184 



COACHING. 



hands or gloves. The suburban was generally 

 " wide awake" to everyone and everything. 

 He might be seen in his easy-chair before 

 the door of his contracted space — his smart, 

 white-painted " box " — smoking a mild havan- 

 nah, which the kindness of some sporting 

 passer-by had presented him with, making- 

 remarks on passing events ; and when none 

 occurred he would take part in a duet with 

 his blackbird, whose wicker cage hung by his 

 side, and whistle for want of thought. 



His costume was neat ; he was ever on 

 the qui mve ; his mottoes were " Xo trust," 

 " Toujours pay, toujours 2)ret.'^ When, like one 

 of Macheath's gang, he heard " the sound of 

 coaches," his cigar was laid aside, a ticket 

 taken from a neatly-arranged file, when he 

 exclaimed " Twopence !" then, twirling the 

 shilling he had received on his thumb-nail, 

 dived into the multitudinous pockets of his 

 white apron, handing out a sixpence and a 

 fourpenny-piece to the nobility, and ten- 

 pennyworth of " browns " to the mobility. 

 And what a field he had for contempla- 

 tion ! 



High life and low life, the Eoyal cortege, 

 the thoroughbred team, the barouche and four, 



