Tom addressed himself to the coffee, and prattled away while he worked himself into his shoes and his great-coat, well warmed through,—a Petersham coat with velvet collar, made tight after the abominable fashion of those days. And just as he was swallowing his last mouthful, winding his comforter round his throat, and tucking the ends into the breast of his coat, the horn sounds, Boots looks in and says, "Tally-ho, sir;" and they hear the ring and the rattle of the four fast trotters and the town-made drag[13] as it dashes up to the Peacock.
"Anything for us, Bob?" says the burly guard,[14] dropping down from behind, and slapping himself across the chest.
"Young genl'm'n, Rugby; three parcels, Leicester; hamper[15] o' game, Rugby" answers Ostler.
"Tell young gent to look alive," says guard, opening the hind-boot[16] and shooting in the parcels after examining them by the lamps. "Here, shove the portmanteau[17] up a-top,—I'll fasten him presently. Now then, sir, jump up behind."
"Good-by, father—my love at home." A last shake of the hand. Up goes Tom, the guard catching his hat-box and holding on with one hand, while with the other he claps the horn to his mouth. Toot, toot, toot! the ostlers let go their heads, the four bays plunge at the collar, and away goes the Tally-ho into the darkness, forty-five seconds from the time they pulled up; Ostler, Boots, and the Squire stand looking after them under the Peacock lamp.
"Sharp work!" says the Squire, and goes in again to his bed, the coach being well out of sight and hearing.
Tom stands up on the coach and looks back at his father's figure as long as he can see it, and then the guard, having disposed of his luggage, comes to an anchor, and finishes his buttonings and other preparations for facing the three hours before dawn; no joke for those who minded cold, on a fast coach in November, in the reign of his late majesty.
A NOVEMBER RIDE IN OLD TIMES.
I sometimes think that you boys of this generation are a deal tenderer fellows than we used to be. At any rate you are much more comfortable travellers, for I see every one of you with his rug or plaid,[18] and other dodges for preserving the caloric,[19] and most of you going in those fuzzy, dusty, padded, first-class carriages.[20] It was another affair altogether, a dark ride on the top of the Tally-ho, I can tell you, in a tight Petersham coat, and your feet dangling six inches from the floor. Then you knew what cold was, and what it was to be without legs, for not a bit of feeling had you in them after the first half hour. But it had its pleasures,—the cold, dark ride. First there was the consciousness of silent endurance, so dear to every Englishman,—of standing out against something, and not giving in. Then there was the music of the rattling harness, and the ring of the horses' feet on the hard road, and the glare of the two bright lamps through the steaming hoar-frost,[21] over the leader's ears, into the darkness; and the cheery toot of the guard's horn, to warn some drowsy pikeman[22] or the ostler at the next change; and the looking forward to daylight—and last, but not least, the delight of returning sensation in your toes.