COACHIXG MISADVENTURES. 147 



listen from time to time, but no answer came back 

 to them ; or if it did, it was lost in the louder voices 

 of the storm. It was not till early dawn that the 

 half-buried coach was discovered, wreathed round with 

 deep snow-drifts. At once a loud cry was raised as 

 the relieving party hurried forward, but there was no 

 response. The poor guard and helpless horses were 

 frozen to death. 



" So the good old days of coach travel had their 

 dark side, a very dark one sometimes. Exhilarating 

 as driving across country was in fine weather, behind 

 a fast- galloping team, with the many varying incidents 

 of the road, and the coachman's ready jokes and racy 

 anecdotes to enliven the journey, it must be remem- 

 bered it was not always summer or fair weather. 



" Such legends and stories of the old coaching days 

 still abound, and may be picked up by the traveller by 

 road at the many ancient hostelries which yet remain 

 dotted over our forsaken highways. These have 

 been handed down from sire to son, losing possibly in 

 accuracy by each succession of tellers. The days must 

 come when these traditions will altogether cease, or 

 become so fabled and blended with romance as to be 

 of little value." 



The same writer says : " Some distance from Char- 

 mouth, at the highest point of the road, we entered a 

 tunnel cut through the crest of the hill. This was the 

 iirst we had passed through during our lengthened 

 drives about Great Britain ; indeed, we had till then no 

 idea such a thing existed on the ordinary roads ; we 

 thought they were confined to the railways. Plenty of 

 cuttings there are of course (but not tunnels), some 

 both extensive and deep, such as the long one ex- 

 cavated through the chalk downs just the other side 



L 2 



