Time Traveler
I hire a hansom cab and tour greater London. We pass through Mayfair, which is just being developed as a haven for the wealthiest citizens. The homes here are massive and the architecture is beautiful. Then we continue on to Tyburn where a crowd is gathering. The driver tells me, "Here's a fine bit o entertainment, guv'nor." I climb up onto his seat to get a better view. I am shocked to see a gallows. On it is a man the driver identifies as Jonathan Wild, "thief-Taker General." It seems he was a criminal gang leader who posed as a crime-fighter, turning in his rivals to the police and often returning for a reward things he or his gang members had stolen themselves. It is gruesome to watch but he is hanged before my eyes. The crowd erupts with cheers. I am getting my nitty-gritty history lesson today.
We pass by Grosvenor Square and Marlborough House and the London Bridge. Traffic is now required to drive on the left, the cab driver explains, a recently enacted law. As we pass by the Tower of London I shudder at the thought of being imprisoned there. Only one American ever was, or I should say will be, since it will happen in about fifty years. That will be Henry Laurens, a member of the Continental Congress. He will one day be exchanged for General Cornwallis.
At the end of the tour I pay the driver ten guineas, a generous sum, and set my time machine for 1580.
We pass by Grosvenor Square and Marlborough House and the London Bridge. Traffic is now required to drive on the left, the cab driver explains, a recently enacted law. As we pass by the Tower of London I shudder at the thought of being imprisoned there. Only one American ever was, or I should say will be, since it will happen in about fifty years. That will be Henry Laurens, a member of the Continental Congress. He will one day be exchanged for General Cornwallis.
At the end of the tour I pay the driver ten guineas, a generous sum, and set my time machine for 1580.