THE ROAD. 
she is a mile in the hour faster than the Comet, at least 
three miles quicker than the Regulator ; and she performs 
more than half her journey by lamplight. It is needless 
to say, then, our senior soon finds out his mistake ; but 
there is no remedy at hand, for it is the dead of the 
night, and all the inns are shut up. He must proceed, 
or be left behind in a stable. The climax of his misfor- 
tunes then approaches. Nature being exhausted, sleep 
comes to his aid, and he awakes on a stage which is 
called the fastest on the journey, it is four miles of 
ground, and twelve minutes is the time ! The old 
gentleman starts from his seat, having dreamed the 
horses were running away with the coach, and so, no 
doubt, they might be. He is, however, determined to 
convince himself of the fact, though the passengers 
assure him "all's right." "Don't put your head out 
of the window," says one of them, "you will lose your 
hat to a certainty : " but advice is seldom listened to by 
a terrified man, and next moment a stentorian voice is 
heard, crying, "Stop, coachman, stop I have lost my 
hat and wig ! " The coachman hears him not and in 
another second the broad wheels of a road wagon have 
for ever demolished the lost head-gear, But here we 
must leave our adventurous Gilpin of 1742. We have 
taken a great liberty with him, it is true, but we are 
not without our precedent. One of the best chapters 
in Livy contains the history of " an event which 
never took place." In the full charm of his imagi- 
nation, the historian brings Alexander into Italy, where 
