THE MISSING HORSE-BOX 



At last, when in the lowest depths of despair, 

 the very embodiment of hopeless misery, another 

 official, who had not previously been heard of, 

 came leisurely into the limelight and casually 

 remarked, " I suppose that horse-box on the new 

 siding ain't it." Like a shot out of a gun, or a 

 tiger after its prey, I tore round to where the 

 official in question had had a vision of a horse-box. 

 And there, sure enough, within a stone's throw 

 of all the commotion, unsuspectingly wasting 

 its sweetness on the desert air, whilst I was using 

 up all my reserve force in mental anguish, was 

 the missing horse-box. How it came to pass 

 that the official mind was for so long a simple 

 vacuum with regard to the transaction is, as 

 Lord Dundreary would say, " a thing no fella 

 could understand." I can only suppose that those 

 who accomplished the unhooking of the box from 

 the Bristol train departed to their midday repast 

 with the secret locked within their breasts until 

 their return to duty. Or it may be that the 

 extra traffic incidental to the show, being a dis- 

 turbing factor, upset the mental equilibrium of 

 the station staff to such an extent as to lead them 

 to consign so trifling a thing as a horse-box to 

 the limbo of forgetfulness. 



By this time the day was wearing away, so, 

 having seen my bag and baggage loaded up on 

 a trolley I once more made my way to the yard 

 to await its arrival. Further hours passed, and 

 still my precious impedimenta appeared not. It 

 was before the days of telephones, so back I 

 went to the station to find out what had hap- 

 pened to it. I was assured it had departed for 



113 I 



