CLEAR WATERS 



To show how select Towyn was in those good old 

 times, and how justified its leading citizen was in 

 bewailing, as related, its after decline, we were suc- 

 ceeded in these same quarters our last autumn by a 

 bishop, and a very distinguished one too, with all his 

 family, though to be sure they overflowed into the 

 next house. I had the privilege of meeting his lord- 

 ship soon afterwards, and naturally inquired how he 

 liked Towyn, not venturing to tread on what might 

 have been the unwelcome subject of bed and board. 

 He told me that personally he saw nothing of the 

 country, as he was indoors all the time hard at work at 

 a magnum opus which is now a classic, but that the air 

 suited him finely for his purpose. So he must have 

 seen a good deal of Mrs. Jellybag, and heard more of 

 her as she wheezed about the house. I wonder if 

 she gave him a sample of her Welsh blood, for I do 

 not think that the bishop had a protecting Mrs. 

 Proudie by his side. Possibly the awesomeness of 

 his office kept even the Celtic fluid in abeyance. I 

 never saw Mrs. Jones again, but I expect her rent went 

 up after that summer, till the promenade came and 

 shattered the aristocratic reputation of Towyn, so 

 far as I know, for good and all. 



But for situation, for fresh breezes, for noble inland 

 prospects, for accessibility to glorious scenes, to say 

 nothing of its river, I still think it one of the pleasant- 

 est spots in Wales for August and September. 



134 



