A DAY'S DRIVE IN THREE STATES 31 



driver in despairing tones ; and all our trib- 

 ulations were begun over again. 



From this point there was only one way 

 of getting on, and that at a snail's pace and 

 with continual interruptions. The passenger 

 took the reins, and the driver walked behind 

 with his whip, and so, using as much kind- 

 ness as might be, forced the unwilling horse 

 to follow. Even that cruel resource threat- 

 ened before long to fail us ; for it began to 

 look as if the unsteady creature would drop 

 in his tracks. There it was, as I now sus- 

 pect, that he played his best card. " You 

 must leave him at the next house, if there is 

 another," I said. " Yes, there is another," 

 the driver answered, " and only one." We 

 came to it presently, a cabin far below us 

 in a deep, wood-encircled valley, out of which 

 rose pleasant evening sounds of a banjo and 

 singing. The driver lifted his voice, and a 

 woman appeared upon the piazza. The man 

 of the house was not at home, she said ; but 

 the driver took down the Virginia fence, and 

 with much patient coaxing and pulling got 

 the horse down the long, steep slope and into 

 a shed. Then, leaving word for him to be 

 fed and cared for, he climbed back to the 



