"Can you take me to the South-Eastern Railway?" said the young man;"this unlucky fall has made me late, I fear; but it is of greatimportance that I should not lose the twelve o'clock train. I should bemost thankful if you could get me there in time, and will gladly pay youan extra fare."
"I'll do my very best," said Jerry heartily, "if you think you are wellenough, sir," for he looked dreadfully white and ill.
"I must go," he said earnestly, "please to open the door, and let uslose no time."
The next minute Jerry was on the box; with a cheery chirrup to me, and atwitch of the rein that I well understood.
"Now then, Jack, my boy," said he, "spin along, we'll show them how wecan get over the ground, if we only know why."
It is always difficult to drive fast in the city in the middle of theday, when the streets are full of traffic, but we did what could bedone; and when a good driver and a good horse, who understand eachother, are of one mind, it is wonderful what they can do. I had a verygood mouth--that is I could be guided by the slightest touch of therein; and that is a great thing in London, among carriages, omnibuses,carts, vans, trucks, cabs, and great wagons creeping along at a walkingpace; some going one way, some another, some going slowly, otherswanting to pass them; omnibuses stopping short every few minutes to takeup a passenger, obliging the horse that is coming behind to pull up too,or to pass, and get before them; perhaps you try to pass, but just thensomething else comes dashing in through the narrow opening, and youhave to keep in behind the omnibus again; presently you think you see achance, and manage to get to the front, going so near the wheels on eachside that half an inch nearer and they would scrape. Well, you get alongfor a bit, but soon find yourself in a long train of carts and carriagesall obliged to go at a walk; perhaps you come to a regular block-up, andhave to stand still for minutes together, till something clears out intoa side street, or the policeman interferes; you have to be ready forany chance--to dash forward if there be an opening, and be quick as arat-dog to see if there be room and if there be time, lest you get yourown wheels locked or smashed, or the shaft of some other vehicle runinto your chest or shoulder. All this is what you have to be ready for.If you want to get through London fast in the middle of the day it wantsa deal of practice.
Jerry and I were used to it, and no one could beat us at getting throughwhen we were set upon it. I was quick and bold and could always trustmy driver; Jerry was quick and patient at the same time, and could trusthis horse, which was a great thing too. He very seldom used the whip; Iknew by 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 need for whipping;but I must go back to my story.
The streets were very full that day, but we got on pretty well as faras the bottom of Cheapside, where there was a block for three or fourminutes. The young man put his head out and said anxiously, "I think Ihad better get out and walk; I shall never get there if this goes on."
"I'll do all that can be done, sir," said Jerry; "I think we shall bein time. This block-up cannot last much longer, and your luggage is veryheavy for you to carry, sir."
Just then the cart in front of us began to move on, and then we had agood turn. In and out, in and out we went, as fast as horseflesh coulddo it, and for a wonder had a good clear time on London Bridge, forthere was a whole train of cabs and carriages all going our way at aquick trot, perhaps wanting to catch that very train. At any rate, wewhirled into the station with many more, just as the great clock pointedto eight minutes to twelve o'clock.
"Thank God! we are in time," said the young man, "and thank you, too, myfriend, and your good horse. You have saved me more than money can everpay for. Take this extra half-crown."
"No, sir, no, thank you all the same; so glad we hit the time, sir;but don't stay now, sir, the bell is ringing. Here, porter! take thisgentleman's luggage--Dover line twelve o'clock train--that's it," andwithout waiting for another word Jerry wheeled me round to make room forother cabs that were dashing up at the last minute, and drew up on oneside till the crush was past.
"'So glad!' he said, 'so glad!' Poor young fellow! I wonder what it wasthat made him so anxious!"
Jerry often talked to himself quite loud enough for me to hear when wewere not moving.
On Jerry's return to the rank there was a good deal of laughing andchaffing at him for driving hard to the train for an extra fare, as theysaid, all against his principles, and they wanted to know how much hehad pocketed.
