52 
ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY LIFE [ch. ii. 
left the inn without eating anything. At a village 
some miles farther on I got a twopenny cake, and 
at Stratford a pennyworth of gingerbread and a 
pennyworth of apples, and trudged along. The 
weather was very fine; but the road was very hard 
and my shoes and stockings quite in tatters, so that 
the gravel was getting in and tormenting me. 
Nothing interesting occurred through the day. In 
the dusk I passed through Dunstable, where I 
stood for some time, like the ass of the Schoolmen, 
between two bundles of hay, unable to determine 
whether I should proceed or slip into an inn. 
What is the use of making resolutions, said I, if I 
cannot keep them ? I went into a shop and got 
some bread and proceeded. About midnight I 
passed through the town of St Albans in Hertford¬ 
shire. Three miles further on I got tired and went 
into a park, where I lay down under a large tree. 
Here I remained about four hours. At length I 
heard cocks crowing and a herd of oxen in the road, 
and got up. But I felt weak, and my feet were 
excessively sore. The weather had changed, and it 
now rained pretty hard. I was, however, within 18 
miles of London, and I had still threepence half¬ 
penny in my pocket. So I got bread and an apple 
with my copper clinkum and crawled along. The 
rain continued. At the end of every two or three 
miles I was obliged to sit down to ease my feet. 
At length I got to Highgate about twelve o’clock, 
and soon after entered London. The rain poured 
down in torrents, and I was wetted to the skin. 
A bundle which I had directed to be sent me from 
Aberdeen was addressed to a Mr Cowie, a book¬ 
seller, No. 31 Poultry. So I managed, though 
with great difficulty, to crawl there. My parcel 
had arrived, and in it I found a letter from the 
Isles from Mary MacCaskell. This, however, did 
not ease my feet, which were intolerably sore, and I 
