word of the day: postilion

word: postilion

context:

[The intrepid rescuers] received all last instructions in the committee room [which was] an old carriage lamp … tossed down into the wine cellar by a long-ago postilion.

definition (Merriam-Webster): one who rides as a guide on the near horse of one of the pairs attached to a coach or post chaise especially without a coachman

Miss Bianca, Nils, and Bernard have been recruited by the Prisoners’ Aid Society to rescue a poet from the dungeon of The Black Castle. The Prisoners’ Aid Society consists entirely of mice. As you know, mice are intimately familiar with the unfortunate situation of prisoners, and, it seems, they have organized to help them. 

source:

The Rescuers

by Margery Sharp

1959. A Yearling Book / Dell Publishing, New York