and she wants to know if you would take her in your cab,

and she promises to pay you faithfully, as she can get the money."
"Tut, tut! we'll see about that. It was not the money I was thinking about,

but of losing our Sunday; the horses are tired, and I am tired, too --
that's where it pinches."

"It pinches all round, for that matter," said Polly, "for it's only
half Sunday without you, but you know we should do to other people

as we should like they should do to us; and I know very well
what I should like if my mother was dying; and Jerry, dear,

I am sure it won't break the Sabbath; for if pulling a poor beast or donkey
out of a pit would not 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

my Sunday-morning sermon early to-day, you may go and tell Dinah
that I'll be ready for her as the clock strikes ten; but stop --

just step round to butcher Braydon's with my compliments,
and ask him if he would lend me his light trap; I know he never uses it

on the Sunday, and it would make a wonderful difference to the horse."
Away she went, and soon returned, saying that he could have the trap

and welcome.
"All right," said he; "now put me up a bit of bread and cheese,

and I'll be back in the afternoon as soon as I can."
"And I'll have the meat pie ready for an early tea instead of for dinner,"

said Polly; and away she went, while he made his preparations to the tune of
"Polly's the woman and no mistake", of which tune he was very fond.

I was selected for the journey, and at ten o'clock we started,
in a light, high-wheeled gig, which ran so easily

that after the four-wheeled cab it seemed like nothing.
It was a fine May day, and as soon as we were out of the town, the sweet air,

the smell of the fresh grass, and the soft country roads were as pleasant
as they used to be in the old times, and I soon began to feel quite fresh.

Dinah's family lived in a small farmhouse, up a green lane, close by a meadow
with some fine shady trees; there were two cows feeding in it.

A young man asked Jerry to bring his trap into the meadow, and he would
tie me up in the cowshed; he wished he had a better stable to offer.

"If your cows would not be offended," said Jerry, "there is nothing my horse
would like so well as to have an hour or two in your beautiful meadow;

he's quiet, and it would be a rare treat for him."
"Do, and welcome," said the young man; "the best we have is at your service

for your kindness to my sister; we shall be having some dinner in an hour,
and I hope you'll come in, though with mother so ill we are all out of sorts

in the house."
Jerry thanked him kindly, but said as he had some dinner with him

there was nothing he should like so well as walking about in the meadow.
When my harness was taken off I did not know what I should do first --

whether to eat the grass, or roll over on my back, or lie down and rest,
or have a gallop across the meadow out of sheer spirits at being free;

and I did all by turns. Jerry seemed to be quite as happy as I was;
he sat down by a bank under a shady tree, and listened to the birds,

then he sang himself, and read out of the little brown book he is so fond of,
then wandered round the meadow, and down by a little brook,

where he picked the flowers and the hawthorn, and tied them up
with long sprays of ivy; then he gave me a good feed of the oats

which he had brought with him; but the time seemed all too short --
I had not been in a field since I left poor Ginger at Earlshall.

We came home gently, and Jerry's first words were, as we came into the yard,
"Well, Polly, I have not lost my Sunday after all, for the birds

were singing hymns in every bush, and I joined in the service;
and as for Jack, he was like a young colt."

When he handed Dolly the flowers she jumped about for joy.
38 Dolly and a Real Gentleman

Winter came in early, with a great deal of cold and wet. There was snow,
or sleet, or rain almost every day for weeks, changing only for

keen driving winds or sharp frosts. The horses all felt it very much.
When it is a dry cold a couple of good thick rugs will keep the warmth in us;

but when it is soaking rain they soon get wet through and are no good.
Some of the drivers had a waterproof cover to throw over,

which was a fine thing; but some of the men were so poor
that they could not protect either themselves or their horses,

and many of them suffered very much that winter. When we horses
had worked half the day we went to our dry stables, and could rest,

while they had to sit on their boxes, sometimes staying out as late
as one or two o'clock in the morning if they had a party to wait for.

When the streets were slippery with frost or snow that was the worst of all
for us horses. One mile of such traveling, with a weight to draw

and no firm footing, would take more out of us than four on a good road;
every nerve and muscle of our bodies is on the strain to keep our balance;

and, added to this, the fear of falling is more exhausting
than anything else. If the roads are very bad indeed our shoes are roughed,

but that makes us feel nervous at first.
When the weather was very bad many of the men would go and sit

in the tavern close by, and get some one to watch for them;
but they often lost a fare in that way, and could not, as Jerry said,

be there without spending money. He never went to the Rising Sun;
there was a coffee-shop near, where he now and then went,

or he bought of an old man, who came to our rank with tins
of hot coffee and pies. It was his opinion that spirits and beer

made a man colder afterward, and that dry clothes, good food, cheerfulness,
and a comfortable wife at home, were the best things to keep a cabman warm.

