140 • DRIVING AS I FOUND IT. 



the gray about lialf a yard in front of tlie other leader. 

 Nearly a T\'eek elapsed when I met a friend of mine who 

 had driven over from Saratoga, and I asked him if he 

 had seen or lieard anything about the four-in-hand. 

 Yes, he replied there was a party arrived in Saratoga the 

 day before I left driving a break and three horses, and 

 I heard it reported that he had lost his best horse on the 

 road — a gray one — who had (]ropi)ed dead. The party 

 were all sick and disgusted with tlieir trip and intended 

 to finish their journey by train. It was just as I ex- 

 pected. I am at a loss to understand why persons are so 

 foolhardy as to start out on a trip with four horses put 

 together by chance, not knowing the relative merits of 

 each horse, or what the amount of work he is capable 

 of doing, or has to do, besides being ignorant of the dis- 

 tance a horse can travel without tiring. 



I was once employed by a gentleman who had spent 

 no end of time and patience, in getting together four 

 very good goers, and few men could hold them together 

 better than he couhl. We were out on the road and he 

 overtook a friend also driving his team, who piqued him- 

 self on having fast ones. They had a few minutes' chat, 

 when to the latter gentleman's perfect astonishment, my 

 emi)loyer Avent away from him and the supposed fast 

 ones with perfec^t ease. We met an hour afterwards in 

 the park, and when they had come side by side, the same 



