hand were full of sleeping folks seemed to
be some company after the desolateness I had just come through.

I had never before been in a great town at night, and I was much
amazed by the splendour of the illumination from the lamps which hung
across the high streets, and made almost as much brightness as if
there had been a moon. Being somewhat afraid of meeting with the
watch, for I did not then know the habits of these gentry as well as I
did afterwards, I soon left the region of the lights, and turned down
into the lanes, which the men of Yarmouth call rows, and of which they
are not a little proud, and to my mind with some warrant, for, though
strait, these passages are very regularly built, and beautifully paved
with cobblestones, and are besides so numerous that I have never seen
the like in any city I have visited, neither in Europe nor in the
Indies.

In the end I got out from among the houses, and arrived upon the
sea-beach, where I discovered a sheltered pit among the sand hillocks,
which they call denes, and there I lay down and slept off my
weariness.

When I awoke the sun was so far up that I judged it to be nearly nine
o'clock. Taking shame that I had proved such a sluggard, I rose up
quickly, and brushed away the sand, which I was rejoiced to perceive
had finely cleansed away the mud from the dyke at Broxall. This done I
made the best of my way into the town to keep my rendezvous with
Cousin Rupert, for I was sharply beset by hunger.

I had to ask my way more than once before I could find out the tavern,
which lay down on the quay, over against the river Yare. By this I
soon saw that the "Three-decker" had a reputation not over and above
savoury among the townsfolk, for the more respectable of those I
addressed myself to gave me harsh looks before answering my question.
And no doubt the soberness of my dress and carriage must have made it
seem strange that I should be seeking the whereabouts of such a haunt.

I will not deny that this observation a little daunted me when I found
myself at the door of the house. The tavern was by way of being an
ancient one, for the oak props were blackened with age and the upper
storeys jutted out one above the other, in the way our forefathers
were used to build in walled towns, where every foot of space was of
account. Nor did the place look to be ill-kept, though situated in a
mean part of the town beside the fish market. However, it was no time
for me to make re