1 i THE SMUGGLER. 



bore about him several traces of military costume, which were, 

 indeed, occasionally affected by the dapper shopmen of that 

 period, when they rode up Rotten Row or walked the Mall, 

 but which harmonized so well with his whole appearance and 

 demeanour, as to leave no doubt of their being justly assumed. 

 His features were not particularly good, but far from ugly, his 

 complexion fair, his hair strong and curly ; and he would have 

 passed for a rather handsome man, than otherwise, had not a 

 deep scar, as if from a sabre wound, traversed his right cheek 

 and part of his upper lip. His aspect was gay, lively, and 

 good-humoured, and yet there were some strong lines of thought 

 about his brow, with a slightly sarcastic turn of the muscles 

 round the corner of his mouth and nostrils. On entering, he 

 seated himself opposite the second traveller, but without 

 speaking to him, so that the old gentleman who first tenanted 

 the coach could not tell whether they came together or not; 

 and the moment after they had entered, the door was closed, 

 the clerk of the inn looked at the way-bill, the coachman be- 

 stowed two or three strokes of his heavy whip on the flanks 

 of his dull cattle, and the lumbering machine moved heavily 

 out, and rolled away towards Westminster Bridge. 



The lights which were under the archway had enabled the 

 travellers to see each other's faces, but when once they had 

 got into the street, the thickness of the air, and the grey ness 

 of the dawn, rendered everything indistinct, except the few 

 scattered globe lamps which still remained blinking at the sides 

 of the pavement. The old gentleman sunk back in his corner, 

 wrapped his cloak about him for a nap, and was soon in the 

 land of forgetfulness. ^His slumbers did not continue very long, 

 however ; and when he woke up at the Loompit Hill, he found 

 the sky all rosy with the beams of the rising sun, the country 

 air light and cheerful, and his two companions talking together 

 in familiar tones. After rousing himself, and putting down 

 the window, he passed about five minutes either in contem- 

 plating the hedges by the road-side, all glittering in the morn- 

 ing dew, or in considering the faces of his two fellow-travellers, 

 and making up his mind as to their characters and qualities. 

 At the end of that time, as they had now ceased speaking, he 

 said 



"A beautiful day, gentlemen. I was sure it would be so 

 when we set out." 



