FOUR-IN-HAND DRIVING 135 



were pulling- hard and going- a bit faster than 

 they should through the streets of a county 

 town. Coming round a corner, the coachman 

 found a hay-cart right in the middle of the 

 road, or it may be, if anything, rather hanging 

 to the off side. There was no time to pull up, 

 the carter had never heard the horn, so the 

 driver — it was an amateur this time — pulled 

 his leaders on to. the pavement, where they 

 slithered and stumbled but kept their feet, 

 followed by the off wheeler and the off wheels, 

 and the coach just got past in safety by the 

 exercise of nerve, promptness, and strength. 

 Yet a third instance of the same kind may be 

 interestincr, as showinor the line of action to be 

 pursued under somewhat different but at the 

 same time perilous circumstances. The team 

 was the same, the off leader being a hard 

 puller, and always driven with a side rein. 

 Just on the top of a hill, which sloped under 

 a railway arch but luckily went up a sharp 

 ascent the other side, the coach met a runaway 

 carriage. In order to avoid a collision the 

 coachman had to swing away sharply to the 

 near side, and he just shaved the ditch and got 

 past. But his team, startled by the rattle of the 

 runaway, bolted and set off racing down the 

 slope. " Steer them if you can. Don't pull 

 them," was the counsel of the professional 



