stillinterrogativelytoeach。Thenheguessesthatyoudon\'ttravelfasterinEngland；andonyourreplyingthatyoudo，says\'Yes？\'againstillinterrogatively，anditisquiteevident，don\'tbelieveit。Afteralongpauseheremarks，partlytoyou，andpartlytotheknobonthetopofhisstick，that\'Yankeesarereckonedtobeconsiderableofago-aheadpeopletoo；\'uponwhichYOUsay\'Yes，\'andthenHEsays\'Yes\'againaffirmativelythistime；anduponyourlookingoutofwindow，tellsyouthatbehindthathill，andsomethreemilesfromthenextstation，thereisaclevertowninasmartlo-ca-tion，whereheexpectsyouhaveconcludedtostop。Youranswerinthenegativenaturallyleadstomorequestionsinreferencetoyourintendedroutealwayspronouncedrout；andwhereveryouaregoing，youinvariablylearnthatyoucan\'tgettherewithoutimmensedifficultyanddanger，andthatallthegreatsightsaresomewhereelse。
Ifaladytakeafancytoanymalepassenger\'sseat，thegentlemanwhoaccompanieshergiveshimnoticeofthefact，andheimmediatelyvacatesitwithgreatpoliteness。Politicsaremuchdiscussed，soarebanks，soiscotton。QuietpeopleavoidthequestionofthePresidency，fortherewillbeanewelectioninthreeyearsandahalf，andpartyfeelingrunsveryhigh:thegreatconstitutionalfeatureofthisinstitutionbeing，thatdirectlytheacrimonyofthelastelectionisover，theacrimonyofthenextonebegins；whichisanunspeakablecomforttoallstrongpoliticiansandtrueloversoftheircountry:thatistosay，toninety-ninemenandboysoutofeveryninety-nineandaquarter。
Exceptwhenabranchroadjoinsthemainone，thereisseldommorethanonetrackofrails；sothattheroadisverynarrow，andtheview，wherethereisadeepcutting，bynomeansextensive。Whenthereisnot，thecharacterofthesceneryisalwaysthesame。
Mileaftermileofstuntedtrees:somehewndownbytheaxe，someblowndownbythewind，somehalffallenandrestingontheirneighbours，manymerelogshalfhiddenintheswamp，othersmoulderedawaytospongychips。Theverysoiloftheearthismadeupofminutefragmentssuchasthese；eachpoolofstagnantwaterhasitscrustofvegetablerottenness；oneverysidetherearetheboughs，andtrunks，andstumpsoftrees，ineverypossiblestageofdecay，decomposition，andneglect。Nowyouemergeforafewbriefminutesonanopencountry，glitteringwithsomebrightlakeorpool，broadasmanyanEnglishriver，butsosmallherethatitscarcelyhasaname；nowcatchhastyglimpsesofadistanttown，withitscleanwhitehousesandtheircoolpiazzas，itsprimNewEnglandchurchandschool-house；whenwhir-r-r-r!almostbeforeyouhaveseenthem，comesthesamedarkscreen:thestuntedtrees，thestumps，thelogs，thestagnantwater-allsolikethelastthatyouseemtohavebeentransportedbackagainbymagic。
Thetraincallsatstationsinthewoods，wherethewildimpossibilityofanybodyhavingthesmallestreasontogetout，isonlytobeequalledbytheapparentlydesperatehopelessnessoftherebeinganybodytogetin。Itrushesacrosstheturnpikeroad，wherethereisnogate，nopoliceman，nosignal:nothingbutaroughwoodenarch，onwhichispainted\'WHENTHEBELLRINGS，LOOK