The later it was and the stormier it was, the more vigor he put into
the note, and it was a drowsy postmaster indeed who did not start
from his bench by the fire at the sound of that ringing halloo.
Thus the old stage-coach, in Life Lane's time, was generally called "The
Midnight Cry," and not such a bad name either, whether the term was derisively
applied because the stage was always late; or whether Life's "Yo ho!"
had caught the popular fancy.
There was a pretty girl in Pleasant River (and, alas! another in
Bonny Eagle) who went to bed every night with the chickens, but stayed awake
till she heard first the rumble of heavy wheels on a bridge, then a faint,
bell-like tone that might have come out of the mouth of a silver horn;
whereupon she blushed as if it were an offer of marriage, and turned
over and went to sleep.
If the stage arrived in good season, Life would have a few minutes
to sit on the loafers' beach beside the big open fire; and what a
feature he was, with his tales culled from all sorts of passengers,
who were never so fluent as when sitting beside him "up in front!"
There was a tallow dip or two, and no other light save that of the fire.
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