360 ANNALS OF THE ROAD. 



as I mean to swallow you! This, however, was not 

 altogether without an excuse, as it happened on a 

 Company's coach, where coachmen are not allowed to 

 kick, and there is no way ol getting an odd shilling on a 

 cold night. This bubble, however, I believe has burst, 

 and there are not many Company's coaches now to be 

 seen. 



To prove how much a thing of course shouldering 

 was fifteen years ago, I have only to relate the following 

 fact. I was on the box of one coach, when we met another. 

 ' That is little Billy Burton,' said I, ' is it not ? ' — ' Yes, 

 d — n him,' said my brother whip ; ' I wish he would 

 break his neck, for the little d — d rascal will spoil our 

 road.' — ' What has he been doing ?' I asked. — ' What! ' 

 replied coachee ; ' why, he books every shilling ; our road 

 will be worth nothing in a short time.' — ' A new-fashioned 

 sort of little d — d rascal,' said I. 



Some coachmen remain for many years on the same 

 coach : though, generally speaking, I think they are too 

 much given to change. Long service denotes good 

 conduct, good conduct ensures respect, and respect 

 generally carries with it corresponding advantages. For 

 instance — if a man is in the habit of travelling by any 

 particular coach, and finds the same coachman always 

 upon it, he begins to consider him in the light of an old 

 acquaintance, and instead of one shilling naturally gives 

 him two. Not only this ; but if he wants a little business 

 done up the road, he can depend on his old acquaintance, 

 and pays him accordingly. Chester Billy has been above 

 thirty years on his coach. Dan Herbert was much 



