A CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS 291 



covered it, but I found that lie dared not dismount, 

 as he could not be assured of reseating himself. I 

 foresaw the catastrophe ; 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 service 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 arriving in time to 

 cook the dinner. 



' At Islington, an old woman was " 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 a miracle. A 

 hundred yards further, a costermonger's cart showed 

 symptoms of unwonted distress cabbages, carrots, 

 and potatoes strewed the ground, while the owner 

 vented his indignant wrath in wishes that my un- 

 happy 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 fish-woman 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, four 

 gentlemen were just recovering their legs, and 



IT 2 



