394 THE COACHING AGE. 



it had been given to him; and lastly, that he had 

 never had it at ail. 



Much the same was it with the chain-trace, the 

 horsekeeper having probably sold it to some coachman 

 or guard going up or down the road, so that the 

 guard who originally owned it never saw it again. 



Sacks or hampers of game were sometimes carried 

 up on the mails at night, much to the profit of 

 the guard, in this way. When they were chang- 

 ing, he would tell the coachman to pull up at 

 the corner of the lane just three miles farther, on 

 the left side of the road ; and blowing the horn 

 would be the signal for the man with whom the 

 arrangement had been previously made, to be at 

 the corner of the lane with the hamper or sack with 

 direction attached — say, 'Mr. Smith, passenger to 

 London ;' the package was handed up, and the mail 

 was off again. The word ' passenger ' passed it as 

 passenger's luggage, and prevented any unpleasant 

 inquiries being made, and at a convenient place it was 

 taken off the mail before it stopped at the ofl&ce in 

 London for any of the passengers to get off with their 

 •luggage. 



A good deal of business was done in this mode 

 before the sale of game was legalized by Act of 

 Parliament, it being looked upon in the same light as 

 smuggling.. All right if you didn't get found out. 



