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Very cordial was our greeting; and after welcoming him with a glass of grog, and a hearty shake of his long skinny fingers, I insisted upon hearing his adventures from his own lips. Suffice it to say, the story, as I have related it, was correct in all its essentials ; with the addition only, that finding he had to do all the work, and the Yankee kept all the money, he came to the conclusion that it was a losing copartnership on his side: so he made his escape; and for aught I know to the contrary, Paul is still living in ease and comfort, with his oldest and best friends.

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However improbable the assertion may appear to the Broadway belles and the Bowery boys, it is nevertheless unquestionably true, that there are many men and women in the world, who have never travelled in an omnibus. I am aware that the very name of the vehicle seems to imply that they carry all the world; but still it must be regarded as a mere figure of speech, and not taken in its literal sense. In Cockaigne, where the carriage and its name both had their origin, the impropriety of the Omni has long since been aknowledged, and the citizens of that classic land make use of the buss only; and it is a matter of some wonder, that our travelled countrymen have not introduced the improvement here. Taking it for granted, then, that there are, even among the distant readers of the KNICKERBOCKER, some who have never enjoyed the luxury of a ride down Broadway, in one of these convenient vehicles, I design, in this present writing, to narrate, for their especial benefit, some of the pleasures of that delightful manner of travelling.

It was near the close of a warm afternoon in the decline of summer, that I emerged out of one of the elegant streets in the upper part of the city of New York, and stepped upon the newly-laid flagging of Broadway, just as a long white carriage, drawn by four horses of as many different colors, and with a figure of Minerva painted upon its central pannel, started for a little spot of verdure at the lower end of the city, called, by way of a joke, the ‘Bowling Green.' The driver of the vehicle, raising himself in his seat, gave a preliminary flourish with his whip, and looking behind him, caught sight of my weary-looking limbs, and gave me an invitation to ride, by making a peculiar sweep with his uplifted elbow; I answered the invitation by lifting up my fore finger, upon which he checked his horses, and I entered the carriage, and found that it contained no one but an elderly lady, opposite whom I sat down. Our driver was a tall, thin young man, with a whitish hat upon his head, and a cigar in his mouth. His whole dress was in admirable keeping - a perfect study for Mount, the genius of Stoney Brook; and there was a reckless glance in his eye, that would have well become the ambitious Phaeton, the day on which he set fire to the world by his careless driving.

We jogged along at an easy rate, passing the white towers of the University on our left, and the square stone tower of the Church of the Messiah on our right; and leaving the beautiful granite church, with a marble altar and a wooden steeple, and numerous other architectural wonders, behind us. But suddenly there came dashing along behind us an opposition line, from the neighborhood of Union Square, as that tasteful oval is called. The carriage was a deep crimson, with a great profusion of gilding; and was drawn by four mettlesome bay horses. The driver was a buckish-looking individual, with a

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glossy black hat, and a bob-tailed green coat. He also had a newlylighted cigar in bis mouth, and altogether his appearance was saucy in the extreme. He was about to dash past us, without the smallest acknowledgment of our existence, when our driver gave a sudden crack with his whip, and started his cattle into a pretty brisk trot; for drivers of omnibusses, like drivers of quills and bargains, do not like to be distanced in a race with a rival; and therefore it was quite natural that he should make a freer use of his whip than he before had done.

Just at this moment, a couple of young ladies stopped on the crossing, and motioned our driver to stop; but without giving the slightest heed to their wishes, he gave a loose to his reins, and contrived, by a free use of his whip, and an incessant ejaculation of crack phrases, which are presumed to be very gratifying to horses, to keep up the speed of his divers-colored cattle. At the first bound of the omnibus, I found myself plump in the lap of the lady passenger, who seemed disposed to take my sudden intrusion upon her premises as no joke; but scarcely was I seated on my own side again, than another sudden bound sent the lady herself quite as suddenly into my arms. We were now square on the score of visits; so she regained her good humor as soon as circumstances would allow, and said something very 'smart;' but I could not understand a syllable of it.

