Further Reminiscences. 123 



members. The bride, following the univer- 

 sally accepted belief that on her marriage 

 day her lightest wish must be regarded as 

 law, whispered in the ear of her future father- 

 in-law that she w r ould like four grey horses 

 attached to the carriage which was to take 

 her and her husband seven miles to the 

 nearest railway station. The greys duly 

 arrived, and even amid the pangs of parting 

 from her parents and family, the young wife 

 felt a ray of gladness at the thought that her 

 equipage would produce no ordinary sensa- 

 tion in the minds of the simple villagers 

 among whom her early days had been passed. 

 Alas for the instability of earthly hopes 1 

 " The Druid " had a mortal objection to 

 display or ostentation of any kind, and just 

 before the carriage drove up to the door he 

 ran out and with his pocket-knife cut the 

 traces of the two grey leaders, and told the 

 post-boy to go about his business. The dis- 

 appointment of the crestfallen lady may well 

 be imagined when he handed her into a car- 

 riage drawn by only two greys. All that 

 she remembers further about that memorable 

 day is that just as the young couple issued 



