CH. XIX GUARD S DUTIES 45 I 



where it stops, it is convenient to have the guard 

 drive well enough to take the coach to its stable 

 and bring it back again, and guards who know 

 anything about horses are glad to get that much 

 practice. 



The guard must be able to blow the horn well, 

 not producing those melancholy sounds sometimes 

 heard. To do this requires good instruction and 

 much practice. The calls are given in the Chapter 

 on 'The Horn,' and the proper ones should be 

 blown at the changes and stopping ; as to this, 

 guards are frequently careless. As a rule, the 

 guard can sound a call better when standing in 

 his place on the hind boot, holding to the strap 

 fastened, for that purpose, to the roof-seat. 



In the country, the horn should be used to ask 

 for the road, of vehicles going in either direction, 

 and also, according to the taste of the proprietor, 

 to enliven the journey. Guards are apt to give 

 too much horn ; it interferes unpleasantly with con- 

 versation on the coach. In a city it should be used 

 with judgement, and the calls needed to warn other 

 vehicles should be short, of a few notes only. The 

 horn is a great help to driving in a crowded street ; 

 but its use should not be abused ; it is particularly 

 annoying to other persons driving, when suddenly 

 blown, in passing, so close to a horse as to alarm 

 him. It is the duty of the proprietor to see that 

 the guard does not thoughtlessly commit this fault. 

 In driving through small towns, there is no objec- 



