case, and extravagance in the other, to our minds.
The one-horse carriages rolled about upon two wheels; the occupants,
like cross children, facing in every direction but the one they were
going, and everybody, contrary to all our preconceived ideas of law and
order, turned to the left, instead of to the right,--to say nothing of
other strange and perplexing ways that came under our observation. We
had come abroad upon the same errand as the bears who "went over to
Charlestown to see what they could see," and so stared into every
window, into every passing face, as though we were seeking the lost. We
became known as the women who wanted a cab; our appearance within the
iron posts that guard the entrance to Queen's Square from Southampton
Row being the signal for a perfect Babel of unintelligible shouts and
gesticulations down the long line of waiting vehicles, with the charging
down upon us of the first half dozen in a highly dangerous manner.
Wisdom is sometimes the growth of days; and we soon learned to dart out
in an unexpected moment, utterly deaf and blind to everything and
everybody but the first man and the first horse, and thus to go off in
triumph.

But if our exit was triumphant, what was our entry to the square, when
weary, faint with seeing, hearing, and trying in vain to fix everything
seen and heard in our minds, we returned in a hansom! English ladies do
not much affect this mode of conveyance, but American women abroad
have, or take, a wide margin in matters of mere conventionality,--and so
ride in hansom cabs at will. They are grown-up baby perambulators upon
two wheels; the driver sitting up behind, where the handle would be, and
drawing the reins of interminable length over the top of the vehicle.
Picture it in your mind, and then wonder, as I did, what power of
attraction keeps the horse upon the ground; what prevents his flying
into the air when the driver settles down into his seat. A pair of low,
folding doors take the place of a lap robe; you dash through the street
at an alarming rate without any visible guide, experiencing all the
delights of a runaway without any of its dangers.

FLOWER SHOW AT THE CRYSTAL PALACE.

A ride by rail of half an hour takes one to Sydenham. It is a charming
walk from the station through the tastefully arranged grounds, with
their shrubberies, roseries, and fountains, along the pebble-strewn
paths, crowded this day with visitors. The palace itself is so like its