perusal of Bradshaw, with wondering
whether anybody ever went to Ambergate,
Flotton Episcopi, or Bolton-le-Moors, and
what they did when they got there, and with
musing upon Heal's bedsteads, which, according
to the advertisement, could be sent free
by post, and upon the dismayed gentleman
who, in the woodcut, cannot put up his
umbrella, and is envious of the syphonia'd
individual who finds "comfort in a storm."
But this species of amusement, though
undeniably exciting at first, palls on repetition,
and I soon found myself letting the
Bradshaw drop, and endeavouring to seek
solace in sleep. To seek, but not to
find. To me, sleep in a railway carriage is
next to impossible. First the lamp glares
in my eyes, and when I try to cover them
with my hat, the stiff rim grates over my
nose, and scrubs me to desperation; then the
cloth-covered sides of the carriage are rough
to my face; my legs are cramped, and my feet,
in opposition to the rest of my body, go to
sleep, and are troubled with pins and
needles; and so, after much tossing, and
tumbling, and changing from side to side, I
sit bolt upright, gazing at the lamp, and
thinking over Ellen and the object of my
journey, until we arrive at our first halting-
place, Bletchley. Here we lose the curate
and the stockbroker, the flashing lamps of
the latter's dog-cart being seen outside the
station yard. The old lady gets out too,
under the impression that we are at Crewe,
and is only induced to return after much
assurance, and, in fact, bodily force on the
part of a porter. She, I, the farmer, and
the bundle, are left together again, and the
train proceeds. And now, worn-out and
utterly wearied, I fall asleep in good earnest,
and sleep so soundly that I do not rouse till a
prolonged " Hoi! " reverberates in my ears,
and starting up, I find the lights of Crewe
station flashing in my eyes, the farmer and
the old lady gone, and a porter holding up
my carpet-bag and talking through the
carriage window. "A old lady as has just left
this carriage," says he, " have tuke a carpet-
bag in mistake for her own, she thinks.
Does any gent own this here, di-rected to
Boltons, Tamworth?"

At these words, the bundle roused, picked
itself up, and showed itself to be a young
man with a bearded face, and a remarkably
bright eye. He seemed about to speak; but
I, half-asleep, reclaimed my property, handed
out the old lady's luggage, and, as the whistle
announced our departure, sank back again in
slumber.

I had slept, I suppose, for about three
minutes, when I was aroused by a choking,
suffocating sensation in ray throat, and on
opening my eyes, I saw the bearded
countenance of the stranger within an inch of my
face, his eyes flashing, his nostrils dilated,
and his whole frame quivering with emotion;
so that his hand, although twisted tightly in
my neckcloth, trembled violently. Surprise
for a second numbed rny energies, but I soon
recollected the practical teaching of my old
instructor, the Worcestershire Nobbler, and
finding I could free myself by no other
means, dealt him a. blow with my left hand
which sent him staggering to the other end of
the carriage. He recovered himself in an
instant, and rushed at me again; but this
time I was on my guard, and as he advanced
I seized his hands by the wrists, and being
much the more powerful man, forced him
into a seat, and kept him there, never for an
instant relaxing my grip. " Let me go!"
he hissed between his teeth, speaking in a
foreign accent, " Let me go! Scoundrel!
coward! — release me!"

Had any third person been present they
could not have failed to be amused at the
matter of fact tone of my remarks in
contrast to the high flown speech of the stranger.

"What the deuce do you mean, sir, by
attacking an inoffensive man in this way?"
said I, "what's your motive ? You don't look
like a thief."

"No," he screamed, "'tis you who are the
thief, you who would steal from me all that
I cherish in the world!"

"Why, I never set eyes on you before! " I
exclaimed, getting bewildered and not feeling
quite certain whether I was awake or asleep.

"No, but I have heard of you," he replied,
"heard of you too often. Tiens! did not
you just acknowledge you were going to
Boltons!"

"Well, what if I am?" I asked. "You
shall never reach your destination," and with
a sudden twist he shook my hand from his
neck, sprang at my face and struck me
with such force that I fell on my back on
the floor of the carriage. In falling I dragged
my adversary with me, but he was nimbler
than I, and succeeded in planting his knee in
my throat while he pinned my hands to my
sides. Seeing me at his mercy he gave a cry
of triumph, then stooping over me scanned
my face with such a wild and scaring glance
that a glimmering of the truth for the first
time flashed across me — the man was mad.
I turned faint sick at the idea, and closed
my eyes. " Ah ha! " shrieked the lunatic,
"you pale, you tremble! You, an Englishman,
change colour like a girl! You shall
be yet another colour before I leave you,
your cheeks shall be blue, your eyes red,
Entends tu, misérable? " And as he spoke
he knelt with such force on my throat that I
felt my eyes were starting from their sockets;
I struggled convulsively, but the more I
writhed the more tightly did he press me with
his knee, until at length the anguish grew
insupportable, and I fainted.

How long I remained insensible, I know
not; it can have been but for a very few minutes,
however, and when I came to myself I found
the fresh night air blowing over my face, I saw
the door of the carriage open, and felt the