FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE 



they looked west," and engineered by an aged re- 

 tainer whose livery was, in winter, the boss's cast- 

 ofF overcoat, and in summer one of his linen 

 dusters, while those really inclined to be devilish, 

 ornamented the beaver hat, which crowned the 

 whole, with a velvet band and a silver buckle ! 

 "With his " Galways " fluttering under his chin 

 and ears, and a rein clasped in each white cotton 

 gloved hand, these faded Jehus plodded solemnly 

 over the drives and through the parks, as thor- 

 oughly convinced that they were the "correct 

 thing " as were their complaisant employers. 

 These equipages, while they would hardly fill the 

 bill from latter-day standpoints, were thoroughly 

 American, generally useful and distinctly individ- 

 ual, as were the old-time carryalls, chaises, and 

 buggies which have never, for real comfort and 

 convenience, been improved upon. Were James 

 still in the flesh, and were the old bays yet jog- 

 ging about, think how easy it would be to find 

 them in line after the opera ; James's flamboyant 

 whiskers giving off their aeolian melodies, and 

 the bays, as handy as a yoke of oxen, monopo- 

 lizing the whole street ! As it is, Jones, Brown, 

 and Robinson are in dire distress to pick out 

 the family outfit, so dismally aUke do they all 



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