ot in the least." Is it not
wonderful? How can we believe in the equality of the sexes? In less than
an hour we were temporarily settled in our new quarters, our rescued
trunks consigned to the little bed-room, our heart-felt gratitude in the
possession of the Good Man.

We took our meals now in our own parlor, trying the solitary confinement
system of the English during our two days' stay. It seemed a month. Not
a sign of life was there, save the landlady's pleasant face behind the
bar and the waiter who answered our bell, with the exception of a pair
of mammoth shoes before the next door, mornings, and the bearded face
of a man that startled us, once, upon the stairs. And yet the house was
full. It was a relief when our two days of banishment Mere over, when in
Mrs. B.'s pretty drawing-room, and around her table, we could again meet
friends, and realize that we were still in the world.

CHAPTER III.

EXCURSIONS FROM LONDON.

Strange ways.--"The bears that went over to
Charlestown."--The delights of a runaway without
its dangers.--Flower show at the Crystal
Palace.--Whit-Monday at Hampton Court.--A queen
baby.--"But the carpets?"--Poor Nell
Gwynne.--Vandyck faces.--Royal beds.--Lunch at the
King's Arms.--O Music, how many murders have been
committed in thy name!--Queen Victoria's home at
Windsor.--A new "house that Jack built."--The
Round Tower.--Stoke Pogis.--Frogmore.--The Knights
of the Garter.--The queen's gallery.--The queen's
plate.--The royal mews.--The wicker
baby-wagons.--The state equipages.

WE bought an umbrella,--every one buys an umbrella who goes to
London,--and this, in its alpaca glory, became our constant companion.
We purchased a guide-book to complete our equipments; but so
disreputable, so yellow-covered, was its outward appearance, so
suggestive of everything but facts, that we consigned it to oblivion,
and put ourselves under the guidance of our Boston friends, the Good Man
and his family.

For two busy weeks we rattled over the flat pavings of the city in the
low, one-horse cabs. We climbed towers, we descended into crypts, we
examined tombstones, we gazed upon mummies. Everything was new,
strange, and wonderful, even to the little boys in the street, who, as
well as the omnibus drivers, were decked out in tall silk hats--a piece
of absurdity in one