424 THE MAN WITH THE . 



ing he had been asleep the moment before. After a pause, he added, 

 " Then give three cheers for our escape ! " With that he waved his 

 hat to the time of ' hip, hip, hip,' to which we all joined chorus, hurraing 

 like schoolboys at a breaking up, or rather in our case, at a breaking 

 down. Whilst yet the air vibrated with our acclamations, a sight at 

 once supernatural and harrowing, met our startled gaze. It was the 

 spectral appearance of a figure rising slowly from the earth, and 

 attired in white from top to toe ; of the same chilling hue were 

 likewise its hair, face and hands ! It furnished no mean idea of Lot's 

 wife when she became a pillar of salt. 



" ' Angels and ministers of grace defend us !' " exclaimed our 

 facetious friend though now somewhat shaken, as the pallid spectre 

 approached " Art thou a minister from heaven, or ghost from hell ? 



" I am the ' gentleman in black/ " whined out the white figure, 

 in a piteous tone. 



" The devil you are ! " exclaimed Canvas significantly ; " Then in 

 future let no man say that two and two are not five, or that black is 

 not white ;" but perceiving that the preacher was in some pain, 

 having fallen down a shallow chalk pit by the wayside, he humanely 

 proffered his assistance in supporting him to the nearest village. As 

 it was not more than eleven o'clock, the coachman proposed that we 

 should endeavour to get the damage repaired that night, and then 

 the half hour which had been previously wasted at the inn such was 

 the gentleman's idea of things might be accounted for to the pro- 

 prietor, as being occasioned by the accident. 



' ' With all my heart ; you may lie through a deal board if you 

 like," said the man in canvas, quickening his pace. We soon reached 

 a cluster of houses, with a pretty grass lawn in front, and the whole 

 animated by a sparkling moon. With very little trouble we soon 

 gained the assistance of a carpenter and blacksmith, and whilst the 

 dislocated member of our vehicle received the benefit of their pro- 

 fessional skill, the passengers made themselves as happy as possible 

 with the materials around them. 



I shall merely observe here, that during our short stay in the 

 village, the man in canvas prevented an elopement reconciled a father 

 to his daughter and her lover turned a magistrate into a laughing- 

 stock for all the bumpkins within a league of his residence knocked 

 down a constable knocked up a parson paid the fees of a wedding 

 lit up a bonfire and completely astonished the natives ; sometimes 

 uttering the sentiments of a god in a poet's language sometimes 

 drawing tears from all eyes by his pathos, and not unfrequently 

 using the epithets and performing the antics of a buffoon, However 

 I must hasten to my journey's end. 



On reaching Dover I secured the only vacant bed-room at the inn 

 where we put up, and then descended into the parlour to skim the 

 papers. I had scarce read the first paragraph of a very interesting 

 murder, when ' mine host' entered, and with some confusion in- 

 formed me that through the inadvertence of his waiter he had not 

 been informed that I had taken a bed until he had unfortunately let 

 it to a traveller. 



4f Then the traveller must vacate and go elsewhere," said I, lean- 



