COACH PROPRIETORS. 173 



at the Castle when Cooper kept it ; and as the King 

 travelled in regal style, Cooper probably considered 

 that the bill should be made out on a scale corre- 

 sponding with the dignity of the traveller, for the 

 King, on seeing it, observed to some one with him : 

 ' Ah I this is something like a bill, made out in 

 a proper way for a king.' 



From this I presume that the other innkeepers 

 along the road were either unaware of the rank 

 of their royal guest, or fearful of incurring his dis- 

 pleasure and losing his patronage if their charges 

 were too high. 



Cooper, who was a shrewd man, seems to have hit 

 on what is sometimes called ' the most improved 

 plan.' 



He always aimed at expedition on the road, and 

 his stock direction to the persons he was posting 

 on, if they were in a hurry, was to tell the post-boys 

 how long they were to be doing the journey, and if 

 they did not do it in that time not to pay them ; 

 thus his stock got a deal of wear and tear. He gave 

 up the Castle and moved up to Thatcham, where he 

 bought the Cottage, pulled down some of the old 

 buildings, and erected stabling for a considerable 

 number of horses, the up and down day and night 

 coaches changing and stopping there for meals. 

 There was a painting of the Cottage on the doors of 



