80 "BEDFORD PILOT" 



place, in which I saw nothing to attract or distract 

 my attention, I inquired for the house of a person whom 

 I knew — one who drove another Bedford coach, that 

 went to the great metropolis by a diiferent route, and 

 passed through a village where I was informed I might 

 meet Avith an object the sight of which would be 

 ample reward for my trouble. 



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 qualifi- 

 cations that marked the most favoured of the fraternity, 

 but he was a straightforward, honest, and most respect- 

 able man. I spent a very pleasant evening Avith 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 

 invitation, to accompany him in the morning. 



After a delightful drive by Ampthill, Selsoe, and 

 Luton, near which places are the mansions of the Earls 

 of Cork and de Grey, and of the Marquis of Bute, I 

 took leave of my friend in the pretty little village of 

 Harpenden. 



I subsequently took a ride to Portsmouth, and dis- 

 charged a few obligations of a private nature, stopping 

 principally at the house of my deceased wife's brother's 

 widow. I took my children with me, and spent here our 