Polly always supplied him with something to eat when he could not get home,
and sometimes he would see little Dolly peeping from the corner

of the street, to make sure if "father" was on the stand.
If she saw him she would run off at full speed and soon come back

with something in a tin or basket, some hot soup or pudding Polly had ready.
It was wonderful how such a little thing could get safely across the street,

often thronged with horses and carriages; but she was a brave little maid,
and felt it quite an honor to bring "father's first course",

as he used to call it. She was a general favorite on the stand,
and there was not a man who would not have seen her safely across the street,

if Jerry had not been able to do it.
One cold windy day Dolly had brought Jerry a basin of something hot,

and was standing by him while he ate it. He had scarcely begun
when a gentleman, walking toward us very fast, held up his umbrella.

Jerry touched his hat in return, gave the basin to Dolly,
and was taking off my cloth, when the gentleman, hastening up, cried out,

"No, no, finish your soup, my friend; I have not much time to spare,
but I can wait till you have done, and set your little girl

safe on the pavement." So saying, he seated himself in the cab.
Jerry thanked him kindly, and came back to Dolly.

"There, Dolly, that's a gentleman; that's a real gentleman, Dolly;
he has got time and thought for the comfort of a poor cabman

and a little girl."
Jerry finished his soup, set the child across, and then took his orders

to drive to Clapham Rise. Several times after that the same gentleman
took our cab. I think he was very fond of dogs and horses,

for whenever we took him to his own door two or three dogs
would come bounding out to meet him. Sometimes he came round and patted me,

saying in his quiet, pleasant way, "This horse has got a good master,
and he deserves it." It was a very rare thing for any one to notice

the horse that had been working for him. I have known ladies to do it
now and then, and this gentleman, and one or two others have given me

a pat and a kind word; but ninety-nine persons out of a hundred
would as soon think of patting the steam engine that drew the train.

The gentleman was not young, and there was a forward stoop in his shoulders
as if he was always going at something. His lips were thin and close shut,

though they had a very pleasant smile; his eye was keen,
and there was something in his jaw and the motion of his head

that made one think he was very determined in anything he set about.
His voice was pleasant and kind; any horse would trust that voice,

though it was just as decided as everything else about him.
One day he and another gentleman took our cab; they stopped at a shop

in R---- Street, and while his friend went in he stood at the door.
A little ahead of us on the other side of the street

a cart with two very fine horses was standing before some wine vaults;
the carter was not with them, and I cannot tell how long

they had been standing, but they seemed to think they had waited long enough,
and began to move off. Before they had gone many paces

the carter came running out and caught them. He seemed furious
at their having moved, and with whip and rein punished them brutally,

even beating them about the head. Our gentleman saw it all,
and stepping quickly across the street, said in a decided voice:

"If you don't stop that directly, I'll have you arrested
for leaving your horses, and for brutal conduct."

The man, who had clearly been drinking, poured forth some abusive language,
but he left off knocking the horses about, and taking the reins,

got into his cart; meantime our friend had quietly taken a note-book
from his pocket, and looking at the name and address painted on the cart,

he wrote something down.
"What do you want with that?" growled the carter, as he cracked his whip

and was moving on. A nod and a grim smile was the only answer he got.
On returning to the cab our friend was joined by his companion,

who said laughingly, "I should have thought, Wright,
you had enough business of your own to look after, without troubling yourself

about other people's horses and servants."
Our friend stood still for a moment, and throwing his head a little back,

"Do you know why this world is as bad as it is?"
"No," said the other.

"Then I'll tell you. It is because people think only about
their own business, and won't trouble themselves to stand up

for the oppressed, nor bring the wrongdoer to light.
I never see a wicked thing like this without doing what I can,

and many a master has thanked me for letting him know
how his horses have been used."

"I wish there were more gentlemen like you, sir," said Jerry,
"for they are wanted badly enough in this city."

After this we continued our journey, and as they got out of the cab
our friend was saying, "My doctrine is this, that if we see cruelty or wrong

that we have the power to stop, and do nothing, we make ourselves
sharers in the guilt."

39 Seedy Sam
I should say that for a cab-horse I was very well off indeed;

my driver was my owner, and it was his interest to treat me well
and not overwork me, even had he not been so good a man as he was;

but there were a great many horses which belonged to the large cab-owners,
who let them out to their drivers for so much money a day.

