The Winslow mail., 1900-05-24

till we got by the Four Corners, and
then everything began to go wrong
with the crowd in the coach. When
we got to climbin' the hills the passen-
gers began to grumble about my goin'
so slow. They were sure we couldn't
get to the landin' in time to catch the
boat, and first one and then another
of 'em would stick his head out of the
window and call to me to hurry up.
There was one woman in the party that
was worse than all the rest. She had
on one of those high bonnets that
women wore in those days, with a lot
of flowers and ffXin's on it, and every
five minutes that bonnet would be
sticl<in' out of the window and I'd hear
somethin' like this:
"'Driver, we're goin' too slow. 1
never saw anything like it. If we had
one of our Boston drivers here we'd go
fasterp
"Now I knew that we were goin' as
fast as anybody could drive uphill over
that road, and 1 knew that the boat
would wait at the landin' till 1 got
there, but twas wastin' my breath to
talk to them folks. That woman with
the bonnet kept up her talk about our
slow Down East ways and her Boston
drivers. | says nothin, but minded my
horses. She stuck her head out of the
window, and she says ag'in:
Really, driver, you must go faster!
II says to myself: You poor fool,
L ~.
You're not worth noticin'.' I says
nothin' to her or the others, but kept
the horses to right gait, KNOWN we
were safe to catch the boat. Once more
that bonnet with the flowers and feath-
ers came out of the window.
"'Driverl she screamed If you
don't go faster I shall get out and
walk!'
There was one man in the party that
acted as if he had some sense. l heard
him tell the others that he guessed l
knew my business and would get them
to the boat all right. But twas no use.
The woman wouldn't listen or be satis-
fed. We got to the top of the ridge at
last, and before lay twomile
stretch, dOwnhill all the way to the
landin'. and as steep and rough as what
we do been climbin'. There were
rocks and mudholes and cobble-stoneS,
and some of the road was corduroy
logs laid side by side through the
swampy spots; hadn't been repaired
for years and the frost had hove the
logs all ways. Generally 1 used the
brake a good deal goin' down to the
lake, but this time l didn't touch 1t,
owin' to the folks in the coach wantin'
to go fast. I'll show you gait for the
rest of the way that'll make you wish
for one of your Boston drivers says
to myself, and gave the horses tho
whip, and L didn't let 'em out of a run
till we got to the landin'.
THAT coach was in the air about half
the time, and the other half it was hit
tin somethin', rock or stump or the
bottom of a mud hole to give it fresh
hist upward, and we were near upset.
tin dozen times The folks inside got
enough of that pretty quick and they
called out for me to go slower, but 1
said: 'Gfdap' to the horses and put 'em
ahead like 1 hadn't heard nothin'. The
women were screamin' and every now
and ag'in somebody's head would
bump the top of the coach like it was
comm through, and all hands was a
cryin' out for me to stop. But 1 let on
1 didn't understand what they said,
and l called back: No hurry. Well git
there in time for the boat and put
the horses to harder pace. I didn't
draw rein till we struck the edge of
the pond, and L pulled the horses up in
three feet of water. / backed up to the