Liskeard, or from
Doublebois station, on the main line, from which it is distant about
three miles. The village lies in a sheltered valley surrounded by
charming wooded country, and from it you may reach, only a short
distance away, the edge of wild Bodmin Moor itself.

Bodmin, an attractive yet--by the tourist--much neglected town, is some
seven miles away. Bodmin, the capital of Cornwall, is a quiet, sleepy
old town ideally situated as a centre from which to reach many parts of
the Duchy. Midway between the two coasts, with a good rail service to
either, and close to the wild moorland that bears its name, this town is
rich in history.

The moor with its two Cornish mountains, Brown Willy and Rough Tor
(which you must pronounce to rhyme with "plough"), is easily reached,
and the rail will take you to Wadebridge or Padstow on the rugged north
coast; or south to sheltered Fowey--the Troy Town of "Q"--for an
afternoon's excursion.

[Illustration: _St. Neot, from a window in the Church_]

[Illustration]

THE OLD MAN OF CURY

They tell a story down in Meneage, as the southernmost corner of
England--the Lizard peninsula--is called, of an old man from the little
village of Cury, near Mullion, who once rescued a mermaid who was
stranded by the receding tide, and could not get back to her husband and
family, who were awaiting her in a cave by Kynance Cove.

The old man was walking along the shore one summer evening, thinking of
nothing in particular, when he saw, in a deep pool left by the falling
tide, a beautiful lady with long golden hair who appeared to be in the
greatest distress.

When he drew nearer to her and discovered that she was a mermaid he was
filled with alarm, for he had heard many tales of these sea sirens from
the fishermen of Gunwalloe. He was for running off home as hard as he
could, but the piteous cries of the lovely creature were too much for
his kind heart, and he went forward to enquire what her trouble might
be.

At first, she was too terrified to reply, but the old man managed to
pacify her and she sobbed out her story. While her husband and children
were asleep in the cave, she said, she had been attracted by the scent
of the glorious flowers, which grow all about the Lizard, and to get
as close to them as possible she had drifted in on the waves, and,
revelling in the sweet perfume, had not noticed the falling tide until
she discovered herself cut off in the rock pool.

Now, s