58 REMINISCENCES OF 



" After they had passed we stood among the 

 peers till they went, and then went to look at the 

 altar, and then tried to get away in vain. So at last 

 the police said we could walk quite well to the Ad- 

 miralty. So off we set, gold wreath and white shoes, 

 with a policeman before us to make way. We had 

 some little trouble, as we did nothing but meet bodies 

 of guards going in different ways, but they let us pass 

 between their ranks. We got on so well that we bid 

 the policeman good-bye, and got on quite well till we 

 came to the end of King Street, where we found a 

 crowd and numbers of tipsy women. However we 

 got through, thanks to the police, and got on till past 

 the Horse Guards, so there we were fairly stopped. 

 The mob was quiet, very polite, but seemed to think 

 us great fun. The procession I believe had caused 

 it, as it had not quite passed, so there we were close 

 to the Admiralty, but no hope of ever getting to the 

 gate. Some gentlemen and an old Italian woman 

 and man were y^x^j polite and kept the mob off me. 

 Though they were quiet it was not pleasant to be in 

 the middle of them in full dress and my uncle's uni- 

 form, so we were rather too much stared at to be 

 agreeable, 



" At last, seeing the Admiralty was hopeless, my 

 uncle thought we might squeeze back a few steps to 

 the Horse Guards, which, with the help of our Italian 

 old body and man and some difficulty, we managed, 

 and seeing his uniform they let us in. So I was put 

 into Colonel Egerton's room till Uncle Fred got 

 the gate of the Admiralty open, and he and Colonel 



