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Two other passengers, besides the one, were plodding up the hill

by the side of the mail. All three were wrapped to the cheekbones

and over the ears, and wore jack-boots. Not one of the three

could have said, from anything he saw, what either of the other

two was like; and each was hidden under almost as many wrappers

from the eyes of the mind, as from the eyes of the body, of his

two companions. In those days, travellers were very shy of being

confidential on a short notice, for anybody on the road might be

a robber or in league with robbers. As to the latter, when every

posting-house and ale-house could produce somebody in "the

Captain's" pay, ranging from the landlord to the lowest stable

non-descript, it was the likeliest thing upon the cards.