this road. The distance from Hereford to Aberyswith is only ninety
miles, yet we occupied the greater part of the day in the trip, and had
time permitted, we would gladly have broken the journey at one of the
quaint towns along the way. At many points of vantage we stopped to
contemplate the beauty of the scene--one would have to be a speed maniac
indeed to "scorch" over the Wye Valley road.

Aberyswith is a seaside resort, somewhat similar to Penzance. It is
situated on the harbor at the foot of a high bluff, and its principal
feature is the long row of hotels fronting on the ocean. Though mostly
modern, it is by no means without history, as evidenced by its ruined
castle overlooking the sea and vouching for the antiquity of the town.

We left Aberyswith next morning with considerable apprehensions. Our
books and maps showed that we would encounter by odds the worst roads of
our entire tour. A grade of one in five along the edge of an almost
precipitous hill was not an alluring prospect, for we were little
inclined toward hill-climbing demonstrations. Shortly after leaving the
town we were involved in poorly kept country byways without sign-boards
and slippery with heavy rains of the night before. After meandering
among the hills and inquiring of the natives for towns the names of
which they could not understand when we asked and we could not
understand when they answered, we came to Dinas Mowddwy, where there was
little else than a handsome hotel. This reminded us that in our
wanderings the hour for luncheon had passed. We stopped at the hotel,
but found difficulty in locating anybody to minister to our wants; and
so deliberate were the movements of the party who finally admitted
responsibility that an hour was consumed in obtaining a very
unpretentious repast.