J7] 



CHAPTER X. 



T ONCE heard a man say that some of his 

 -•■- pleasantest acquaintances were people he 

 had picked up on stao;e-coaches ; but I cannot 

 say " ditto" to that. He must either have 

 been singularly fortunate in his companions, or 

 singularly unfortunate in his general acquaint- 

 ances. A coaching acquaintance seldom — I 

 should imagine — never ripened into intimacy ; 

 seldom, indeed, survived the occurrence that 

 produced it. Had the above authority included 

 stage-coachmen, to a certain degree I would 

 have indorsed his opinion ; for, in bygone days, 

 I have sat beside many agreeable dragsmen ; 

 and, from the time that the heavy coach gave 

 way to the fast one, there has been a wonder- 

 ful improvement in the coachmen. The driver 

 was formerly a man of enormous bulk, with a 



