On, past the wonderfully out-of-place "Durham monument," a Grecian
temple on a naked hill among the coal-pits; on, with a double curve,
over the Wear, laden with its Rhine-like rafts; on, to grimy
Gateshead and smoky Newcastle, and, with a scream and a rattle, over
the wonderful High Level (then barely completed), looking down with a
sort of self-satisfied shudder upon the bridge, and the Tyne, and the
fleet of colliers, and the busy quays, and the quaint timber-built
houses with their overlapping storys, and picturesque black and white
gables. Then, on again, after a cool delay and brief release from
the black-hole; on, into Northumbrian ground, over the Wansbeck; past
Morpeth; by Warkworth, and its castle, and hermitage; over the Coquet
stream, beloved by the friends of gentle Izaak Walton; on, by the
sea-side - almost along the very sands - with the refreshing
sea-breeze, and the murmuring plash of the breakers - the Misses
Green giving way to childish delight at this their first glimpse of
the sea; on, over the Aln, and past Alnwick; and so on, still further
north, to a certain little station, which is the terminus of their
railway journey, and the signal of their deliverance from the
black-hole.
There, on the platform is Mr. Honeywood, looking hale and happy, and
delighted to receive his posse of visitors; and there, outside the
little station, is the carriage and dog-cart, and a spring-cart for
the luggage. Charles Larkyns takes possession of the dog-cart, in
company with Mary and Fanny Green, and little Mr. Bouncer; while Huz
and Buz, released from their weary imprisonment, caracole gracefully
around the vehicle. Mr. Honeywood takes the reins of his own
carriage; Mr. Verdant Green mounts the box beside him; Miss Bouncer
and Miss Helen Green take possession of the open interior of the
carriage; the spring-cart, with the servants and luggage, follows in
the rear; and off they go.
But, though the two blood-horses are by no means slow of
[226 ADVENTURES OF MR. VERDANT GREEN]
action, and do, in truth, gallop apace like fiery-footed steeds, yet
to Mr. Verdant Green's anxious mind they seem to make but slow
progress; and the magnificent country through which they pass offers
but slight charms for his abstracted thoughts; until (at last) they
come in sight of a broken mountain-range, and Mr. Honeywood, pointing
with his whip, exclaims, "Yon's the Cheevyuts, as they say in these
parts; there are the Cheviot Hills; and there, just where you see
that gleam of light on a white house among some trees - there is
Honeywood Hall."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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