the family for
all that. He confronted me with the air of an old acquaintance; gave the
military salute; and then, laying hold of a corner of my plaid with his
thumb and forefinger,--"I know you," he said, "I know _your kind_ well;
ye're a Highland-Donald. Od, I've seen ye in the _thick o't_. Ye're
_reugh_ fellows when ye're bluid's up!" He had taken me for a grenadier
of the 42d; and I lacked the moral courage to undeceive him. I met
nothing further on my way worthy of record, save and except a sheep's
trotter, dropped by the old pensioner in one of his zig-zaggings to the
extreme left; but having no particular use for the trotter at the time
and in the circumstances, I left it to benefit the next passer-by. I
finished my journey of eighteen miles in capital style, and was within
five minutes' walk of Fochabers when the horn of the mail-guard was
sounding up the street. And, entering the village, I found the vehicle
standing opposite the inn door, minus the horses.

The _insides_ and _outsides_ were sitting down to dinner together as I
entered the inn; and I felt, after my long walk, that it would be rather
an agreeable matter to join with them. But in the hope of meeting my old
friend Mr. Joss, I requested to be shown, not into the passengers' room,
but into that of the coachman and guard; and with them I dined. It so
chanced, however, that Mr. Joss was not _out_ that day; and the man in
the red long coat was a stranger whom I had never seen before. I
inquired of him regarding Mr. Joss,--one of perhaps the most remarkable
mail-guards in Europe. I have at least never heard of another who, like
him, amuses his leisure on the coach-top with the "Principia" of Newton,
and understands it. And the man, drawing his inference from the interest
in Mr. Joss which my queries evinced, asked me whether I myself was not
a coach-guard. "No," I rather thoughtlessly replied, "I am not a
coach-guard." Half a minute's consideration, however, led me to doubt
whether I had given the right answer. "I am not sure," I said to
myself, on second thoughts, "but the man has cut pretty fairly on the
point;--I daresay _I am_ a sort of coach-guard. I have to mount my
twice-a-week coach in all weathers, like any mail-guard among them all;
I have to start at the appointed hour, whether the vehicle be empty or
full; I have to keep a sharp eye on the opposition coaches; I am
responsible, like any other mail-guard, for all the parcels carried,
however l