'I dare say these will do--I dare say these will do,' putting them on;
adding, 'Now, if you'll lend me a shawl for my neck, and a mackintosh, my
name shall be _Walker_.'
'Better make it _Trotter_,' replied his lordship, 'considering the distance
you have to go.'
'Good,' said Jack, mounting and driving away.
'It will be a blessing if we get there,' observed Jack to the liveried
stable-lad, as the old bag of bones of a mare went hitching and limping
away.
'Oh, she can go when she's warm,' replied the lad, taking her across the
ears with the point of the whip. The wheels followed merrily over the
sound, hard road through the park, and the gentle though almost
imperceptible fall of the ground giving an impetus to the vehicle, they
bowled away as if they had four of the soundest, freshest legs in the world
before them, instead of nothing but a belly-band between them and eternity.
When, however, they cleared the noble lodge and got upon the unscraped mud
of the Deepdebt turnpike, the pace soon slackened, and, instead of the gig
running away with the old mare, she was fairly brought to her collar.
Pages:
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345