"A good deal more than I generally get," said he, nodding slyly; "whathe gave me will keep me in little comforts for several days."
"Gammon!" said one.
"He's a humbug," said another; "preaching to us and then doing the samehimself."
"Look here, mates," said Jerry; "the gentleman offered me half a crownextra, but I didn't take it; 'twas quite pay enough for me to see howglad he was to catch that train; and if Jack and I choose to have aquick run now and then to please ourselves, that's our business and notyours."
"Well," said Larry, "you'll never be a rich man."
"Most likely not," said Jerry; "but I don't know that I shall be theless happy for that. I have heard the commandments read a great manytimes and I never noticed that any of them said, 'Thou shalt be rich';and there are a good many curious things said in the New Testament aboutrich men that I think would make me feel rather queer if I was one ofthem."
"If you ever do get rich," said Governor Gray, looking over his shoulderacross the top of his cab, "you'll deserve it, Jerry, and you won't finda curse come with your wealth. As for you, Larry, you'll die poor; youspend too much in whipcord."
"Well," said Larry, "what is a fellow to do if his horse won't gowithout it?"
"You never take the trouble to see if he will go without it; your whipis always going as if you had the St. Vitus' dance in your arm, andif it does not wear you out it wears your horse out; you know you arealways changing your horses; and why? Because you never give them anypeace or encouragement."
"Well, I have not had good luck," said Larry, "that's where it is."
"And you never will," said the governor. "Good Luck is rather particularwho she rides with, and mostly prefers those who have got common senseand a good heart; at least that is my experience."
Governor Gray turned round again to his newspaper, and the other menwent to their cabs.
36 The Sunday Cab
One morning, as Jerry had just put me into the shafts and was fasteningthe traces, a gentleman walked into the yard. "Your servant, sir," saidJerry.
"Good-morning, Mr. Barker," said the gentleman. "I should be glad tomake some arrangements with you for taking Mrs. Briggs regularly tochurch on Sunday mornings. We go to the New Church now, and that israther further than she can walk."
"Thank you, sir," said Jerry, "but I have only taken out a six-days'license,* and therefore I could not take a fare on a Sunday; it wouldnot be legal."
* A few years since the annual charge for a cab license was very muchreduced, and the difference between the six and seven days' cabs wasabolished.
"Oh!" said the other, "I did not know yours was a six-days' cab; but ofcourse it would be very easy to alter your license. I would see that youdid not lose by it; the fact is, Mrs. Briggs very much prefers you todrive her."
"I should be glad to oblige the lady, sir, but I had a seven-days'license once, and the work was too hard for me, and too hard for myhorses. Year in and year out, not a day's rest, and never a Sunday withmy wife and children; and never able to go to a place of worship, whichI had always been used to do before I took to the driving box. So forthe last five years I have only taken a six-days' license, and I find itbetter all the way round."
"Well, of course," replied Mr. Briggs, "it is very proper that everyperson should have rest, and be able to go to church on Sundays, but Ishould have thought you would not have minded such a short distance forthe horse, and only once a day; you would have all the afternoon andevening for yourself, and we are very good cus
tomers, you know."
"Yes, sir, that is true, and I am grateful for all favors, I am sure;and anything that I could do to oblige you, or the lady, I should beproud and happy to do; but I can't give up my Sundays, sir, indeed Ican't. I read that God made man, and he made horses and all the otherbeasts, and as soon as He had made them He made a day of rest, and badethat all should rest one day in seven; and I think, sir, He must haveknown what was good for them, and I am sure it is good for me; I amstronger and healthier altogether, now that I have a day of rest; thehorses are fresh too, and do not wear up nearly so fast. The six-daydrivers all tell me the same, and I have laid by more money in thesavings bank than ever I did before; and as for the wife and children,sir, why, heart alive! they would not go back to the seven days for allthey could see."
