After pursuing these tactics for a short time, he looked over his shoulder at me and questioned, "Ain't 'e junking yet?"
"No," I replied, not liking to confess ignorance of the term; "he does not seem to be 'junking' much."
Another and a heavier dose of whip and spur torture was then administered, and at last the unhappy quadruped gave a feeble shake with one hind leg.
"He's junking now a bit, I think," I cried, anxious to stop the exhibition.
"Oh! that ain't nothink," replied the owner. "Lor' bless you, you should see 'im junk sometimes; he'd junk a brick wall, 'e would; but 'e ain't in spirits now."
The latter fact I was fully prepared to corroborate, and may add that I did not purchase the "junker."
I eventually succeeded in getting suited, and was able to look about the country.
The tremendously steep grades on the so-called roads astonished me very much, but the horses bred out here think nothing of them. In the winter time these roads are veritable bogs in some places, and travelling is then anything but pleasant. When they become slippery, the horses have a fashion of putting their feet together, throwing themselves well back on their haunches, and sliding down the steep inclines. They never come to grief, and all the rider has to do is to lean well back in the saddle.
The main road through the county is supposed to be constructed by the local governing body, called the County Council, which is composed of representatives from the several ridings or districts forming the county, each riding electing a councillor every three years.
Too often the sole aim of a councillor is to get as much done as possible for the road near his own house, and to secure as much compensation as he can for himself and his friends, therefore almost useless roads are frequently promoted, and the money frittered away in their construction and in compensation to the owners of the land through which they pass.