To this piece of intelligence Harry vouchsafed no further answer than a shrug of the shoulders, by which significant gesture he intended to telegraph to his wife his opinion as to the wisdom of trusting the young gentleman to his own sapient guidance amidst the shoals and quicksands of a London season. At this period the dragon, which had been drawing the train very quietly and peacefully, suddenly gave a prolonged scream (by courtesy termed a whistle), panted violently, hissed a good deal, and having by these manœuvres “blown off” its superfluous steam, it kindly postponed bursting for a short time, and condescended obligingly to stop at the Tearem and Smashingly Junction, without demanding any immediate sacrifice of human life. Coverdale and Lord Alfred instantly jumped out (although perfectly aware that they should be obliged to jump in again at the expiration of three minutes and a quarter), and, after the fashion of impatient male humanity, which, as Harry somewhat paradoxically observed, “Cannot stand sitting,” began stamping up and down the platform as though a legion of black-beetles, or some such entymological freebooters, had crept up their trousers’ legs, and they were striving to dislodge them. Some operation, however, which was going on under one of those queer kind of sheds peculiar to railway-stations, which give one an idea of a child’s toy magnified, attracted their attention, and caused them to discontinue their amusement. After gazing earnestly for a few seconds, Harry exclaimed,-- “They’ll never do it so, never! There, do you see, he’s standing right before him, dragging at his head, and yet expects the poor animal to go on; the man must be an idiot! Yes, of course, hit the poor thing for your own fault, and frighten him, so that you’ll be able to do nothing with him. Ah! I thought so; they’ll have an accident directly, the fools! as if there wasn’t a quiet manner of doing these things. Hold my great coat, Alfred; I shall be back in two seconds.” And suiting the action to the word, he tossed his coat to his companion and ran off. “Where _has_ he gone to?” inquired Alice, disconsolately, from the window of the railway-carriage. “To assist a stupid groom to put a very fine horse into one of the horse-boxes,” was the reply. “He said he should be back in a minute.” “Now, gentlemen, take your places; the train’s going to start--take your places,” vociferated an individual, who looked like a very oddly-dressed soldier, but who was the railway-guard. “Oh! where can he be? We shall start without him!” exclaimed Alice in dismay. “I’ll go and look for him,” rejoined Lord Alfred, good-naturedly. “If you would be so very kind,” returned Alice, her lovely eyes sparkling with gratitude. “Better not, sir; only lose your own place, without finding the gent--train’s agoin’ to start. I must shut the door,” grumbled a cynical porter.