draw the world S attention
and point scornful finger to girl who
though she painted her own eyebrows,
NAV still have left her fel1ou-sister,c