84 THE COACHING ERA 



shortly after having occasion to send ;^5oo they entrusted 

 it to one of their clerks. He did not appear to be over- 

 whelmed with the responsibility, for he dismounted from 

 the coach at one of the changes, and it went on without 

 him. Soon after the guard heard the noise of furious 

 galloping, and the banker's clerk, white with fright, 

 dashed up on one of the leaders of the last stage with its 

 reins and traces still on. 



"Where is my parcel?" gasped the clerk. 



The guard disclaimed any knowledge of it, and the 

 terrified clerk scrambled on to the roof of the coach 

 in search of it, and to his intense relief discovered the bag 

 hanging on the rail of the coach, from which it would 

 have fallen in a few moments. 



The guards were exposed to all weathers, but by 

 enveloping themselves in an extensive colledtion of coats 

 and waterproofs they managed to keep fairly dry them- 

 selves, but what annoyed them greatly was the fact 

 that the rain made their seat on the coach wet and 

 uncomfortable. William Bayzand, being of an ingenious 

 turn of mind, had a bright idea; he purchased a gridiron, 

 removed the hands, fixed it on his seat and strapped the 

 cushions on the top. By this means he was able to keep 

 his seat dry and comfortable, and the other guards from 

 the Bolt-in-Tun and Bull-in-Mouth yards adopted his 

 plan, and in honour of the inventor named it the 

 Mazeppa patent. 



