e got her into the carriage, I was put in afterwards, and
he jumped up on the box. The crowd closed in, and looked at us as
if we were a sort of menagerie. I was much amused when I thought
how little these eager people knew that the real attraction was on
the box; I felt inclined to put my head out of the window, and say,
'My good people, there is the man you should look at,--not us.' I
did not like to do so; and the Professor gave the word to be off,
the postilion cracked his whip, and we went off in grand style,
amidst the cheers of the crowd...."

On one of these posting excursions, they came to Hardraw; Mrs. Alfred
Hunt tells the story in her edition of Turner's "Richmondshire"; Mr.
Severn's account is somewhat different. After examining the Fall, Mrs.
Severn and Mr. Ruskin left Mr. Severn to sketch, and went away to Hawes
to order their tea. When they were gone, a man who had been standing by
came up and asked if that were Professor Ruskin. "Yes," said Mr. Severn,
"it was; he is very fond of the Fall, and much puzzled to know why the
edge of the cliff is not worn away by the water, as he expected to find
it after so many years." "Oh," said the other, "there are twelve feet of
masonry up there to protect the rock. I'm a native of the place, and
know all about it." "I wish," said Mr. Severn, absently, as he went on
drawing, "Mr. Ruskin knew that; he would be so interested." And the
stranger ran off. When the sketcher came in to tea he felt there was
something wrong. "You're in for it!" said his wife. "Let us look at his
sketch first," said Mr. Ruskin; and luckily it was a very good one. By
and by it all came out;--how the Yorkshireman had caught the Professor,
and eagerly described the horrible Vandalism, receiving in reply some
very emphatic language. Upon which he took off his hat and bowed low:
"But, sir," he faltered, "the gentleman up there said I was to tell you,
and you would be so interested!" The Professor, suddenly mollified, took
off his hat in turn, and apologised for his reception of the news:
"but," said he, "I shall never care for Hardraw Waterfall again."

"The Professor," said Mr. Severn, "dislikes railways very much:" and on
his arrival at Brantwood after that posting journey he wrote a preface
to "A Protest against the Extension of Railways in the Lake District,"
by Mr. Robert Somervell. Ruskin's dislike of railways has been the text
of a great deal of misrep