304 BEDFORD PILOT. 



My friend of the " Bedford Pilot " was an 

 old ally, and, like myself, had been reduced 

 by circumstances ; that is, from being the 

 proprietor of an Inn on the North road, 

 where, by coaching and posting, he had 

 hoped to preserve a decent provision for a 

 rising family to picking up his crumbs 

 on the box. I knew the man well, for he 

 had been long connected with us in the 

 York and Leeds coaches. He could not 

 aspire to any of the qualifications that 

 marked the most favoured of the frater- 

 nity, but he was a straightforward, honest, 

 and most respectable man. I spent a very 

 pleasant evening with him and his 

 family, and finding, in answer to a few 

 questions, adroitly, though furtively, put, 

 that I had not been deceived in the object 

 I had in view, I determined, at his invita- 

 tion, to accompany him in the morning. 



After a delightful drive by Ampthill, 

 Selsoe, and Luton, near which places are 



