He was not past the middle age, but his hair was grey; it seemed to have been prematurely turned by care or sorrow.

He readily acceded to the proposal, and appeared to be prepossessed by the frank good-nature of the individual from whom it emanated.
This latter personage took upon himself the office of tapster when the punch was ready, and after dispensing it all round, led the conversation to the antiquities of York, with which both he and the grey-haired gentleman appeared to be well acquainted.

When this topic flagged, he turned with a smile to the grey-headed gentleman, and asked if he could sing.
'I cannot indeed,' replied gentleman, smiling in his turn.
'That's a pity,' said the owner of the good-humoured countenance.

'Is there nobody here who can sing a song to lighten the time ?' The passengers, one and all, protested that they could not; that they wished they could; that they couldn't remember the words of anything without the book; and so forth.
'Perhaps the lady would not object,' said the president with great respect, and a merry twinkle in his eye.

'Some little Italian thing out of the last opera brought out in town, would be most acceptable I am sure.' As the lady condescended to make no reply, but tossed her head contemptuously, and murmured some further expression of surprise regarding the absence of the green chariot, one or two voices urged upon the president himself, the propriety of making an attempt for the general benefit.
'I would if I could,' said he of the good-tempered face; 'for I hold that in this, as in all other cases where people who are strangers to each other are thrown unexpectedly together, they should endeavour to render themselves as pleasant, for the joint sake of the little community, as possible.' 'I wish the maxim were more generally acted on, in all cases,' said the grey-headed gentleman.
'I'm glad to hear it,' returned the other.