that nothing remains legible! "I will guard
against this peril," thought I. " I will concentrate
my intentions and travel alone." I slipped
a crown into a guard's hand and whispered,
"Put no one in here if you can help it."

As I jogged along, all by myself, I could not
help feeling that one of the highest privileges of
wealth must be, to be able always to buy solitude
—to be in a position to say, " None shall
invade me. The world must contrive to go
round without a kick from me. I am a self-contained
and self-suffering creature." If I
were Rothschild I'd revel in this sentiment; it
places one so immeasurably above that busy
ant-hill where one sees the creatures hurrying,
hastening, and fagging "till their hearts are
broken." One feels himself a superior intelligence
—a being above the wants and cares of
the work-a-day world around him.

"Any room here?" cried a merry voice, breaking
in upon my musings, and at the same instant a
young fellow, in a grey travelling suit and a wide-
awake, flung a dressing-bag and a wrapper
carelessly into the carriage, and so recklessly as to come
tumbling over me. He never thought of apology,
however, but continued his remarks to the guard,
who was evidently endeavouring to induce him
to take a place elsewhere. " No, no!" cried
the young man; " I'm all right here, and the
cove with the yellow hair won't object to my
smoking."

I heard these words as I sat in the corner,
and I need scarcely say how grossly the
impertinence offended me. That the privacy I had
paid for should be invaded was bad enough, but
that my companion should begin acquaintance
with an insult was worse again, and so I determined
on no account, nor upon any pretext,
would I hold intercourse with him, but maintain
a perfect silence and reserve so long as our
journey lasted.

There was an insufferable jauntiness and self-satisfaction
in every movement of the new
arrival, even to the reckless way he pitched into
the carriage three small white canvas bags, carefully
sealed and docketed; the address—which I
read—being, " To H.M.'s Minister, and Envoy
at—-, by the Hon. Grey Buller, Attaché, &c."
So, then, this was one of the Young Guard of
Diplomacy, one of those sucking Talleyrands,
which form the hope of the Foreign-Office and
the terror of middle-class English abroad.

"Do you mind my smoking?" asked he,
abruptly, as he scraped his lucifer match against
the roof of the carriage, showing by the promptitude
of his action how little he cared for my
reply.

"I never smoke, sir, except in the carriages
reserved for smokers," was my rebukeful answer.

"And I always do," said he, in a very easy
tone.

Not condescending to notice this rude
rejoinder, I drew forth my newspaper, and tried
to occupy myself with its contents.

"Anything new?" asked he, abruptly.

"Not that I am aware, sir. I was about to
consult the paper."

"What paper is it?"

"It is the Banner, sir, at your service," said
I, with a sort of sarcasm.

"Rascally print a vile, low, radical,
mill-owning organ. Pitch it away!"

"Certainly not, sir. Being for me and my
edification, I will beg to exercise my own judgment
as to how I deal with it."

"It's deuced low, that's what it is, and that's
exactly the fault of all our daily papers. Their
tone is vulgar; they reflect nothing of the
opinions one hears in society. Don't you agree
with me?"

I gave a sort of muttering dissent, and he
broke in quickly,

"Perhaps not; it's just as likely you would
not think them low, but take my word for it, I'm
right."

I shook my head negatively, without speaking.

"Well, now," cried he, " let us put the thing
to the test. Read out one of those leaders. I
don't care which, or on what subject. Read it
out, and I pledge myself to show you at least
one vulgarism, one flagrant outrage on good
breeding, in every third sentence."

"I protest, sir," said I, haughtily, " I shall
do no such thing. I have come here neither to
read aloud nor take up the defence of the public
press."

"I say, look out!" cried he; " you'll smash
something in that bag you're kicking there. If
I don't mistake, it's Bohemian glass. No, no;
all right," said he, examining the number, " it's
only Yarmouth bloaters."

"I imagined these contained despatches, sir,"
said I, with a look of what he ought to have
understood as withering scorn.

"You did, did you?" cried he, with a quick
laugh. " Well, I'll bet you a sovereign I make
a better guess about your pack than you've done
about mine."

"Done, sir; I take you," said I, quickly.

"Well; you're in cutlery, or hardware, or lace
goods, or ribbons, or alpaca cloth, or drugs, ain't
you?"

"I am not, sir," was my stern reply.

"Not a bagman?"

"Not a bagman, sir."

"Well, you're an usher in a commercial
academy, or 'our own correspondent,' or a
telegraph clerk?"

"I'm none of these, sir. And I now beg to
remind you, that instead of one guess, you have
made about a dozen."

"Well, you've won, there's no denying it,"
said he, taking a sovereign from his waistcoat
pocket and handing it to me. " It's deuced odd
how I should be mistaken. I'd have sworn you
were a bagman!" But for the impertinence of
these last words I should have declined to
accept his lost bet, but I took it now as a sort of
vindication of my wounded feelings. " Now it's
all over and ended," said he, calmly, "what are
you? I don't ask out of any impertinent
curiosity, but that I hate being foiled in a thing of
this kind. What are you?"

"I'll tell you what I am, sir," said I,