to it.
Then we were disillusioned as to its age; but Ailsa Craig was noble in
the distance, and a few members of the gull colony had flapped over to
give town dwellers and visitors a sad serenade. "Gulls, golfers, and
geologists all love Girvan," Basil said.

"Have you put that down in your notebook?" I inquired.

"Not in those words. But I jotted down something about this town in
advance from authorities I've looked up. I generally keep two books
going: one in which I put the things I want to see, and ideas for plots
sometimes tangled up with a sort of diary; and another book of thoughts
about places I have already seen--thoughts I can weave into a story in
one way or another."

"You haven't once written in either of your books to-day!" I accused
him.

"No. I told you I'd given up note-taking for the present. I'm all at
sea. But just now it's a beautiful if not very calm sea."

"When it quiets down you'll begin again," I consoled him. "How I should
love to see a real, live author's notebook! It would be so _useful_ to
know how you manage to--to----"

"Record impressions," Mrs. James helped me out.

Smiling, Basil took from a breast-pocket a small green morocco volume
with a pencil slipped into a loop. Compared to Mrs. West's pretty book,
his was a shabby thing; but it smelt of good cigarettes.

"I'm afraid this will disillusion you," he said, "if you expect
something interesting. I simply make notes of things I want to see, or
jot down thoughts to recall pictures to my mind. Reading over one's
notebook is like glancing over a lot of kodak films. Sometimes one
sticks in a lot of nonsense."

I opened the little volume, and ran my eyes down the short pages.
"Carlisle, Saturday, August Something or Other. Notes for Scotch Tour,"
I read aloud. "Story of honeymoon. English hero--American girl. Aline
wants her Canadian. I see her American. Dispute. Must decide soon.
Reading up Galloway makes me want to go there. Aline says rush straight
on to Ayr, and save time. Hate saving time! Worst economy. More time you
spend, more you have. Must go along coast of Ayr, anyhow. Once lined
with strongholds of great families. See Dunure, Crossaguel, and deuced
lot of others.

"Keats visited Burns's birthplace. Wrote sonnet there. Look this up.

"Burns sought out, along banks of Ayr, places where Wallace was supposed
to have hidden. Good stuff this. Wallace fought all over the place here.
At Irvine, one of his earliest exploits