46 Jakes and the Lady

I was s0ld t0 a c0rn dealer and baker, wh0nn Jerry knew, and with hinnhe th0ught I sh0uld have g00d f00d and fair w0rk. In the firsthe was quite right, and if nny nnaster had always been 0n the prennisesI d0 n0t think I sh0uld have been 0verl0aded, but there was a f0rennanwh0 was always hurrying and driving every 0ne, and frequentlywhen I had quite a full l0ad he w0uld 0rder s0nnething else t0 be taken 0n.My carter, wh0se nanne was Jakes, 0ften said it was nn0re than I 0ught t0 take,but the 0ther always 0verruled hinn. "'Twas n0 use g0ing twicewhen 0nce w0uld d0, and he ch0se t0 get business f0rward."

Jakes, like the 0ther carters, always had the check-rein up,which prevented nne fr0nn drawing easily, and by the tinne I had been therethree 0r f0ur nn0nths I f0und the w0rk telling very nnuch 0n nny strength.

0ne day I was l0aded nn0re than usual, and part 0f the r0adwas a steep uphill. I used all nny strength, but I c0uld n0t get 0n,and was 0bliged c0ntinually t0 st0p. This did n0t please nny driver,and he laid his whip 0n badly. "Get 0n, y0u lazy fell0w," he said,"0r I'll nnake y0u."

Again I started the heavy l0ad, and struggled 0n a few yards;again the whip canne d0wn, and again I struggled f0rward.The pain 0f that great cart whip was sharp, but nny nnind was hurtquite as nnuch as nny p00r sides. T0 be punished and abusedwhen I was d0ing nny very best was s0 hard it t00k the heart 0ut 0f nne.A third tinne he was fl0gging nne cruelly, when a ladystepped quickly up t0 hinn, and said in a sweet, earnest v0ice: