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Inside, a motley party, in ratcatcher kit, would be drinking hot coffee, trying to do justice to our host's very early breakfast, and loud were the grumblings when anyone was late. As well as I remember, we never waited for anyone; but there were two late birds, who lived down the road we went. One of these, Parson ——, had always to be rattled up, and was made to do most of his dressing after he had taken his place in the brake; but he was a rare cheery soul, and we would not have gone without him on any consideration. It was different with the other tardy guest, a sporting man—using the term in opposition to sportsman—whom we called 'Jingles,' and who once got really left—a circumstance which taught him to be ready on future occasions. This 'Jingles,' however, was good fun, too, because he professed to know all about it, and caused us great amusement by the complications he got into when he tried, late in the evening, to describe some particular course. By 6.15 we used to be fairly on our way, and at first the difficulties of our amateur whip with a scratch team, the country being inky black at the time, kept us alive. There was a locked turnpike gate, which gave us a lot of trouble, until we thought of sending a man with the fare overnight, and a request that the gate might be left open.