me to attain to the dignity of a small furnished house--or a cottage,
at all events--if by any chance such could be found within the limits of
a moderate purse.

Further consideration fixed on Eastnor as the place where our holiday
was to be spent.

We had, in the course of twelve years' wanderings, tried most of the
South and East Coast watering-places, and found most of them a-wanting.
If the atmosphere was bracing, the beach was shingle. If the beach was
sandy, the atmosphere was enervating.

Somewhere in our family history a strain of Israelitish blood must have
got mixed with all the other strains. It probably dates right away back
to the forty years' wanderers, or even, maybe, as far back as Noah--in
whose family one can conceive, at one period of its history, almost as
strong a craving for sand as had again out-cropped in this present
rising generation of mine.

[Illustration: "'WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU, SIR?'"]

The one thing my youngsters insist on is sand--wet sand with pools, for
amateur canal-engineering; dry sand for houses and forts, and Canutish,
wave-repelling castles. Sand, and plenty of it, is their one demand, and
no holiday is complete without it. When they were very young,
Broadstairs was all right for a time, and satisfied their inordinate
cravings; but it became too crowded, and to our family connoisseurs the
quality of the sand has deteriorated somewhat, and has got too much
mixed up with mud and buns and paper bags, and other people's babies,
and so we had to try further afield.

[Illustration: "THE DOOR OPENED, AND A SMALL LAME MAN LOOKED AT ME."]

The Great Sahara would have been just about the very thing for us, but
on inquiry I found the journey to be a long and trying one, and a trifle
beyond our means, and the accommodation for visitors somewhat defective.

Eastnor was named to us; we had never tried Eastnor. Was there
sand?--Yes, any amount. So to Eastnor I journeyed, with a
Saturday-to-Monday ticket and stringent orders from headquarters to
first try the sand--as to quality, quantity, texture, depth and
pools--and if up to standard measurement, I was authorised to pick up a
small house for August on the most reasonable terms obtainable.

The requirements were at least one sitting-room and three bedrooms and a
kitchen--if an extra room or two without extra charge, so much the
better. I was to come back fully informed as to what was left in the
house in the way of furnishings and ut