H Banocrous IRoute 265 



as they had run the engine a bit too far. The gates 

 were single ones and opened across the Hne, so that 

 Bill Neil (the huntsman), Captain Elmhirst, and 

 myself were the only people who got through by 

 passing the puffing engine quite close. If we had 

 not been on quiet horses we could not have done so. 

 A man named Charlton, a friend of mine, a wine 

 merchant, whom I had not seen for a long time, 

 was in the train, and he put his head out of the 

 carriage window, and would shake hands with me 

 as I was riding past Such an experience never 

 happened to me before nor since, and I question if 

 ever it will again. Lady Londonderry was also in 

 the train going to Oakham. The station-master 

 tried to stop the people from coming on the platform 

 from behind, but could not succeed, so he decided to 

 start the train. When he started it there were 

 between twenty and thirty horsemen about a hundred 

 yards off coming up the line, which at this point is 

 on an embankment at least thirty feet high. 



There was the greatest excitement, and a most 

 extraordinary scene took place. Some of the riders 

 got off to lead their horses ; others kept, or tried to 

 keep, on their backs, but there were no less than 

 five loose horses galloping about at one time. Two 

 of them went straiofht down the line, and were not 



