58 
EEKITY COMBES. 
compelled us to go on. In many places the ruts 
were two feet deep ; and if our little carriage 
had not been of the very lightest description and 
unburdened with luggage, we never could have got 
through the mire. At last we emerged on a smooth 
turf track on the north side of Eoborough Down, 
to our great delight after our adventures in bad 
roads, which even then were not at an end for that 
day. 
Here, on the open Down, behold a band of crick¬ 
eters ! “ Let us give them a wide berth ; we should 
not like to be intruded on; we won’t bother them.” 
Date willed it otherwise; the road would go straight 
through them, and nowhere else. We were just 
whispering, “What a jolly party!” when a shout 
from one of the players called on us to stop. Then 
there were pleasant greetings from old acquaint¬ 
ances, and kindly words from new ones, and we 
went on our way gladdened in heart, thinking how 
little a few friendly words cost, and how much good 
they may do, even when spoken at random, as these 
words were. 
We were now in the direct road from Plymouth 
to Princetown; but here an unlucky thought oc¬ 
curred to us, suggested by the map authorized by 
Her Britannic Majesty’s Government. It was early 
in the day, and there seemed a road carrying us 
