uses.

Leaving the temple, the two friends passed out of the square and entered
a road which attracted them because of its extraordinary width, the
magnificence of its shade trees, the beauty of its central strip of
garden, the sumptuous character of its buildings, and the air of dignity
and well-being which seemed to characterise the people who were
promenading it. Taken altogether, it appeared to be Ulua's most
aristocratic quarter, or at least its most fashionable promenade, for
the men and women who thronged it were all elegantly dressed, and all
had the air of belonging to the leisured class, while the roadway was
thickly sprinkled with elegant and beautifully decorated chariots, drawn
by teams of two, or sometimes three, handsome horses, driven by young
men who appeared to be inviting the admiration of Ulua's fair ones.

Still unobtrusively followed by a palace official, the two friends
wended their way down the street, receiving the respectful homage of all
who passed them. They had traversed about half the length of the
street, which was about two miles long, when suddenly loud and excited
cries arose behind them, punctuated by the quick clatter of galloping
hoofs, and wheeling round, they beheld a beautiful chariot, the body,
wheels, and pole of which were entirely covered with plates of embossed
gold, coming careering along the road toward them at full speed, and
swerving wildly from side to side of the road as it came, the two cream
stallions which drew it having evidently bolted.

The man who drove was doing his best to regain control of his terrified
and mettlesome animals, and at the same time to avoid the chariots ahead
of him, the drivers of which hurriedly drew in towards the sides of the
road to give the runaways a free passage; but the lad--for he was
apparently still in his teens--might as well have attempted to control
the elements; the horses had got their heads and seemed determined not
to stop until they were tired, while it was evident that a very serious
accident was inevitable, the road being thronged with vehicles, horsemen
and pedestrians--the latter seeming to use the roadway quite as much as
the footpaths.

And even as Dick and Earle halted and turned to ascertain the cause of
the commotion, the wildly careering chariot collided with another, a
wheel of which it sheared off, while the impact of the two vehicles
jolted the driver of the runaways off his feet and flung him violently
in