190 COACHING. 



neck and high in the bone, accoutred with a 

 pair of saddle-bags, his twanging horn an- 

 nouncing him to be the suburban postman, 

 the 



" Herald of a noisy world ; 

 News from all nations lumbering at his back." 



The hand of the clock is on the stroke of four, 

 and, although no carriage is within sight, the 

 collector is at his post, change and ticket in 

 hand ; within a few seconds a phaeton, with 

 " harnessed meteors" flashes throug^h the grate. 

 The words " ticket," " all right," have passed 

 more quickly than I can write them. That is the 

 carriage of some gentleman who possesses a villa 

 at Richmond, and whose avocations call him to 

 town twice a week. 



" That's a regular gentleman," says the pike; 

 " quite a timekeeper, no need of a w^atch the 

 day he passes, and he always stands a turkey 

 at Christmas." 



Next comes a hearse with numerous mourn- 

 ing-coaches, returning from all the pride and 

 pomp of a funeral pageant. What a contrast 

 now to the last time the procession passed the 

 grate ! Then the tears of a widowed wife, the 

 sobs of a bereaved daughter, might be heard ; 



