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318
The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and Romance
·
James Wilson Hyde
60
It
was
usual
for
the
coachman
and
guard
over
this
wild
and
exposed
road
to
be
strapped
to
their
seats
in
stormy
weather;
but
on
this
occasion
Kinghorn,
as
it
happened,
was
not
strapped,
and
to
this
circumstance
he
attributed
his
escape
from
death.
When
the
mail
went
down,
he
was
sent
flying
over
the
bridge,
and
alighted
clear
from
the
wreck
of
the
coach.
The
dead
passengers
and
the
wounded
persons
were
taken
by
the
other
coach
into
Moffat.
It
may
be
added
that
the
fourth
horse
was
got
out
of
its
predicament
little
the
worse
for
the
fall,
and
continued
to
run
for
many
a
day
over
the
same
road;
but
it
was
always
observed
to
evince
great
nervousness
and
excitement
whenever
it
approached
the
scene
of
the
accident.
Yet
the
mail-coach
days
had
charms
and
attractions
for
travellers,
if
they
at
the
same
time
had
their
drawbacks:
the
bustle
and
excitement
of
the
start,
when
the
horses
were
loosed
and
the
driver
let
them
have
rein,
under
the
eyes
of
interested
and
admiring
spectators;
the
exhilarating
gallop
as
a
good
pace
was
achieved
on
the
open
country-road;
the
keen
relish
of
the
meals,
more
especially
of
breakfast,
at
the
neatly
kept
and
hospitable
inn;
the
blithe
note
of
the
guard's
horn,
as
a
turnpike-gate
or
the
end
of
a
stage
was
approached;
and
the
hurried
changing
of
horses
from
time
to
time
as
the
journey
progressed.
Ever-varying
scene
is
the
characteristic
of
the
occasion:
the
village
with
its
rustic
quiet,
and
odd
characters,
who
were
sure
to
present
themselves
as
the
coach
flew
by;
the
fresh
and
blooming
fields;
the
soft
and
pastoral
downs;
the
scented
hedgerows
in
May
and
June;
the
stretches
of
road
embowered
with
wood,
affording
a
grateful
shade
in
warm
weather;
the
farmer's
children
swinging
on
a
gate
or
over-topping
a
fence,
and
cheering
lustily
with
their
small
voices
as
the
coach
swept
along.
And
then,
the
hours
of
twilight
being
past,
when
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