I am."

"Where have you come from, sir? from the Wight?"

And after these Scottish answers to the questions of a Scotsman, at last
I found my way into Littlehampton; and if ever you go to the Beach Hotel
in want of a soft bed, after sleeping out of a bed for nearly a month,
you will find it there.

This little place, between Bognor and Brighton, is a quiet bathing town
just in the delicate stage of existence, when it has been found out and
admired, but not yet spoilt. One row of houses fronts the sea with a
fine grassy plain between, and a clean white strand.

The Inn was of olden times, and apart near the water, with a landlady of
the good old English type; and her son, the waiter, rampant about canoes,
kept an aviary under the porch and a capital swimming dog in the stable.

Lie on a sofa in the coffee-room detached, and read the 'Times,'--go into
the drawing-room and play the piano, or sit under the garden trees and
gaze on the fair blue sea, and hope fervently that, with a strong Tory
government to protect our institutions, this hotel may be long kept hid
from that merciless monster the "Company (Limited)." But already a
railway runs here, and threatens its quiet. Even a steamer now and then
from France screws its way into the very narrow channel, where the river
Arun has wound down thus far from Arundel. {188}

CHAPTER XIV.

Heavy sea--Isle of Wight--The Commodore--A glance at gear--Bow--Running
rigging--Sisterhooks--Horse--Tiller.

The boy and his dog formed a small crowd on the little pier to see the
Rob Roy start again with a fine breeze off shore, but freshening every
minute until near Selsea Bill it blew half a gale. The navigation round
this point is difficult at low water, as may be seen from the markings in
the chart copied at page 245, merely as a specimen of what a chart is for
the sailor's eye.

At last it was necessary to reef main-sail and jib, the wind blew so hard
and in gusts, and the adverse tide met me as it rushed out of Spithead
with a heavy swell. Rain poured down slanting with the wind, and the
rocks, uncovered at low water, looked very uninviting to leeward.

The little dingey was towed astern, as we had not expected so much sea
with a north wind, but for the first time we found how perfectly this
diminutive boat was adapted for towing, and after this trial she was
never again stowed in the cabin. The bluff bow above, and the keelless,
round, smooth bottom below, ena