stronger language, over the delay and the terrible jolting of the
conveyance.

In addition to those penned up inside, there were two passengers
positioned on top, to the rear of the driver, where they clung to the
trunk railings to keep from being jostled off.

One was an elderly man, tall in stature and noticeably portly, with a
florid countenance, cold gray eyes, and hair and beard of brown,
freely mixed with silvery threads. He was elegantly attired, his
costume being of the finest cloth and of the very latest cut: boots
patent leathers, and hat glossy as a mirror; diamonds gleamed and
sparkled on his immaculate shirt-bosom, on his fingers and from the
seal of a heavy gold chain across his vest front.

The other personage was a counterpart of the first to every
particular, save that while one was more than a semi-centenarian to
years, the other was barely twenty. The same faultless elegance in
dress, the same elaborate display of jewels, and the same haughty,
aristocratic bearing produced in one was mirrored to the other.

They were father and son.

"Confound such a road!" growled the younger man, as the stage bounced
him about like a rubber ball. "For my part I wish I had remained at
home, instead of coming out into this outlandish region. It is
perfectly awful."

"Y-y-y-e-s!" chattered the elder between the jolts and jerks--"it is
not what it should be, that's true. But have patience; ere long we