io6 THE COACHING ERA 



As a matter of fadl the coach proprietors were per- 

 fectly cognizant of the fa6l that coachmen and guards 

 were in the habit of sharing the short fares between 

 them, and, except when the matter was carried to 

 exorbitant lengths, they found it good poHcy to ignore 

 it, so that ChapHn meant to imply that his coachmen 

 might shoulder in moderation, but were not to do it 

 so flagrantly that he would be obliged to take notice 

 of it. 



"What have you got in the boot, guard?" inquired the 

 proprietor of a northern coach whose suspicions had been 

 aroused. "Only a couple of guinea-pigs, sir," replied the 

 guard, climbing up into his place as the coachman 

 made a hasty start. "Stop!" called the proprietor, "I 

 have never seen a guinea-pig." He opened the boot, and 

 beheld, not a couple of small rodents, but two soldiers, 

 ineffe6lually trying to hide themselves under the straw. 

 "Well, they are two beauties," said the proprietor. 

 "Where did you bring them from, guard?" The em- 

 barrassed guard named the place, and the proprietor 

 entered the names of the "guinea-pigs" on the way-bill. 

 The guard did not wish to see them there, neither did 

 the coachman, for they had intended to pocket the fares 

 between them. 



Chaplin horsed fourteen of the mails out of town, and 

 his best known coaches were The Liverpool Red Rover, 

 The Machester Defiance, and the famous Tantivy in 

 praise of which the Hon. R. E. Egerton-Warburton 

 wrote the following song: 



