THE LIFE OF A SPORTSMAN 



temper was not to be ruffled, although it was occasionally put 

 to the test, by a wheeler not working to please him ; he 

 descended rather a steep hill without having recourse to the 

 skid, and yet with very little pressure on the wheelers, and he 

 showed himself a judge of pace, by keeping his time to half a 

 minute, having allowed himself an hour and ten minutes to do 

 the twelve miles. 



At the change — the well-known ' Barley Mow ' — stood the 

 equally well-known Jem Powell, looking over the fresh team, 

 which were standing in readiness at the door, and he thus 

 saluted the party when they, pulled up : 



' Good-morning to ye, gentlemen ; I hope I sees you all 

 well. You have a fine morning for your drive ; I hopes we 

 shall find Sir Harry well. He is a worthy gentleman, and a 

 good friend to us coachmen ; and (looking at Sir John) here's 

 another of the same sort. I hears of you, Sir John, and 

 what you are doing for 'em on the north road. I am told you 

 have made some on 'em mend their ways already. And now 

 we are a-going to have another good gentleman amongst us 

 in these parts, and God be thanked for him — of course I 

 means the owner of these here horses ; but I arn't a-going to 

 say all I think on him before his face. And sure enougli 

 here is Mr. Hargrave and Mr. Webber. Why, Mr. Hargrave, I 

 haven't seen you since you was at Christchurch, when I tried 

 to make you a coachman, but you was terribly fond of 

 those hounds, there was no making nothing on you in our 

 line. As for the other gentlemen, I can't say as I knows 

 them.' 



' Then I'll introduce you to them,' said Frank Raby. ' This is 

 Mr. Houghton, here is Mr. Goodall, and here is Lord Edmonston ; 

 the two first-named gentlemen you must liave known before, 

 Jem, for they were at Oxford.' 



' No doubt, sir,' continued Jem, ' but not in our line. I 

 am glad, to see my Lord ; I likes to have a Lord about my 

 coach, it looks so respectable ; and we have as good a one as 

 any in England on our road, and a brother to one that the 

 world cannot beat. I believe, on my soul, that he don't give 

 away less than £400 a year to coachmen and guards, besides 

 having several of tliem occasionally at his house, when they 

 are sick.' 



' You mean the Hon. Thomas Kington,' said Jack Webber, 



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