180 THE CRUISE OF THE ROVER CARAVAN

“T like you all the better for your sturdy Scottish
independence,” said Douglas. “But where can we lay
the caravan for a few days ?”

“Tl get ye a pitch. Never fear.”

And so he did, and a charming pitch it was, right
on top of the cliffs that overhang the sad sea-waves.
NV. B.—It was Carleton who called it the “sad sea-wave.”
Douglas was very far indeed from being devoid of the
poetry of expression, yet he had more of common
sense than of sentimentality.

But the little bit of camping-ground was right over
the ocean, and at that time there were no houses here,
nothing to interrupt the view of the great sweep of
the North Sea. If there was any drawback, it lay in
the fact that there were no trees in the immediate
vicinity. Never mind; the crew of the ‘ Rover” would
revel in the sunshine.

Southwold is not a large place altogether, and it is
exceedingly clean and compact. I have no doubt that
the churches are exceedingly large and beautiful, and
one could hold the whole of the resident population.

Well, the season hadn’t come yet, so our heroes would
have all the place to themselves for the time being.

That night the wind blew high, and rocked the
“Rover.” They had fallen upon a plan by this time
to quite secure the canvas that surrounded the coupé,
so that there was no flapping noise, and no rattling of
ropes; and as the window of the skylight was left open
at night, the breeze blowing in was very pleasant
indeed, and wooed our young fellows to sleep as if
angels’ wings were fanning them—that, I believe, is
poetry, but it is also fact; some poetry isn’t.