"Oh, very well," said the gentleman. "Don't trouble yourself, Mr.Barker, any further. I will inquire somewhere else," and he walked away.
"Well," says Jerry to me, "we can't help it, Jack, old boy; we must haveour Sundays."
"Polly!" he shouted, "Polly! come here."
She was there in a minute.
"What is it all about, Jerry?"
"Why, my dear, Mr. Briggs wants me to take Mrs. Briggs to church everySunday morning. I say I have only a six-days' license. He says, 'Get aseven-days' license, and I'll make it worth your while;' and you know,Polly, they are very good customers to us. Mrs. Briggs often goes outshopping for hours, or making calls, and then she pays down fair andhonorable like a lady; there's no beating down or making three hoursinto two hours and a half, as some folks do; and it is easy work forthe horses; not like tearing along to catch trains for people that arealways a quarter of an hour too late; and if I don't oblige her in thismatter it is very likely we shall lose them altogether. What do you say,little woman?"
"I say, Jerry," says she, speaking very slowly, "I say, if Mrs. Briggswould give you a sovereign every Sunday morning, I would not have you aseven-days' cabman again. We have known what it was to have no Sundays,and now we know what it is to call them our own. Thank God, you earnenough to keep us, though it is sometimes close work to pay for all theoats and hay, the license, and the rent besides; but Harry will soon beearning something, and I would rather struggle on harder than we do thango back to those horrid times when you hardly had a minute to look atyour own children, and we never could go to a place of worship together,or have a happy, quiet day. God forbid that we should ever turn back tothose times; that's what I say, Jerry."
"And that is just what I told Mr. Briggs, my dear," said Jerry, "andwhat I mean to stick to. So don't go and fret yourself, Polly" (for shehad begun to cry); "I would not go back to the old times if I earnedtwice as much, so that is settled, little woman. Now, cheer up, and I'llbe off to the stand."
Three weeks had passed away after this conversation, and no order hadcome from Mrs. Briggs; so there was nothing but taking jobs from thestand. Jerry took it to heart a good deal, for of course the work washarder for horse and man. But Polly would always cheer him up, and say,"Never mind, father, never, mind.
"'Do your best, And leave the rest, 'Twill all come right Some day or night.'"
It soon became known that Jerry had lost his best customer, and for whatreason. Most of the men said he was a fool, but two or three took hispart.
"If workingmen don't stick to their Sunday," said Truman, "they'll soonhave none left; it is every man's right and every beast's right. ByGod's law we have a day of rest, and by the law of England we have a dayof rest; and I say we ought to hold to the rights these laws give us andkeep them for our children."
"All very well for you religious chaps to talk so," said Larry; "butI'll turn a shilling when I can. I don't believe in religion, for Idon't see that your religious people are any better than the rest."
"If they are not better," put in Jerry, "it is because they are notreligious. You might as well say that our country's laws are not goodbecause some people break them. If a man gives way to his temper, andspeaks evil of his neighbor, and does not pay his debts, he is notreligious, I don't care how much he goes to church. If some men areshams and humbugs, that does not make religion untrue. Real religion isthe best and truest thing in the world, and the only thing that can makea man really happy or make the world we live in any better."
"If religion was good for anything," said Jones, "it would prevent yourreligious people from making us work on Sundays, as you know many ofthem do, and that's why I say religion is nothing but a sham; why, if itwas not for the church and chapel-goers it would be hardly worth whileour coming out on a Sunday. But they have their privileges, as they callthem, and I go without. I shall expect them to answer for my soul, if Ican't get a chance of saving it."
Several of the men applauded this, till Jerry said:
"That may sound well enough, but it won't do; every man must lookafter his own soul; you can't lay it down at another man's door like afoundling and expect him to take care of it; and don't you see, if youare always sitting on your box waiting for a fare, they will say, 'If wedon't take him some one else will, and he does not look for any Sunday.'Of course, they don't go to the bottom of it, or they would see if theynever came for a cab it would be no use your standing there; butpeople don't always like to go to the bottom of things; it may not beconvenient to do it; but if you Sunday drivers would all strike for aday of rest the thing would be done."
