s now gone, and a strong plank, with a railing,
supplies its place. But the water still roars down the rock as on the
fatal night; and the foam and spray look as if the white garments of
the fair lady were still fluttering over the deep below.
From Ambleside I went with some friends to visit Dr. Nichol at Glasgow.
We took coach first, and then the railroad. For the sake of economy we
took a second class carriage. The second class carriages, on the
English railroad, are, in fact, boxes with small holes for windows,
from which you may, if you are not very short, see something of the
world you are flying through, but not much. Good, honest, hard boards
are on the floor, sides, tops, and seats; in short, all around you. The
backs are not slanted at all. You must sit bolt upright, or not sit at
all. Now and then, these vehicles have a thin leather on the seats--not
often.
Nothing can be more luxurious than a first class carriage. The floors
are nicely carpeted, the seats and backs are all stuffed; each seat is
a very nice easy chair. You can sleep in them almost as well as in a
bed; but these carriages are very expensive; and on this account many
of the gentry take those of the second class, hard as they are.
We arrived at Glasgow at eight o'clock in the evening, and were
unfortunate enough to have a driver to the vehicle we took, who did not
know where the Observatory was. We knew that it was three miles from
the city, and not much more. We were advised by a gentleman, who was in
the same railroad box with us, to take a noddy, or a minibus, to the
Observatory. What these things were, of course, we could only guess,
and we did not care much, so we could only get out of our wooden box.
We came to the conclusion that we could sympathize tolerably well with
poor Box Brown.
We, as we had been advised, took a noddy. A minibus is only a small
omnibus. A noddy is a contrivance that holds four, and has a door at
the end, and only one horse,--very like a Yankee cab.
Glasgow, as every one knows, is one of the greatest manufacturing
cities in the world. Before we arrived, we were astonished at the great
fires from the iron works in the environs; and, as the streets were
well lighted, our eyes were dazzled and delighted with the whole scene,
and we were so pleased with the comfort of our noddy, that we did not
at first feel troubled at the fact that neither our driver nor we knew
where Dr. Nichol's house was. Presently we foun
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