Driving 127 



as tired as he did. In the same way the equestrian 

 of one idea has it always in working order, and, 

 refusing steadfastly to expand or modify it, can put 

 the man of much experience completely out of 

 court in many arguments. 



If Smith and Brown are obdurate, their better 

 halves are usually adamant in their absurd confi- 

 dence that what they do not know about a horse is 

 " not worth knowing." Their fathers always let 

 them drive, and the old gentlemen included among 

 their possessions steeds of large toleration and vast 

 experience with the vagaries of mankind, which were 

 as nearly automatic in the performance of their 

 duties as anything of flesh and blood can be. " Pop- 

 per " and " mommer '' and " all of us children " 

 invited locomotion by first jerking the reins, then 

 slapping both, or one, of them upon the animal's 

 back, and adding thereto various mystic sounds, such 

 as " crk-crk-crk-cl'k," pronounced very rapidly and 

 with much effort, if by feminine lips, or a 

 " Pw^-e-e-e-p." as if one had absorbed an over- 

 supply of that delectable sweetmeat known as 



