'Dear me! And they didn't pull you about?'
'They only pulled my cap over my ears.'
'That is just like them; either they will smash you up, or else be kindness itself, it just depends what temper they're in.'
'But the way they drove down those hills made one's flesh creep. No sober man would have come out of it alive.'
Two sledges now overtook them; there was one traveller in the first and two in the second.
'Can you tell me where that sleigh party was driving to?' asked the occupant of the first.
'To the squire's.'
'Indeed!… Do you know if Josel, the innkeeper, is at home?'
'I dare say he is, unless he is off on some swindle or other.'
'Do you know if your squire has sold his estate yet?' asked a guttural voice from the second sledge.