257 



DID YOU EVER DRIVE A JIBBER 

 DOWN TO A FIGHT? 



Reader, have you ever driven a jibbing horse ? The chances are 

 that you have. Well, is not it pleasant ? — especially if you have a 

 woman by your side, and the horse goes through the performance, 

 as he generally does, in a crowded thoroughfare or in the market 

 square of a country town, when the footpaths are thronged with 

 passengers. I have always remarked that a rank jibber, as if proud 

 of his accomplishments, invariably chooses a place for the display of 

 the pantomime where there are plenty of spectators j and on this 

 account, jibbing, although one of the most annoying, is perhaps one 

 of the least dangerous of aU vices, for assistance is nearly always at 

 hand, and there appear to be in every town a particular class of 

 men who are always on the look-out to assist on such occasions. 

 Where they come from it would be hard to say. You scarcely ever 

 see them about the streets 3 but so sure as a mishap of any kind 

 happens with a horse, three or four baggy-breeched fellows, gene- 

 rally bareheaded, with gaiters buttoned up in front, and long-sleeved 

 waistcoats, are on the spot in an instant; and while the eager 

 spectators stand gazing at a respectful distance — everyone suggesting 

 some plan of relief, which not one of them has either the skill o; 

 pluck to execute — these fellows push their way through the crowd, 

 pounce on the horse at once, as if he was their pecuhar prey, and, 

 no matter what the nature of the accident, go to work to set 

 things right, with a coolness and dexterity perfectly marvellous. 

 You will see such fellows hanging about stable-yards, and you are 

 sure to meet with them at the taps of coaching inns j but you 

 rarely see them beyond the precincts of the yard itself, save on 

 occasicuis like tliose above mentioned, or else when a brake turns 



