[AN OXFORD FRESHMAN 25]

the maid-servants peeped from the upper windows; and Miss Virginia
sobbed out a blessing, which was rendered of a striking and original
character by being mixed up with instructions never to forget what
she had taught him in his Latin grammar, and always to be careful to
guard against the toothache. And amid the good-byes and write-oftens
that usually accompany a departure, the carriage rolled down the
avenue to the lodge, where was Mr. Mole the gardener, and also Mrs.
Mole, and, moreover, the Mole olive-branches, all gathered at the
open gate to say farewell to the young master. And just as they were
about to mount the hill leading out of the village, who should be
there but the rector lying in wait for them and ready to walk up the
hill by their side, and say a few kindly words at parting. Well
might Mr. Verdant Green begin to regard himself as the topic of the
village, and think that going to Oxford was really an affair of some
importance.

They were in good time for the coach; and the ringing notes of the
guard's bugle made them aware of its approach some time before they
saw it rattling merrily along in its cloud of dust. What a sight it
was when it did come near! The cloud that had enveloped it was
discovered to be not dust only, but smoke from the cigars,
meerschaums, and short clay pipes of a full complement of gentlemen
passengers, scarcely one of whom seemed to have passed his twentieth
year. No bonnet betokening a female traveller could be seen either
inside or out; and that lady was indeed lucky who escaped being an
inside passenger on the following day. Nothing but a lapse of time,