CHAPTER Y. 
SEA AND SKY AND WAVING GREEN. 
Few lovers of the country will be inclined to deny that the 
most delightful of summer retreats are those where rich 
woodland and sea can be found together ; and the coast of 
Devonshire otfers an abundance of such retreats, for nearly 
all around the sea-border of this charming county the puj*e 
blue briny waters dash upon sandy reaches and pebbly bays, 
or against bold rocks, which front landscapes rich in hill and 
valley, green winding lane, and sparkling stream. 
We found a spot which combined these attractions near 
Paignton, in Torbay. We were just a mile from the sea, 
embowered in a world of leafiness, whence we could get 
delightful peeps of the calm blue waters of the bay, and yet 
find ourselves within a few yards from our place of residence, 
in the midst of a most charming network of green lanes. 
Even our windows command much of what is beautiful 
around us. Here is a north window opening up a glorious 
prospect ! But first, on throwing up the sash and looking 
out we are tempted to give one look at the garden which hems 
us in all round. And what have we here? A box-edged 
border forming the sober boundary to a wealth of glossy- 
leaved, red-blossomed fuchsias, rich-leaved laurel, blushing 
rose, and sweet-smelling pink, with that charming ‘old- 
fashioned’ plant, the stock; and — for the Ferns are not 
forgotten — the finely-cut luxuriant fronds of a noble specimen 
of Poly st! chum angvlare , rich dark-green above and densely 
