THE SMUGGLER. 2? 



which they had already received. But two or three things 

 are to be taken into consideration. The distance from London 

 to Folkestone is now seventy-one miles. It was longer in 

 those days by several more, besides having the disadvantage 

 of running up and down over innumerable hills, all of which 

 were a great deal more steep than they are in the present 

 day. The journey which the travellers accomplished, was 

 generally considered a feat both of difficulty and danger, and 

 the coach which performed that feat in one day, was supposed 

 to deserve right well the name which it had assumed, of 

 "The Phenomenon." Before it began to run, seventy-one 

 miles in seventeen hours was considered an impracticable 

 journey for anything but a man on horseback, and when 

 iirst the coach appeared upon the road, the towns-people and 

 villagers turned out in multitudes, with admiration and wonder, 

 not unmixed with dread, to see the rapid rate at which it 

 went: very nearly six. miles an hour I The old diligence, 

 which had preceded it, had slept one night, and sometimes 

 two, upon the road; and, in its first vain struggles with its 

 more rapid successor, it had actually once or twice made the 

 journey in two-and- twenty hours. - To beat off this pertinaci- 

 ous rival, the proprietor of the stage had been obliged to pro- 

 pitiate the inn-keepers of various important towns, by dividing 

 his favours amongst them; and thus the traveller was forced 

 to wait nearly one hour at Hythe, during which he might sup 

 if he liked, although he was only about five miles from Folke- 

 stone. 



The supper room of the inn was vacant when the two officers 

 of dragoons entered, but the table, covered with its neat white 

 cloth, and all the preparations for a substantial meal, together 

 with a bright fire sparkling in the grate, rendered its aspect 

 cheerful and reviving after a long and tedious journey, such 

 as that which had just been accomplished. Sir Edward Digby 

 looked round well pleased, turned his back to the fire, spoke 

 to the landlord and his maid about supper, and seemed dis- 

 posed to enjoy himself during the period of his stay. lie 

 ordered, too, a pint of claret, which he was well aware was likely 

 to be procured in great perfection upon the coast of Kent. 

 The landlord in consequence conceived a high respect for him, 

 and very much undervalued all the qualities of his companion, 

 who, seating himself at the table, leaned his head upon his 



