That is to say, I looked at the railway time-table, and took a ticket for the first place, of which the name happened to catch my eye.

Arrived at my destination, I found myself in a dirty manufacturing town, with an ugly river running through it.
"After a little reflection, I turned my back on the town, and followed the course of the river, in search of shelter and solitude on one or the other of its banks.

An hour of walking brought me to an odd-looking cottage, half old and half new, attached to a water-mill.

A bill in one of the windows announced that rooms were to be let; and a look round revealed a thick wood on my left hand, and a wilderness of sand and heath on my right.

So far as appearances went, here was the very place for me.
"I knocked at the door, and was admitted by a little lean sly-looking old man.