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jumps up and says, Here,Ill stayIm only going three miles further. My fathers names Davis; hes known about here, and Ill go before the magistrate with this gentleman. What! be thee parson Daviss son? says the old boy. Yes, says the young un. Well, I be mortal sorry to meet thee in such company, but for thy fathers sake and thine (for thee bist a brave young chap) Ill say no more about it. Didnt the boys cheer him, and the mob cheered the young chapand then one of the biggest gets down, and begs his pardon werry gentlemanly for all the rest, saying as they all had been plaguy vexed from the first, but didnt like to ax his pardon till then, cause they felt they hadnt ought to shirk the consequences of their joke. And then they all got down, and shook hands with the old boy, and asked him to all parts of the country, to their homes, and we drives off twenty minutes behind time, with cheering and hollering as if we was county members. But, Lor bless you, sir, says the guard, smacking his hand down on his knee and looking full into Toms face, ten minutes arter they was all as bad as ever. Tom showed such undisguised and open-mouthed interest in his narrations, that the old guard rubbed up his memory, and launched out into a graphic history of all the performances of the boys on the roads for the last twenty years. Off the road he couldnt go; the exploit must have been connected with horses or vehicles to hang in the old fellows head. Tom tried him off his own ground once or twice, but found he knew nothing beyond, and so let him have his head, and the rest of the road bowled easily away; for old Blow-hard (as the boys called him) was a dry old file, with much kindness and humour, and a capital spinner of a yarn when he had broken the neck of his days work, and got plenty of ale under his belt. What struck Toms youthful imagination most was the desperate and lawless character of most of the stories. Was the guard hoaxing him? He couldnt help hoping that they were true. Its very odd how almost all English boys love danger; you can get ten to join a game, or climb a tree, or swim a stream, when theres a chance of breaking their limbs or getting drowned, for one wholl stay on level ground, or in his depth, or play quoits or bowls. The guard had just finished an account of a desperate fight which had happened at one of the fairs between the drovers and the farmers with their whips, and the boys with cricket-bats and wickets, which arose out of a playful but objectionable practice of the boys going round to the public-houses and taking the linch-pins out of the wheels of the gigs, and was moralizing upon the way in which the Doctor, a terrible stern man hed heard tell, had come down upon several of the performers, sending three on em off next morning in a po-shay with a parish constable, when they turned a corner and neared the mile-stone, the third from Rugby. By the stone two boys stood, their jackets buttoned tight, waiting for the coach. Look here, sir, says the guard, after giving a sharp toot-toot, theres two on em, out and out runners they be. They comes out about twice or three times a week, and spirts a mile alongside of us. And as they came up, sure enough, away went two boys along the foot-path, keeping up with the horses; the first a light clean-made fellow going on springs, the other stout and round-shouldered, labouring in his pace, but going as dogged as a bull-terrier. Old Blow-hard looked on admiringly. See how beautiful that there un holds hisself together, and goes from his hips, sir, said he; hes a mazin fine runner. Now many coachmen as drives a first-rate teamd put it on, and try and pass em. But Bob, sir, bless you, hes tender-hearted; hed sooner pull in a bit if he seed em a gettin beat. I do blieve too as that there und sooner break his heart than let us go by him afore next milestone. At the second milestone the boys pulled up short, and waved their hats to the guard, who had his watch out and shouted 4.56, thereby indicating that the mile had been done in four seconds under the five minutes. They passed several more parties of boys, all of them objects of the deepest interest to Tom, and came in sight of the town at ten minutes before twelve. Tom fetched a long breath, and thought he had never spent a pleasanter day. Before he went to bed he had quite settled that it must be the greatest day he should ever spend, and didnt alter his opinion for many a long yearif he has yet. |
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