The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1878-04-26
MI isceIIan ne @ u g.
The Drivers Story,

|
side l sat, as he rounded, at a smart trot, a
sharp curve of the narrow mountain road,
on one side of which rose a wall of rock,
and on the other yawned deep precipice,
leaving scarcely foot of margin between
the edge and the outer wheel. tracks.
mot bit o. danger, sir" the driver an
swered. 1--WE druy the mail on this route
for nigh onto seven years, and never had
an accident-that is never but once. Git
up there, Pete !"--to the right leader, with
a crack of the whip by way of emphasis
"git up there, and don't go pokn' along
like that, sottin' bad example to the rest"
"Pete" acknowledged the rebuke by
| pricking up his ears and setting off at q
| pace, joined in by his fellows, several de-
grees brisker than before.
| $50 you did meet with an accident once?"
| said, resuming the dialogue which Pete's
| delinquency had interrupted.
"Well, it amt hardly fair to call it an ac-
| cident, either" returned the driver, Ticking
fly from the off wheelers rump without
disturbing hair; "but I'll tell you the
story, if you'd like to hear it."
Nothing, assured him, would give me
more pleasure.
at was when l was new on the road, you
see" he began. "At that time there wasn't
house within miles o. here and some
times l wouldn't have a passenger in a
| week; but l had to come through every
| day with the mail all the same, and lone
some it was sometimes.
"fd gotas fur as Sim Turkeys tavern one
day without taking up soul. 1t was
| DRAWN towards shutdown, and | was max
in up my mind to Il long nights ride, all
| by myself, when couple of strangers step
| ped up and booked themselves as passen-
gers
"After taking smack and changin'
bosses, | started on, the two passengers
takin' inside seats.
"Pretty soon one of 'em called out and
asked il he mightn't come out and ride
with me.
II told him he might, and welcome
| The fact was | was beginnin' to long for a
good sociable chat with somebody. Hoses
is good enough company, as a central
| thing but they don't keep up their end o.
conversation, and that makes their society
little dull sometimes.
81 stopped and let the stranger up beside
me. 1t was bright moonlight night, and
| the gentleman made some fine remarks
| about it, which | didn't quite understand,
| and which sounded as if they'd come out of
| book. Howsever, agreed that it was a
| better style O. night to be out in than some
| I'd seen, when you couldn't see your hand
atore you, and had to trust your neck to
| the judgment of the leaders.
The gentleman made himself so agree
| able that was quite put out when he told
me that him and his friend was goin' to
| leave the coach at a pint where another
road struck off some miles ahead.
81 got so busy talkin' that l noticed
nothin else till heard queer sort o.
| scrapin' noise down back o. the seat
81 wonder what's that9 says |.
"'What?' says the stranger.
"'That noise says l, lit sounds like some
thin gnawin' into the front boot. The
mails in there, and must see what's wrong ;
II was on the pint o. stoppin' and jump
in down, when the stranger ketched holt
o. my arm, and p'inted pistol at my head
| "'Drive on and make no Disturbance he
said, or I'll kill yOwn
| "There was Il holster, with pistol in it,
at the side o. the seat, but the man was be-
tween me and it. 1t was plain that was
at the mercy of pair of mail robbers, and
could do nothin' but submit. 1t had been
i,
while his comrade KEEP me in chat, to cut
| through to the mail bag, rip it open, take
| out the letters, and then the two was to quit
the coach at the pint mentioned, leavin' me
to go none the wiser.
II seen through it all, but druv on and
said nothin'.
| While turnin the bend where you got a
little narvous jest now, u thought come to
me sudden.
"Quick as lightnin' l whirled the leaders
round with heads to the brink, and with q
cut of the whip sent them over.
81 jumped from the seat barely in time
to keep from goin' along, and HOSES, coach
and thieves all went crashing down togeth-
| er.
II went on foot to the nearest settlement
and got some men to go back with me with
lights.
"By a roundabout way we got down in
to the guch, where we found the two rob-
bers crushed and disabled, but alive, and
the fragments of the coach with the bodies
of the dead HOSES. Poor critters II was
sorry for their fate, but had no time to
think o. that when druv them over.
ave found where the thief had made
his way into the boot by borin' out piece
with a centre bit. That was the noise I'd
heard. The mail bag had slit in it, but
the letters were all safe. | learnt after
ward that one of 'em had heap % money
in it, and the man it belonged to made me
q nice present the next Christmas.
"The two robbers were tried as soon as
they got well enough, and they're now
sarvin out their time "-NeO York Ledger.
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