124 THE JERSEY COAST. 
“JT was driving down the beach about a year after 
she was lost, with my old jagger wagon, and a heavy 
load on of groceries and stores of one kind or other. 
It was about one o’clock at night, mighty cold, but 
bright moonlight ; and I was coming along by the 
corner of the fence, you know, just above Jackey’s, 
when the mare stopped short. Now, she was just 
the best beast to drive you ever saw. I could drive 
her into the bay or right over into the ocean; and 
she was never skeered at anything. But this time, 
she come right back in the shafts and began to trem- 
ble all over; I gave her a touch of the whip, and she 
was just as full of spirit as a horse need be, but she 
only reared up and snorted and trembled worse than 
ever. Sol knew something must be wrong, and 
looked ahead pretty sharp; and there, sure enough, 
right across the road, layaman. Jackey was alittle 
too fond of rum at that time, and I made up my 
mind he had got drunk and tumbled down on his 
way home; it was cold, and I didn’t want to get 
out of the wagon where I was nicely tucked in, and 
thought I would drive round out of the road and 
wake him up with my whip as I passed. I tried to 
pull the mare off to one side to go by, but she only 
reared and snorted and trembled, so that I was 
afraid she would fall. She had a tender mouth, but 
although I pulled my best I could not budge her ; 
at last, getting mad, I laid the gad over her just as 
hard as I could draw it. Instead of obeying the 
rein, however, she plunged straight on, made a tre- 
mendous leap over the body, and dragged the wagon 
