"And so it has been right along, and I am so tired; and then this being driven by every one is ruinous on mouth and nerves. It is jerk, jerk, jerk! and no two mean quite the same thing by the way they twitch the lines, and half of them don't know how to drive anyway."
"Yes," put in Crusoe, another livery horse, "and the worst of it is the spirit people manifest toward us. Why a clergyman had me the other day to go up to B——, and he drove faster than any jockey. On the way he picked up an acquaintance who remarked after a while on his fast driving.
"'Well,' said the minister, 'I always like to get the worth of my money, and I've got three dollars invested in this animal to-day.'"
"Oh me, and how they swear at us!" chimed in a small bay mare from another stall.
"Who, the clergyman?" cried Julie, now for the first time speaking up.
"No, I did not quite mean them, though I carried a bishop, or some sort of a big gun, once to the train and we were late. I am inclined to think he swore to himself, though all he said out loud was: 'I could have made that team cover the ground,' but I meant people in general."
Then somebody from another stall spoke out in a tone quivering with sadness.
"My friends, if you are not blind don't complain of your lot."
"Amen," came softly, but distinctly, from another corner and we all kept silent.