200 



trophe. No sooner had I given him his cane, 

 than, to show his courage, he applied it to his 

 mare, and away she went like a bullet. To give 

 chase to a runaway horse, is the unkindest ser- 

 vice in the world. I followed at my leisure ; the 

 youth was going to a dinner party, and I thought 

 the worst that would happen, would be his arriv- 

 ing in time to cook the dinner. 



At Islington, an old woman was in modern 

 phraseology, " flaring up" like a fury : an orange- 

 barrow overturned, and oranges scattered to the 

 winds, bespoke the nature of her provocation : she 

 had escaped by miracle. A hundred yards farther 

 a costermonger's cart showed symptoms of un- 

 wonted distress — cabbages, carrots, and potatoes 

 strewed the ground, while the owner vented his 

 indignant wrath in cordially wishing my unlucky 

 friend might finish his career in the shades below. 

 Misfortunes thickened as I traced his steps ; a 

 mob at Battle-bridge surrounded the toll-collector: 

 a good-natured attempt to close the gate had ex- 

 posed his limbs to serious risk, though it had not 

 saved his penny ; the man was quit for a bloody 

 nose, and a fishwoman for the trouble of washing 

 her soles a second time. I followed in dismay ; a 

 quarter of a mile further, two stanhopes going in 

 opposite directions had come in direct collision ; 



