226 THE MERRY GEE-GEE 



winners, and so on, and dined wisely and 

 well at the Station Hotel, where we 

 stayed, spending the evening in the 

 usual convivial way — big cigars and the 

 finest brands of wine or liquor, as the case 

 might be. We strolled outside just 

 before midnight to have a cooler, and 

 there espied a big four-wheel Post Office 

 dray, waiting for the midnight mails. 

 "Who'd like a drive ? '* somebody said. In 

 a twinkling we were all up, me postillion, 

 riding the horse, and my legs hanging 

 over the shafts. My word ! the stones 

 rattled and the policemen's whistles blew 

 as we galloped full tilt all round York 

 city, and kept on holloaing imaginary 

 hounds out of cover. We left the dray 

 somewhere after a while, and skedaddled, 

 to escape being locked up, as we de- 

 served. The Post Office officials found 

 their dray again somehow, as I've often 

 seen it outside York Station since, and 



