200 The Best Fourteen-Hander 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 j as poor Tom Hood has it 



" Two and two, 



Looking as such young ladies do, 

 Trussed with 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 5 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 



