Further Reminiscences. 1 1 7 



and the boats much smaller. On the 

 particular day selected by Mr. Lynes 

 to transport his wife and three daughters 

 to the Isle of Man, a fierce gale was 

 blowing, and ' The Druid ' was an eager 

 spectator of the landing of the woe-begone 

 and battered party. Miss Caroline Lynes 

 had been a great sufferer, and with dis- 

 hevelled hair and ghastly countenance she 

 staggered off the boat, only too glad to 

 touch terra firma once more. Incredible 

 as it may appear to some who read these 

 words, ' The Druid ' told her some years 

 afterwards that with him it was love at first 

 sight. ' I felt,' he said to her, 'that I would 

 marry that girl or know the reason why.' 

 A month spent in the Isle of Man in delight- 

 ful weather brought the young pair together 

 almost daily at pic-nics and on exploring 

 excursions ; but so slow and diffident were 

 the advances made by ' The Druid,' that the 

 young lady returned home without a sus- 

 picion of his real feelings towards her. 

 Occasionally he invited her mother, her 

 sisters, and herself to tea, and made Cum- 

 berland girdle cakes for them with his own 



