“I came by the coach, and shall return with it to-morrow.”
“Then we shall be fellow-travellers. I leave my trap here, and return to —— by the coach.”
The gray man now commenced an anecdote, which I shall give in his own words.
“It was in the winter of 1855. I was on the northern circuit, in the midst of a terrific snowfall which buried everything.
”At dusk one evening the wind rose and caused the snow to drift in heaps so quickly that I lost the road. My horse became frightened, and I could scarcely induce him to proceed. I did, however, force him on till I came to a small roadside inn, at which the mail changed.
“Here I determined to leave my horse and trap and proceed by the coach. It was a fearful night, snow falling thickly, icy cold, and the roads almost impassable. The mail was three hours late, and when it did arrive there was question of the advisability of proceeding farther. I found at the inn a traveller who was storm-staid, and, whilst waiting in the bar-parlour for the arrival of the mail, displayed the most marked impatience, constantly breaking out into ejaculations.
”‘Oh dear, oh dear! what a disappointment! But if I can’t get there I can’t. Never was late before—such a lot of people too.’
“I tried in vain to reconcile him to the delay. He could do nothing but lament the accident which seemed likely to prevent his keeping his appointment at Durham on the following day.