456 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 



comfort without the aid of the horn. I think ever)r 

 coachman will admit that at the sound of the horn, 

 cabbies and omnibus drivers, coachmen in and out 

 of livery, and every one who is driving any vehicle 

 whatsoever, as a rule promptly and civilly respond 

 to the request which the horn conveys that they 

 will make " way for the coach." But where the 

 guard is known to sound the horn without occasion, 

 like the cry of " Wolf, wolf," then drivers are not 

 so ready to respond to it. It must be remembered 

 that a gentleman's private coach, or even a public 

 coach, is not a travelling circus, and therefore it is 

 not necessary to proclaim the fact that you possess 

 a horn, and know how to blow it, more than is posi- 

 tively necessary. It is far more excusable on a public 

 coach than a private one ; but it must be remembered 

 that the very fact of making a loud noise by the 

 blowing: of a coach-horn calls immediate attention to 

 the existence of yourself and your coach. It is as 

 much as to say, " See what a smart coach I have, 

 and how well we can blow our horn ! " 



As regards tandem-driving, there is nothing more 

 pitiful than to see the use that is sometimes made 

 of a horn. It may be that you are walking along 

 a deserted high-road when you suddenly hear a dis- 

 cordant sound, resembling, as nearly as possible, the 

 groans of a dyspeptic cow. These sounds are well 

 calculated to turn all the milk in the neighbourhood 

 sour. From such a noise one naturally does not 

 expect any very imposing sight to follow, so that 

 one is not surprised, on lifting one's eyes, to 

 observe a very badly-turned-out tandem, with nothing 

 right about it, but everything wrong, and with every 

 indication of having been hired, at so much an hour^ 



