'I am a stranger,' I answered,' and had no other purpose than
looking on at the fishing--I am about to return to the side I
came from.'

'Best make haste then,' said he. 'He that dreams on the bed of
the Solway, may wake in the next world. The sky threatens a
blast that will bring in the waves three feet abreast.'

So saying, he turned his horse and rode off, while I began to
walk back towards the Scottish shore, a little alarmed at what I
had heard; for the tide advances with such rapidity upon these
fatal sands, that well-mounted horsemen lay aside hopes of
safety, if they see its white surge advancing while they are yet
at a distance from the bank.

These recollections grew more agitating, and, instead of walking
deliberately, I began a race as fast as I could, feeling, or
thinking I felt, each pool of salt water through which I
splashed, grow deeper and deeper. At length the surface of the
sand did seem considerably more intersected with pools and
channels full of water--either that the tide was really beginning
to influence the bed of the estuary, or, as I must own is equally
probable, that I had, in the hurry and confusion of my retreat,
involved myself in difficulties which I had avoided in my more
deliberate advance. Either way, it was rather an unpromising
state of affairs, for the sands at the same time turned softer,
and my footsteps, so soon as I had passed, were instantly filled
with water. I began to have odd recollections concerning the
snugness of your father's parlour, and the secure footing
afforded by the pavement of Brown's Square and Scott's Close,