58 COACHING. 



both windows up, I'm sadly troubled witli a 

 cough." 



At this moment, " All right, sit fast !" was 

 heard; and the "Defiance" rattled away, best 

 pace, drowning the voices of the astonished 

 Oxonians. 



"Nimrod" tells a good story of the Shrews- 

 bury and Chester " Highflyer," which started 

 at eight o'clock in the morning and arrived 

 at Chester about the same time in the even- 

 ing — distance forty miles. This was always 

 a good hard road for wheels, and rather 

 favourable for draught; and how, then, could 

 all these hours be accounted for? 



" Why, if a commercial gentleman had a 

 little business at Ellesmere there was plenty of 

 time for that. If a real gentleman wanted to 

 pay a morning visit on the road, there could 

 be no objection to that. In the pork-pie season 

 half an hour was generally occupied in consum- 

 ing one of them, for Mr. Williams, the coach- 

 man, was a wonderful favourite with the 

 farmers' wives and daughters all along the 

 road. 



" The coach dined at Wrexham, and Wrex- 

 ham Church was to be seen — a fine specimen 

 of the florid Gothic, and one of the wonders 



