194 THE POCKET AND THE STUD. 



more bring calls for cash that make it necessary to 

 abandon the Clarence, and somewhat decreases 

 the good-humour. Pa, however, must have some 

 means of locomotion, so he now gets a gig. This 

 he appropriately enough calls his " sulky;" but 

 next year a seventh blessing puts down the sulky, 

 brings on the sulks, and pa, striking his forehead 

 in despair, now cries, "God send me a hearse!" 

 For whom he invokes it, is best known to himself ; 

 but if it is not wanted for some one else, I strongly 

 recommend him to use it for himself: I should in 

 such a case. 



Before getting to this extremity, and while 

 keeping some other sort of carriage, let us look at 

 the pro and con as to keeping it and the horse or 

 horses at livery. Here the expediency of doing 

 so or not does not only arise from the considera- 

 tion of the horse, but as regards the man. If he 

 is wanted to wait at breakfast, and confine himself 

 the whole morning to the house, it is quite clear 

 he cannot have anything to do with the equipage. 

 If only wanted occasionally, then he can both 

 drive and take charge of it. So far as merely the 

 driving it goes, there can be nothing objectionable 

 in any man doing that ; but I must say I have 

 always considered it as extremely bad taste and a 

 very poor affectation to see a man in a footman's 

 livery carrying a tray about a drawingroom, 

 who we know was strapping at a horse some time 



