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drown the adventurous knight and several of his attendants."

Mrs. Merton thanked him for relating the legend, and asked if the harbour was not useful for shipping.

"No," returned he; "it is too shallow to bear anything but a small boat, even when the tide is in; and when it is out it is only a mass of mud. In the reign of James I. Sir Hugh Middleton, the same who first supplied London with water, contracted with some Dutchmen to embank this spot, and redeem it from the sea; but after upwards of seven thousand pounds had been expended, a furious tide made a breach in their bank, and the land being again overflowed, they were at length compelled to give up the project in despair."

The old gentleman now bowed and took his leave, and Mrs. Merton returned his salutation very coldly, as she had been disgusted with the violent rage he had displayed, and which was so unbefitting his age and general intelligence. Agnes was also quite hurt to find him so very different from what she had expected. "I never could have believed he would

have behaved so; his appearance was so respectable," said she.

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My dear Agnes," returned her mother; "this is your first experience in that important lesson in life—that it is always dangerous to place much reliance on appearances."

They now returned to the inn, where they found Mr. Merton anxious to depart. When they ascended the carriage they stayed a moment to look again at Brading Haven, with the little town of Bembridge, forming the southern point of the harbour, and approaching nearly to the pretty village of St. Helen's at its northern point. Mrs. Merton was anxious to pass through St. Helen's, as she wanted to show Agnes the old church tower which is now washed by the sea, though it is said to have been once a mile from it, and the green, round which the houses of the village are built. The driver, however, had determined that they should not go there; and he said so much about the badness of the roads, the length of time it would take, and the cold breeze to which they would be exposed, that Mrs. Merton gave up the point. She knew, indeed, that, as at

Yarmouth, the probability was that all these objections had no real ground; but as Mr. Merton was far from well, she thought it advisable to proceed to Ryde as speedily as possible, and after a very dull ride, only varied by the beautiful view of the town of Ryde from St. John's, they arrived at that place, and drove to the Pier Hotel.

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CHAPTER IX.

Ryde.-Handsome Shops.-Binstead.-Wootton Bridge.-Newport.-East Cowes.-Horse Ferry.-Steam Boat.-Arms of the German Empire.-Return home.

RYDE, the Guide-books tell us, was only a few years ago a small fishing village; but if this really was the case, it seems almost to have rivalled Aladdin's palace in rapidity of growth, for it is now a large and flourishing town. The streets are wide, and the shops are splendid. The pier is also long and large; and the view of Portsmouth, with its harbour full of shipping, and Spithead with its numerous men-of-war, is very striking. Agnes was, however, most pleased with the shops full of shells, which she found near the hotel; the shells being marked at prices so low as to be quite astonishing. Some very nice specimens of Haliotis, or Sea-ear, were marked only a penny each, and others were equally cheap. Above all things, there were nu

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merous specimens of articles from the wreck of the Royal George, which everybody knows sunk while lying at anchor at Spithead, about sixty years ago, and the remains of the wreck have been lately brought up by the exertions of Major-General Pasley. The Bazaar at Ryde reminded Agnes of the Lowther Arcade; and everything in the town appeared so comfortable, and in such a superior style to any other place they had seen in the island, that Agnes at last said she thought she should like

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