CH. XIV GETTING DOWN 327 



halt, of the brake-handle over the teeth of the 

 rack, is enough to set those of a coaching man on 

 edge. 



Getting Down. — After the coach has come to 

 rest, the brake should be put on very quietly and as 

 hard as possible (see discussion of this, further on), 

 and the coachman, shifting his reins to the right 

 hand, in which he retains his whip, should get down 

 immediately, in exactly the reverse way from that in 

 which he got up. He tucks his reins, all kept closely 

 together, into the tug-buckle bearer, in the manner 

 shown in Fig. 127, and lays his whip across the 

 backs of the wheelers behind the pads. 



He should get down immediately, because there is 

 nothing more for him to do on the box, and because 

 the head groom, or the guard, has to wait for him 

 to do so, before putting up the ladder for the pas- 

 sengers to descend. On a public-coach, the profes- 

 sional coachman who is to drive away from the 

 office, should be standing at the wheelers' off side 

 as the coach comes up and receive the reins and 

 whip from the person who has been driving, but the 

 horse-keeper should not do so ; he ought to be at 

 the wheelers' heads. With a private coach, if the 

 head coachman has come from the stable to drive 

 the coach away, it is he who receives the reins and 

 whip, and, keeping them in his hand, mounts the 

 box as soon as the people are all off the coach. 

 If the head coachman has been on the coach, or is 



