THE POST OFFICE. 247 



inside and three out ; if the coach is to travel two or 

 three days in the week with only two, it reduces 

 the earnings so that they are not worth our notice. 

 Besides, the hours in the mail-coach business are 

 generally very awkward ; the coaches leave London 

 in the evening, and the same returning. The hundred 

 miles from London is sure to be night-work during 

 the winter.' Or : 'If we had an opportunity- of 

 carrying one more, what a help it would be to us, if 

 only for two or three days a week !' 



On the other hand, there was the difficulty of the 

 extra luggage of the additional passenger to be met, 

 there being little room under any circumstances for 

 passengers' luggage on the mails. The guard, mono- 

 polized the whole of the hind-boot for his letter-bags, 

 and also put some large sacks up on the top when 

 the boot was not large enough to take all his Post- 

 Office packages. A considerable part of the front- 

 boot was wanted by the coachman for his parcels, 

 which, although not very large, from the number 

 of them necessarily occupied a good deal of room ; 

 thus the available space for a small portmanteau only 

 for each passenger was pretty well absorbed, and it 

 frequently happened when the mails were being loaded 

 in the General Post-Office yard at St. Martin's le 

 Grand, with only the luggage of the four inside and 

 three outside passengers, they had a good deal of 



