124 .THE JERSEY COAST. 



" I was driving down the beach about a year after 

 she was lost, with my old j agger wagon, and a heavy 

 load on of groceries and stores of one kind or other. 

 It was about one o'clock at night, mighty cold, but 

 bright moonlight ; and I was coming along by the 

 corner of the fence, you know, just above Jackey's, 

 when the mare stopped short. Now, she was just 

 the best beast to drive you ever saw. I could drive 

 her into the bay or right over into the ocean, and 

 she was never skeered at anything. But this time, 

 she come right back in the shafts and began to trem- 

 ble all over ; I gave her a touch of the whip, and she 

 was just as full of spirit as a horse need be, but she 

 only reared up and snorted and trembled worse than 

 ever. So I knew something must be wrong, and 

 looked ahead pretty sharp ; and there, sure enough, 

 right across the road, lay a man. Jackey was a little 

 too fond of rum at that time, and I made up my 

 mind he had got drunk and tumbled down .on his 

 way home ; it was cold, and I didn't want to get 

 out of the wagon where I was nicely tucked in, and 

 thought I would drive round out of the road and 

 wake him up with my whip as I passed. I tried to 

 pull the mare off to one side to go by, but she only 

 reared and snorted and trembled, so that I was 

 afraid she would fall. She had a tender mouth, but 

 although I pulled my best I could not budge her ; 

 at last, getting mad, I laid the gad over her just as 

 hard as I could draw it. Instead of obeying the 

 rein, however, she plunged straight on, made a tre- 

 mendous leap over the body, and dragged the wagon 



