never hear it again. Barnet could form no idea of it; Bishop himself would have been astounded; Lee would have kept on the weather side of such a band; and even the apollonicon of Flight and Robson, which contains the sound of every instrument, could hardly have produced such sounds as those. In goodly sooth, they were a noisy group, and I blessed my fortunate stars as soon as I got out of hearing of their clatter; nevertheless, they had sleek skins and glossy, and might have merited more than some of our modern sages the appellation of "shining lights in a dark generation." It was now getting late, and we therefore returned to the great house, where we partook of a luncheon which the ladies had prepared for us, with their usual kindness: our hospitable friends even pressed us to dine with them again; this we, however, refused; and after expressing our high sense of their kind attentions, we took our departure for, and after an oppressive ride, arrived without further accident, in the homes, not of our worthy and important ancestors, kind reader, but of our still more worthy and important selves. |