Chapter II. 



THE COACHING DAYS. 



Jjg^EFERRING to '^ Thistle Whipper's " love 

 of a horse deal, and the journeys he used 

 to take me to various noted horse fairs in the 

 country, brings many recollections to my mind 

 of those old-fashioned coaching days. The 

 '^ Good old Days " I have often heard them 

 called, and in spite of what many a modern 

 demagogue says about life's improvements in 

 these days, I think there is much we have lost 

 from that old life which we can honestly 

 regret. I am not going to touch upon politics, 

 because everybody about here knows me as a 

 *' Good old Tory " ; but for many other reasons 

 I often wish that some of the characteristics 

 which marked our forefathers in those stirring 

 days — when men were men — were to be more 

 frequently met with now. 



