But hunger of a violent kind prevented any
unreasonable grumbling, and we fortified ourselves for a long night's
journey. Of course, when our dinner had digested, we thought of all the
horrors of midnight railway journeys, and remembered seeing the poor
Curate of St. Pancras after the same journey into Switzerland a year or
two ago. His head was plastered and bandaged, and he, poor fellow,
looked a sorry pickle after the burglary and attempted murder, but was
it not a splendid subject for a sermon when he found himself at
Chamounix and able to preach! And did he not profit by the unusual
opportunity! In thinking of this we each said our prayers quietly, when
we fancied the other was not looking, and towards midnight we wound up
our watches, which we understand are seldom remembered by travellers on
night journeys.
At this stage of the narrative it seems highly desirable to describe
ourselves, and we hasten to prove a total absence of any reluctance:
No. 1 is a slim youth just over twenty, with a delicate complexion and
curly hair, but whose digestion is atrocious, frequently causing his
normally amiable character to be tinged with viciousness, and
No. 2 is ten years older and the reverse of No. 1 in feature and figure,
and also (alas!) in disposition, being crotchety and irritable whenever
events turn out uncomfortably, as frequently happens when there are no
members of the fair sex near to make the passage through life's waters
smooth.
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