Seven Men in One.

Otago Witness, Issue 1894, 9 March 1888, Page 25

Seven Men in One.

Of the many stories told of the predilections of the notorious Marquis of Waterford for practical jokes the following is not the least amusing. One dark and very foggy night, muffled up. in, hqayy overcoat and sbawj.

he went up to a stand of hackney coaches, jumped into one, and ordered the jarvie to drive him to a house in a certain fashionable neighbourhood about a mile off, and to go rather slowly. The coach had not proceeded many yards when he opened the door quietly and slipped out, ran back to the stand, hailed another conveyance, directed the driver to get up to the one that had just started and keep benind it; once more, almost as soon as it had started, he tipped Jehu the double, and returned to the stand. By altering his voice, now stooping, now swaggering, now pretending to be drunk, he, with the assistance of the fog, disguised his personality enough to deceive the whole seven drivers that were on the stand at the time. On rattled the ramshackle old vehicles to their destination, drawn by their wheezy, groggy old crocks, each coachy trying to get before the other, blocking the roadway, and exchanging those pleasant amenities of language among themselves and with other drivers who wished to share the king's highway with them, for which the gentlemen of the whip are so famous. In the last of the seven vehicles the Marquis kept his seat until close upon the house to which he had directed his victim to drive ; but just before arriving 1 there he once more made his exit, and betook himself to the pavement to witness the fun. The first jarvie drew up, descended from his seat, opened the coach door, and stood petrified with astonishment at finding the vehicle empty, while the one behind, anxioua to discharge his freight, was launching curses loud and deep upon the loiterer. But when all the seven victims found themselves diddled the tableau was astounding— and as to swearing, "the army in Flanders " were nowhere. When, as a climax to the joke, the Marquis appeared in their midst, each claimed him as his own, and it was not until he had damaged several eyes and noses that he could make himself heard. The next thing he did was to pay all double fares, march them off to a pub., make them all gloriously drunk, stow each man inside his coach, collect six men out of the house to drive, lead the way on tho box of one himself, convey the slumbering Jehus miles away into the country, and there leave them.