2,00 The Best F our te en-Han der in England, 



days after. The next was a more formidable lot — nothing less 

 than a ladies' school of girls^ walking demurely to church in Indian 

 file 5 as poor Tom Hood has it — 



" Two and two. 

 Looking as such young ladies do. 

 Trussed vv^ith decorum and stuffed with morals.* 



I scattered them right and left, like a hawk swooping among a lot 

 of pigeons, without doing any harm j but hardly was I clear of 

 them when the worst of all stared me in the face. It was two 

 nursemaids indolently dragging along two children in a little sort 

 of four-wheeled carriage (it was before the days of perambulators). 

 Now they had lots of time to get out of the road, for they both saw 

 and heard me coming j but, with a stupidity for which it would be 

 hard to account, they left the little carriage standing slanting across 

 the causeway, and jumped down screaming into the road. If I had 

 felt a little nervous at the turnpike-gate, that was nothing to what 

 I felt now. But if I had only known what a rare bit of stuff I had 

 under me, I need not have been in the least apprehensive, for she 

 seemed hardly to think such a leap as this worth rising at, but 

 cleared it in her stride, never looking to the right or left. I cer- 

 tainly shouted to the mare to ''come up" as she rose at the leap, 

 for I thought this might urge her 3 and I mention this because it 

 was afterwards brought against me to prove what a reckless cha- 

 racter I was, for one of the girls swore that I purposely jumped at 

 the little carriage, and exultingly shouted '' tally-ho !" as I cleared 

 it. I just caught sight of one of the little children's faces looking 

 up at me as I was in the air, and I think I never saw such a curious 

 expression of countenance in my life. 



I was now close to the town j and just here a lane branched off 

 which led straight up to the village where the nabob resided. I 

 had now this pleasant alternative staring me in the face — either to 

 gallop through the town just as the people were flocking into 

 church, or else to go through the village right past Chunee Villa. 

 I could hardly say that I had much choice, but perhaps the latter 

 was the best, as I fancied the mare must pull up before I reached 



