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1It is always difficult to drive fast in the city in the middle of the day, when the streets are full of traffic, but we
2did what could be done; and when a good driver and a good horse, who understand each other, are of one mind, it is
3wonderful what they can do. I had a very good mouth--that is I could be guided by the slightest touch of the rein; and
4that is a great thing in London, among carriages, omnibuses, carts, vans, trucks, cabs, and great wagons creeping along
5at a walking pace; some going one way, some another, some going slowly, others wanting to pass them; omnibuses stopping
6short every few minutes to take up a passenger, obliging the horse that is coming behind to pull up too, or to pass, and
7get before them; perhaps you try to pass, but just then something else comes dashing in through the narrow opening, and
8you have to keep in behind the omnibus again; presently you think you see a chance, and manage to get to the front,
9going so near the wheels on each side that half an inch nearer and they would scrape. Well, you get along for a bit, but
10soon find yourself in a long train of carts and carriages all obliged to go at a walk; perhaps you come to a regular
11block-up, and have to stand still for minutes together, till something clears out into a side street, or the policeman
12interferes; you have to be ready for any chance--to dash forward if there be an opening, and be quick as a rat-dog to
13see if there be room and if there be time, lest you get your own wheels locked or smashed, or the shaft of some other
14vehicle run into your chest or shoulder. All this is what you have to be ready for. If you want to get through London
15fast in the middle of the day it wants a deal of practice. Jerry and I were used to it, and no one could beat us at
16getting through when we were set upon it. I was quick and bold and could always trust my driver; Jerry was quick and
17patient at the same time, and could trust his horse, which was a great thing too. He very seldom used the whip; I knew
18by his voice, and his click, click, when he wanted to get on fast, and by the rein where I was to go; so there was no
19need for whipping; but I must go back to my story. The streets were very full that day, but we got on pretty well as far
20as the bottom of Cheapside, where there was a block for three or four minutes. The young man put his head out and said
21anxiously, "I think I had better get out and walk; I shall never get there if this goes on." "I'll do all that can be
22done, sir," said Jerry; "I think we shall be in time. This block-up cannot last much longer, and your luggage is very
23heavy for you to carry, sir." Just then the cart in front of us began to move on, and then we had a good turn. In and
24out, in and out we went, as fast as horseflesh could do it, and for a wonder had a good clear time on London Bridge, for
25there was a whole train of cabs and carriages all going our way at a quick trot, perhaps wanting to catch that very
26train. At any rate, we whirled into the station with many more, just as the great clock pointed to eight minutes to
27twelve o'clock. "Thank God! we are in time," said the young man, "and thank you, too, my friend, and your good horse.
28You have saved me more than money can ever pay for. Take this extra half-crown." "No, sir, no, thank you all the same;
29so glad we hit the time, sir; but don't stay now, sir, the bell is ringing. Here, porter! take this gentleman's
30luggage--Dover line twelve o'clock train--that's it," and without waiting for another word Jerry wheeled me round to
31make room for other cabs that were dashing up at the last minute, and drew up on one side till the crush was past. "'So
32glad!' he said, 'so glad!' Poor young fellow! I wonder what it was that made him so anxious!" Jerry often talked to
33himself quite loud enough for me to hear when we were not moving. On Jerry's return to the rank there was a good deal of
34laughing and chaffing at him for driving hard to the train for an extra fare, as they said, all against his principles,
35and they wanted to know how much he had pocketed. "A good deal more than I generally get," said he, nodding slyly; "what
36he gave me will keep me in little comforts for several days." "Gammon!" said one. "He's a humbug," said another;
37"preaching to us and then doing the same himself." "Look here, mates," said Jerry; "the gentleman offered me half a
38crown extra, but I didn't take it; 'twas quite pay enough for me to see how glad he was to catch that train; and if Jack
39and I choose to have a quick run now and then to please ourselves, that's our business and not yours." "Well," said
40Larry, "you'll never be a rich man." "Most likely not," said Jerry; "but I don't know that I shall be the less happy for
41that. I have heard the commandments read a great many times and I never noticed that any of them said, 'Thou shalt be
42rich'; and there are a good many curious things said in the New Testament about rich men that I think would make me feel
43rather queer if I was one of them." "If you ever do get rich," said Governor Gray, looking over his shoulder across the
44top of his cab, "you'll deserve it, Jerry, and you won't find a curse come with your wealth. As for you, Larry, you'll
45die poor; you spend too much in whipcord." "Well," said Larry, "what is a fellow to do if his horse won't go without
46it?" "You never take the trouble to see if he will go without it; your whip is always going as if you had the St. Vitus'
47dance in your arm, and if it does not wear you out it wears your horse out; you know you are always changing your
48horses; and why? Because you never give them any peace or encouragement." "Well, I have not had good luck," said Larry,
49"that's where it is." "And you never will," said the governor. "Good Luck is rather particular who she rides with, and
50mostly prefers those who have got common sense and a good heart; at least that is my experience." Governor Gray turned
51round again to his newspaper, and the other men went to their cabs. 36 The Sunday Cab One morning, as Jerry had just put
52me into the shafts and was fastening the traces, a gentleman walked into the yard. "Your servant, sir," said Jerry.
53"Good-morning, Mr. Barker," said the gentleman. "I should be glad to make some arrangements with you for taking Mrs.
54Briggs regularly to church on Sunday mornings. We go to the New Church now, and that is rather further than she can
55walk." "Thank you, sir," said Jerry, "but I have only taken out a six-days' license, and therefore I could not take a
56fare on a Sunday; it would not be legal." A few years since the annual charge for a cab license was very much reduced,
57and the difference between the six and seven days' cabs was abolished. "Oh!" said the other, "I did not know yours was a
58six-days' cab; but of course it would be very easy to alter your license. I would see that you did not lose by it; the
59fact is, Mrs. Briggs very much prefers you to drive her." "I should be glad to oblige the lady, sir, but I had a
60seven-days' license once, and the work was too hard for me, and too hard for my horses. Year in and year out, not a
61day's rest, and never a Sunday with my wife and children; and never able to go to a place of worship, which I had always
62been used to do before I took to the driving box. So for the last five years I have only taken a six-days' license, and
63I find it better all the way round."
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