THE SCRATCH TEAM. 347 



three times in succession as soon as he got up, when 

 he ran into the house and expressed his willingness 

 to do anything the captain wished rather than be 

 punished any more. The captain said he should not 

 go on with the coach until Bennett had apologized, 

 which he was only too ready to do, as advised by the 

 proprietor, to whom he had appealed for protec- 

 tion. 



One of the guards on this coach was the first 

 to take a newspaper containing the news of the 

 passing of the Eeform Bill into Leeds, where he sold 

 it for a guinea, and two others he sold in Nottingham 

 on his way down for ten shillings each, 



I think I have now started a scratch team of four 

 stories, which I can safely assert have never been 

 put together before. 



