you had no difficulty in findg ye Duke of Cumberland's Head, it
is an excellent In.

"I greatly regt yt you are unavoidy oblig'd to go on to Londn; for,
otherwise I shd have had the sincerest please in seeing you here at
dinr, introducing you to Ly Hales. Anothr time I trust we may be more
fortunate.

"As you pass thro' ye litte town of..., exactly 21 miles from hence, on
the road to Londn, will you do me the favr to allow your servt to put
the little parcel I send into his pockt, drop it as directd. It is a
bridle I am forc'd to return. Country workn are such bungrs.

"I shd most certainy have had ye honr to wait on you persony, but the
rain has given me a mo seve cold;--hope you have escap'd, tho' by ye by,
you had no cloke, nor wrappr!

"My kindest regards to your mo excellent unce. I am quite sure he's the
same fine merry fellw he always was,--tell him so!

"Dr Sr, Yours faithy,

"Peter Grindlescrew Hales.

"P.S. You know perhs yt poor Jno Courtd, your uncle's mo intime friend,
lives in..., the town in which your servt will drop ye bride. He is much
alter'd,--poor Jno!"

"Altered! alteration then seems the fashion with my uncle's friends!"
thought Walter, as he rang for the Corporal, and consigned to his charge
the unsightly parcel.

"It is to be carried twenty-one miles at the request of the gentleman we
met last night,--a most sensible man, Bunting."

"Augh--whaugh,--your honour!" grunted the Corporal, thrusting the bridle
very discontentedly into his pocket, where it annoyed him the whole
journey, by incessantly getting between his seat of leather and his seat
of honour. It is a comfort to the inexperienced, when one man of the
world smarts from the sagacity of another; we resign ourselves more
willingly to our fate. Our travellers resumed their journey, and in a
few minutes, from the cause we have before assigned, the Corporal became
thoroughly out of humour.

"Pray, Bunting," said Walter, calling his attendant to his side, "do you
feel sure that the man we met yesterday at the alehouse, is the same you
saw at Grassdale some months ago?"

"Damn it!" cried the Corporal quickly, and clapping his hand behind.

"How, Sir!"

"Beg pardon, your honour--slip tongue, but this confounded
parcel!--augh--bother!"

"Why don't you carry it in your hand?"

"'Tis so ungainsome, and be d--d to it; and how can I hold parcel and
pull in this beast, which requires two hands; his mouth's as hard as a
brickbat,-