As the horses did not belong to these men the only thing they thought of
was how to get their money out of them, first, to pay the master,

and then to provide for their own living; and a dreadful time
some of these horses had of it. Of course, I understood but little,

but it was often talked over on the stand, and the governor,
who was a kind-hearted man and fond of horses, would sometimes speak up

if one came in very much jaded or ill-used.
One day a shabby, miserable-looking driver, who went by the name

of "Seedy Sam", brought in his horse looking dreadfully beat,
and the governor said:

"You and your horse look more fit for the police station than for this rank."
The man flung his tattered rug over the horse, turned full round

upon the Governor and said in a voice that sounded almost desperate:
"If the police have any business with the matter it ought to be with

the masters who charge us so much, or with the fares that are fixed so low.
If a man has to pay eighteen shillings a day for the use of a cab

and two horses, as many of us have to do in the season,
and must make that up before we earn a penny for ourselves

I say 'tis more than hard work; nine shillings a day to get out of each horse
before you begin to get your own living. You know that's true,

and if the horses don't work we must starve, and I and my children
have known what that is before now. I've six of 'em, and only one

earns anything; I am on the stand fourteen or sixteen hours a day,
and I haven't had a Sunday these ten or twelve weeks; you know Skinner

never gives a day if he can help it, and if I don't work hard,
tell me who does! I want a warm coat and a mackintosh,

• minister [´ministə] n.部长；大臣 v.伺候 (初中英语单词)
• butcher [´butʃə] n.屠夫，刽子手 (初中英语单词)
• meadow [´medəu] n.草地；牧场 (初中英语单词)
• stable [´steibəl] n.马棚 a.稳固的 (初中英语单词)
• harness [´hɑ:nis] vt.上马具 n.马具 (初中英语单词)
• gallop [´gæləp] n.&v.奔驰；急速行进 (初中英语单词)
• gently [´dʒentli] ad.温和地；静静地 (初中英语单词)
• warmth [wɔ:mθ] n.温暖；热情；激动 (初中英语单词)
• muscle [´mʌsəl] n.肌肉；体力；力量 (初中英语单词)
• nervous [´nə:vəs] a.神经的；神经过敏的 (初中英语单词)
• safely [´seifli] ad.安全地；平安地 (初中英语单词)
• standing [´stændiŋ] n.持续 a.直立的 (初中英语单词)
• whenever [wen´evə] conj.&ad.无论何时 (初中英语单词)
• working [´wə:kiŋ] a.工人的；劳动的 (初中英语单词)
• running [´rʌniŋ] a.奔跑的；流动的 (初中英语单词)
• meantime [´mi:ntaim] n.&ad.其间；同时 (初中英语单词)
• wicked [´wikid] a.邪恶的；不道德的 (初中英语单词)
• doctrine [´dɔktrin] n.教义；主义；学说 (初中英语单词)
• dreadful [´dredful] a.可怕的；讨厌的 (初中英语单词)
• dreadfully [dredfuli] ad.可怕地；糟透地 (初中英语单词)
• governor [´gʌvənə] n.总督；州长 (初中英语单词)
• charge [tʃɑ:dʒ] v.收费；冲锋 n.费用 (初中英语单词)
• starve [stɑ:v] v.(使)饥饿 (初中英语单词)
• faithfully [´feiθfəli] ad.忠实地；诚恳地 (高中英语单词)
• sermon [´sə:mən] n.说教；训诫；讲道 (高中英语单词)
• saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)
• farmhouse [´fɑ:mhaus] n.农场住房，农舍 (高中英语单词)
• ginger [´dʒindʒə] n.姜；精神，元气 (高中英语单词)
• slippery [´slipəri] a.滑的；不稳固的 (高中英语单词)
• strain [strein] vt.拉紧 vi.拖 n.张力 (高中英语单词)
• tavern [´tævən] n.小酒馆；客栈 (高中英语单词)
• pudding [´pudiŋ] n.布丁 (高中英语单词)
• motion [´məuʃən] n.手势 vt.打手势 (高中英语单词)
• decided [di´saidid] a.明显的；决定的 (高中英语单词)
• cruelty [´kru:əlti] n.残忍；残酷行为 (高中英语单词)
• shabby [´ʃæbi] a.(衣服)破旧的 (高中英语单词)
• sabbath [´sæbəθ] n.安息日 (英语四级单词)
• brutal [´bru:tl] a.兽性的；残暴的 (英语四级单词)
• tattered [´tætəd] a.(衣服等)破烂的 (英语四级单词)
• taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)
• hawthorn [´hɔ:θɔ:n] n.山楂(属) (英语六级单词)
• waterproof [´wɔ:təpru:f] a.防水的 n.防水物 (英语六级单词)
• footing [´futiŋ] n.立脚点；基础；地位 (英语六级单词)
• beating [´bi:tiŋ] n.敲；搅打；失败 (英语六级单词)
• cracked [krækt] a.有裂缝的；碎的；粗哑 (英语六级单词)
• overwork [,əuvə´wə:k] v.(使)劳累n.过分劳累 (英语六级单词)