Rural Holidays. IOI 
noble neck, the hoofs planted with sturdy pride of 
strength, the polished brass of the harness glittering, 
and the bells merrily jingling! The carter, the thong 
of his whip nodding over his shoulder, walks by the 
shaft, his boy ahead by the leader, as proud of his 
team as the sailor of his craft: even the whip is 
not to be lightly come by, but is chosen carefully, 
bound about with rows of brazen rings; neither 
could you or I knot the whipcord on to his satisfac- 
tion. 
For there is a certain art even in so small a thing, 
not to be learned without time and practice ; and his 
pride in whip, harness, and team is surely preferable 
to the indifference of a stranger, caring for nothing 
but his money at the end of the week. The modern 
system—men coming one day and gone the next— 
leaves no room for the growth of such feelings, and 
the art and mystery of the craft loses its charm. The 
harness bells, too, are disappearing ; hardly one team 
in twenty carries them now. 
Those who labour in the fields seem to have far 
fewer holidays than the workers in towns. The 
latter issue from factory and warehouse at Easter, 
and rush gladly into the country: at Whitsuntide, 
too, they enjoy another recess. But the farmer and 
the labourer work on much the same, the closing of 
banks and factories in no way interfering with the 
tilling of the earth or the tending of cattle. In May 
the ploughboys still remember King Charles, and on 