"And what would all the good people do if they could not get to theirfavorite preachers?" said Larry.
"'Tis not for me to lay down plans for other people," said Jerry, "butif they can't walk so far they can go to what is nearer; and if itshould rain they can put on their mackintoshes as they do on a week-day.If a thing is right it can be done, and if it is wrong it can be donewithout; and a good man will find a way. And that is as true for uscabmen as it is for the church-goers."
37 The Golden Rule
Two or three weeks after this, as we came into the yard rather late inthe evening, Polly came running across the road with the lantern (shealways brought it to him if it was not very wet).
"It has all come right, Jerry; Mrs. Briggs sent her servant thisafternoon to ask you to take her out to-morrow at eleven o'clock. Isaid, 'Yes, I thought so, but we supposed she employed some one elsenow.'"
"'Well,' said he, 'the real fact is, master was put out because Mr.Barker refused to come on Sundays, and he has been trying other cabs,but there's something wrong with them all; some drive too fast, and sometoo slow, and the mistress says there is not one of them so nice andclean as yours, and nothing will suit her but Mr. Barker's cab again.'"
Polly was almost out of breath, and Jerry broke out into a merry laugh.
"''Twill all come right some day or night': you were right, my dear; yougenerally are. Run in and get the supper, and I'll have Jack's harnessoff and make him snug and happy in no time."
After this Mrs. Briggs wanted Jerry's cab quite as often as before,never, however, on a Sunday; but there came a day when we had Sundaywork, and this was how it happened. We had all come home on the Saturdaynight very tired, and very glad to think that the next day would be allrest, but so it was not to be.
On Sunday morning Jerry was cleaning me in the yard, when Polly steppedup to him, looking very full of something.
"What is it?" said Jerry.
"Well, my dear," she said, "poor Dinah Brown has just had a letterbrought to say that her mother is dangerously ill, and that she mustgo directly if she wishes to see her alive. The place is more than tenmiles away from here, out in the country, and she says if she takes thetrain she should still have four miles to walk; and so weak as she is,and the baby only four weeks old, of course that would be impossible;and she wants to know if you would take her in your cab, and shepromises to pay you faithfully, as she can get the money."
"Tut, tut! we'll see about that. It was not the money I was thinkingabout, but of losing our Sunday; the horses are tired, and I am tired,too--that's where it pinches."
"It pinch
es all round, for that matter," said Polly, "for it's onlyhalf Sunday without you, but you know we should do to other people aswe should like they should do to us; and I know very well what I shouldlike if my mother was dying; and Jerry, dear, I am sure it won't breakthe Sabbath; for if pulling a poor beast or donkey out of a pit wouldnot spoil it, I am quite sure taking poor Dinah would not do it."
"Why, Polly, you are as good as the minister, and so, as I've had mySunday-morning sermon early to-day, you may go and tell Dinah that I'llbe ready for her as the clock strikes ten; but stop--just step round tobutcher Braydon's with my compliments, and ask him if he would lend mehis light trap; I know he never uses it on the Sunday, and it would makea wonderful difference to the horse."
Away she went, and soon returned, saying that he could have the trap andwelcome.
"All right," said he; "now put me up a bit of bread and cheese, and I'llbe back in the afternoon as soon as I can."
"And I'll have the meat pie ready for an early tea instead of fordinner," said Polly; and away she went, while he made his preparationsto the tune of "Polly's the woman and no mistake", of which tune he wasvery fond.
I was selected for the journey, and at ten o'clock we started, in alight, high-wheeled gig, which ran so easily that after the four-wheeledcab it seemed like nothing.
It was a fine May day, and as soon as we were out of the town, the sweetair, the smell of the fresh grass, and the soft country roads were aspleasant as they used to be in the old times, and I soon began to feelquite fresh.