Presently we passed what appeared to be an old castle.
We could now only walk very slowly, or at a speed that my musical
brother described as about equivalent to the "Dead March in Saul," and
at seven o'clock in the morning reached the entrance to the town of
Banbury, exciting considerable curiosity among the men we met on the way
to their work in the country.
We called at the first respectable-looking inn that we came to, where
the mistress informed us we could not have two beds, "as the other
people hadn't got up yet," but a gentleman who had to leave early was
just getting up now, and we "could have his bed if we liked." We were
glad to accept the offer lest in going farther we might fare worse. We
could hear the gentleman's heavy footsteps on the floor above our heads,
and as soon as the room was prepared we got into the bed he had vacated,
which was still quite warm, extremely thankful to get in anywhere, and
in spite of the noises usual in inns on Saturday morning we "slept like
bricks" until eleven o'clock, the hour arranged for our "call."
(_Distance walked forty-two and a half miles_.)
_Saturday, November 4th._
[Illustration: EDGE HILL.
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