It took time, with the yard so full of vehicles and the stables so overcrowded, to get the great coach out and equipped; and Eustace suddenly resolved that he would at least make one of the party in it on its way through the streets. The hands of the clock were drawing rapidly on to the hour of four, and still the coach could not be got free of the yard. Then a messenger from the poll came tearing up with news of farther advances for Sir Roland, and some more congratulations and cheering had to be gone through, whilst the crowd, surging up closer and closer round the hotel, made egress for the moment practically impossible. Before the horses were in and the start accomplished, the clocks had boomed out the hour of four some ten minutes since; and as Eustace looked out through the window at the crowded state of the streets, and the threatening aspect of the operatives swarming round them, he wished they had cleared the precincts of the town some half-hour ago, but was very glad he was in the carriage. They had turned out of the main thoroughfare, where progress was almost impossible, on account of its proximity to the polling booth, and were making their way down a narrow alley, when a sudden sound of hooting and yelling broke upon their ears, and Eustace, trained to such things, detected a note of menace in it which he feared was directed against the well-known carriage of the Duke. This suspicion was heightened by the conduct of the coachman on the box, who suddenly lashed his horses into a mad gallop, as though the man felt that this was the only chance of getting through some barrier suddenly raised before them. This manœuvre was received with a howl and a yell. The next moment, the carriage lurched violently, the horses plunged and kicked in wild terror. Cries, groans, and curses arose in deafening tumult around the carriage, and Bride half started up, exclaiming-- “They are trampling down the people. Eustace, stop the horses! Tell the coachman to pull up! They must not hurt the people! See that they do not! See if any one is hurt!” There was no fear in her face, only a great compassion and anxiety. But before Eustace could make any move or answer, the horses had been brought to a standstill by the hands of the mob, and the wild and enraged people were yelling and surging round the carriage in a fashion which could not but remind all its occupants of scenes they had heard described as having taken place in France during the days of the uprising of the populace there.