om cab.[2] So he said at once, that he would adhere to the
original plan, and go by water.

[Footnote 2: A Hansom cab is made like an old-fashioned chaise, only
that it is set very low, so that it is extremely easy to step in and out
of it, and the seat of the driver is high up behind. The driver drives
_over the top of the chaise_! Thus the view for the passengers riding
inside is wholly unobstructed, and this makes the Hansom cab a very
convenient and pleasant vehicle for two persons to ride in, through the
streets of a new and strange town.]

"But, first," said he, "I will go with you to the stand, and see you
safe in a cab."

So they turned into another street, and presently they came to a stand.
There was a long row of cabs there, of various kinds, all waiting to be
employed. Among them were several Hansoms.

Mr. Parkman looked along the line to select one that had a good horse.
The distance was considerable that they had to go, and besides Mr.
Parkman knew that his wife liked always to go fast. So when he had
selected the best looking horse, he made a signal to the driver. The
driver immediately left the stand, and drove over to the sidewalk where
Mr. Parkman and his party were waiting.

Mr. Parkman immediately opened the door of the cab to allow his wife to
go in; but she, instead of entering, began to look scrutinizingly into
it, and hung back.

"Is this a nice cab?" said she. "It seems to me that I have seen nicer
cabs than this.

"Let us look," she added, "and see if there is not a better one
somewhere along the line."

The cabman, looking down from his exalted seat behind the vehicle, said
that there was not a nicer cab than his in London.

"O, of course," said Mrs. Parkman. "They always say that. But _I_ can
find a nicer one, I'm sure, somewhere in the line."

So saying she began to move on. Mr. Parkman gave the cabman a silver
sixpence--which is equal to a New York shilling--to compensate him
for having been called off from his station, and then followed his wife
across the street to the side where the cabs were standing. Mrs. Parkman
led the way all down the line, examining each hack as she passed it; but
she did not find any one that looked as well as the first.

[Illustration: THE HANSOM CAB.]

"After all," said she, "we might as well go back and take the first
one." So she turned and began to retrace her steps--the two gentlemen
accompanying her. But when they got back they found that the