CHAPTER XXI 



IN AND ABOUT BATH 



I GO to Bath more, in short, io go to Bath than 

 for the racing there the last week in May. 1 

 am always discontented while doing the meeting, 

 because I vastly prefer being in the town and 

 fossicking about the shops and the grounds to 

 trudging or being lugged up the dreadfully long 

 hill to the course, with certainty of being smothered 

 and choked by dust on the out journey, and a 

 quite promising chance of a smash on the down- 

 ward. At no other place can you find such 

 attractive shops. Surely this must be a rare good 

 settlement for sensible people, who like to see 

 what is for sale and buy for themselves, instead 

 of leaving the catering to others. The best of 

 everything appears to me to come to this mart, 

 and is turned over at most reasonable rates. A 

 prettier show than a well-dressed fruiterer's shop 

 window makes is difficult to name. All the Bath 

 shops are well dressed, everything is so clean 

 and bright that you feel inclined to order the 

 stock en bloc. London is all very well in its 

 way, but for pleasure in shopping give me Bath. 

 Where do the linen-drapers (are they linen-drapers 

 where the dresses are sold ?) or the haberdashers 



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