GUARDS 79 



London, they were no sooner free from the metropolis 

 than they drew forth their cherished key-bugles and 

 commenced to play such classic airs as "The Flaxen- 

 headed Ploughboy," "Cherry Ripe," "Oh, Nanny!" 

 "Oh, dear, what can the matter be?" to their own 

 inexpressible satisfadlion. 



Benson of the Union was a noted performer on the 

 key-bugle, which served him in good stead one day 

 when the coach broke down at Saxmundham. It hap- 

 pened that a conjurer about to give an entertainment was 

 at a loss to provide the music with which to distract the 

 attention of his audience whilst he performed various 

 necessary adjustments for the successful performance 

 of his tricks. He therefore came to Benson with the 

 request that he would come and bring his key-bugle and 

 supply the place of orchestra. Benson agreed, and the 

 entertainment was a complete success. 



Benson was also a clever ventriloquist, and once 

 exercised his power for the mystification of two gentle- 

 men. The coach was waiting at the Peacock Inn, 

 Islington, when a gig with a dog tied beneath it drove 

 by. Suddenly the air was filled with the most hideous 

 sounds of a dog yapping and howling in the extremity of 

 pain. The gentlemen supposing they had run over the 

 animal jumped out of the gig, and were considerably 

 surprised to find the dog blandly unconscious of anything 

 untoward. They resumed their places in the gig, but 

 scarcely had the horse started when the melancholy 

 howls were renewed, and they again dismounted. The 

 dog wagged his tail, and the shouts of the onlookers 



