A HUNT FOR THE NIGHTINGALE 101 



Could I have something to eat, then ? This seemed 

 doubtful, and led to consultations in the kitchen; 

 but, finally, some bread and cold meat were pro- 

 duced. The nearest hotel was Godalming, seven 

 miles distant, and I knew all the inns would be 

 shut up before I could get there. So I munched 

 my bread and meat, consoling myself with the 

 thought that perhaps this was just the ill wind that 

 would blow me the good I was ia quest of. I saw 

 no alternative but to spend a night under the trees 

 with the nightingales; and I might surprise them 

 at their revels in the small hours of the morniug. 

 Just as I was ready to congratulate myself on the 

 richness of my experience, the landlady came in 

 and said there was a young man there going with 

 a " trap " to Godalming, and he had offered to take 

 me in. I feared I should pass for an escaped luna- 

 tic if I declined the offer; so I reluctantly assented, 

 and we were presently whirling through the dark- 

 ness, along a smooth, winding road, toward town. 

 The young man was a drummer; was from Lincoln- 

 shire, and said I spoke like a Lincolnshire man. I 

 could believe it, for I told him he talked more like 

 an American than any native I had met. The 

 hotels in the larger towns close at eleven, and I 

 was set down in front of one just as the clock was 

 striking that hour. I asked to be conducted to a 

 room at once. As I was about getting in bed there 

 was a rap at the door, and a waiter presented me 

 my biU on a tray. " Gentlemen as have no luggage, 

 etc.," he explained; and pretend to be looking for 



