any harm to put in a month by the seashore, and if the books are there the time won't be misspent."
For heaven's sake, Professor, don't make good resolutions, and, remember, you are going to Pebblesdale primarily for the strengthening of the body and not for the improvement of the mind. I'm taking a lot of trashy novels myself, and please God I'll not hear an original remark till I'm back in London again. A story lasts for a hundred years in Pebblesdale, and a joke twice as long. You'll listen to all the old yarns at the pub, if you are wise, and not devote yourself too much to science. You'll find the ale excellent at the bar, and will forget there are such vile things in this world as champagne, brandy, and liqueurs."
Next day they strolled up to Chelsea and walked along the Embankment together. A group of navvies and bargees were leaning over the granite parapet, gazing down at the river ten or twelve feet below. They were laughing uproariously.
"I suppose," said the Professor, "that's the kind of company we'll have at Pebblesdale."
Don't you believe it. The Pebblesdale people are clean and decently dressed, and their talk contains nothing of the luridness that doubtless marks the language of these chaps. I wonder what they are laughing at? Some poor wretch drowning,
