I did not at all enjoy the prospect of knocking about the whole
day amongst coal-sheds and unfinished houses, with the alternative
refuge of the inn, which was swarming with flies and redolent of many
evil smells; so I thought I would find some conveyance and drive over,
for the distance was not great. If there is anything I hate, it is
waiting the livelong day for a railway train.
There chanced to be an intelligent native close by who divined my
thoughts, for I had certainly not uttered them; he came up, touched me
on the arm, and pointed round the corner. Notwithstanding the intense
heat of the day, the Wallack, for such he was, wore an enormous
sheepskin cloak with the wool outside, as though ready for an Arctic
winter. I followed him a few steps to see what he wanted me to look at;
the movement was quite enough, he regarded it evidently in the light of
ready assent, and in the twinkling of an eye he possessed himself of my
portmanteau and other belongings, motioned me to follow him, which I
did, and then found that my Heaven-sent friend had a machine for hire.
I call it a machine, because it was not like anything on wheels I had
seen before: later on I became familiar enough with the carts of the
country; they are long-bodied, rough constructions, wonderfully adapted
to the uneven roads. In this case there were four horses abreast, which
sounds imposing, as any four-in-hand must always do.
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