THE SCRATCH TEAM. 337 



find any local musical talent adapted to his require- 

 ments ; and thus, as the hour for commencing the 

 entertainment drew near, he found he should most 

 likely have to get on as well as he could without 

 music, and that the success of the evening would 

 be entirely destroyed. 



Fortunately, however, for him, an accident hap- 

 pened to the down night-coach from London, close to 

 Saxmundham; the perch broke, and the coach was 

 quite unable to proceed. 



The guard, who was a good bugle-player, had to 

 wait in the town; so Benson, hearing of this, intro- 

 duced himself, and solicited his services with his 

 bugle, offering to remunerate him on his own terms. 

 The guard, while not unwilling to take a part, felt 

 rather diffident in presenting himself as the whole 

 of the orchestra, and inquired whether a performer on 

 some other instrument could not be procured to jbin 

 him — whether a harp, violin, or bass A^iol could not be 

 got ? But Benson related the endeavours he had been 

 making all day, and informed him of the impossibility 

 of procuring any second performer. 



Upon the two, accordingly, devolved the whole of 

 the evening's performances, the guard doing the in- 

 strumental and Benson the vocal and other parts. 



The audience were highly delighted throughout, 

 and the whole was a great success. It can't be said 



22 



