COACHMEN 63 



received so many complaints of his servant's incivilities 

 to the passengers, that he at length suspended him from 

 his duties by way of a salutary lesson. 



A coachman deprived of his box was a being intensely 

 wretched, and Spooner haunted the Angel Hotel at 

 Oxford, and increased his wretchedness by watching the 

 coaches start. At length Mr. Costar took pity on him, 

 and told him he might resume his duties, provided that 

 he could keep a still tongue in his head. 



Spooner determined to carry out this instrudlion 

 literally, for that night, though the box-passenger asked 

 many and repeated questions, not one word could he 

 get in reply. At length being considerably puzzled he 

 turned to the guard and inquired if the coachman was 

 deaf. 



" A little, sir," replied the guard who was in ecstasy, 

 wondering how long it would be before Spooner's 

 silence and temper alike gave out, when he looked for- 

 ward to the pleasure of seeing the gentleman curl up 

 under the lash of the coachman's tongue. 



The passenger asked a few more questions but with 

 no better result, so at last he desisted, and the night 

 passed in silence. With the dawn the gentleman resumed 

 his questioning, and, pointing to a country residence 

 asked to whom it belonged. As he received no answer he 

 repeated his question in a louder tone; finally, feeling 

 that the coachman was nothing like so deaf as he pre- 

 tended to be, he fairly shouted at him, and Spooner's 

 anger could no longer be restrained. 



"It's not mine," he roared in a rage, "nor yours or 



