o George himself infinite amusement,
that "Master Gordon's boat should sail in the Cove as trim and tight as
the 'Fair Alice' herself."

It was a glorious morning. The sunshine was dancing and sparkling upon
the water with a thousand gleaming flashes; the little waves came
lapping playfully upon the sand and shingle to our feet, and made sweet
music in the recesses of the rocks. We used to call these warm September
days our Indian summer, and were wont to fancy that they were never so
bright and beautiful anywhere as at Braycombe.

Groves took a quick comprehensive look towards the offing, and round
again towards the rocks, and finally off towards the west, and then, as
if satisfied with the result of his observations, said to us: "It would
be a beautiful day for the White-Rock Cove, young gentlemen; the wind's
shifted a bit since early morning, and Ralph will be round in half an
hour to give us a hand with the oars; if Mrs. Grant wouldn't mind your
being a bit late for luncheon, as you're to dine in the evening, we
could do it nicely."

Now if anything had been wanted to add to the zest of our enjoyment,
this suggestion of Groves's was just the thing. No expedition in the
whole range of possibilities gave us so much pleasure as this one.
First, it could only be accomplished in certain states of wind and tide;
secondly, it occupied a longer time than could be usually available
except on very propitious half holidays; and, finally, its attractions
were of the most varied character. For what caverns were there in the
whole neighbourhood that could compete with those at the White-Rock
Cove?--with their deep clear pools, in which the pink seaweed and
gorgeous anemones seemed to find a more congenial home than in any other
place; with mysterious dark recesses and wonderful natural arches, and
miniature gulf streams, that offered irresistible attractions to the
spirit of enterprise, in the way of crossings on slippery
stepping-stones; and with a soft white beach, spread out at the foot of
the rocks, abounding with such a wonderful variety of shells, that our
researches rarely ended without the discovery of some fresh specimen for
our collections. Nor must we omit to mention the only white rock of any
size which was to be found in our red sandstone district, which gave its
name to the Cove, and as to which there were numerous traditions current
in the neighbourhood.

To the near side of the Cove there was, indeed, a short