We dashed along at a fearful rate; and as I saw lamp-posts and granite columns flying past in great confusion, I began to have serious apprehensions that I should never reach Bowling-Green with a whole skin; and as disagreeable thoughts always intrude themselves exactly at the wrong time, my anxiety was increased by remembering that I had neglected to renew the policy on my life, by paying the annual premium.

• Alas! alas ! my poor boy!' I exclaimed, ' who will provide for you and my dear Mary, when I am gone!

e !' But thoughts like these could not occupy my mind long; for our situation was momently becoming intensely exciting.

• A stern chase is a long chase,' is an old saying with sailors; and I see no reason why it should not come to be a proverb among omnibus drivers. Our present case certainly afforded a very pretty illustration of its truth. We were decidedly inferior to our consort in point of metal; but having the lead, we continued to keep it without very great difficulty. On which ever side he might endeavor to pass, our driver would very adroitly prevent him, by heading his horses directly across his path. Fortunately, there is a city ordinance against driving omnibusses on the side-walk, or we might have been compelled to submit to a defeat. Every now and then the heads of the ‘leaders' of the opposition would intrude themselves into the door of our omnibus, and giving a disdainful toss, would half cover us with foam. Then the lady would shriek, the horses would snort, the drivers would swear, crack would go their whips, crash would go something, and away we would fly again. Rows of brick houses rushed past, as though they were reeled off'; Saint Thomas' church, with his two gray towers, and his shingle roof, walked by like a ‘sober second thought;' and Niblo's Garden, with its gingerbread grottoes, and dirty finery, rushed away like a feverish dream. I forgot all my

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fears, now, and thought only of victory. Indeed, I should have valued a broken arm no more than the paring of a finger-nail. I was afraid of nothing but defeat. In the height of my anxiety, I put my head out of the window, and shouted to the driver to crack on; and the lady, who had turned pale with fright when we first set out, was now flushed with excitement, and she clapped her hands together in high glee, every time we got an advantage over our pursuer. Sud. denly I heard a crash and a shout, and turning my head, I saw two well-dressed gentlemen sprawling in the middle of the street, and a pair of grays flying away with a half-demolished dearborn-wagon. Men, I thought, had no business to venture themselves in Broadway in such slight things; and probably so thought our driver, for he never turned his head to see what damage he had done, but continued to urge on his horses at the top of their speed.

That brick-and-wood monster, the Lyceum, was out of sight be. hind us, and still we dashed on, a full omnibus-length ahead of our chase. Grand-street was gained, and for a moment the pinions of Victory fluttered, as if she were hesitating upon whose head to alight. It was but a short space of time, but it was long enough for a doubt.

a Charles the Twelfth at Bender, or Wellinyton at Waterloo, may have experienced something like the peculiar sensations that we did at this moment. The new church, close by, rising like a monstrous heap of snow from the dingy pavement, looked as though it was blanched with apprehension. But doubt was soon removed; and away we dashed again, the driver of the opposition gnashing his teeth with rage at having lost an opportunity of distancing us.

Thinking with Doctor Johnson, that when a historian fails to make record of a generous action that may have been performed by one of his characters, that the world is defrauded of its rightful fare, I will relate the cause of our almost defeat at the corner of Grand-street. A near-sighted old market woman was crossing the street with a basket of Newtown pippins on her brawny arm, when an overgrown porker, whose speed had been quickened by a crack from our driver's whip, ran full bolt between her legs, laid her sprawling upon her back, and sent her basket of pippins flying to the four corners of the two streets. Whether it was that our driver remembered that he had an old mother at home, or that some other kindly feeling infiuenced him, I know not; but, in the most humane manner, he turned his horses' heads a little one side, just sufficient to graze the prostrate lady's petticoat, thus giving his rivala decided advantage; as he might, by driving directly over her, have distanced us by at least half the length of the omnibus. I do not remember to have seen any public acknowledgment of this noble act of generosity; but I trust that those public-spirited individuals who get up · benefits' for meritorious dancing-masters, and other public benefactors, will not allow this gallant omnibus-driver to go unrewarded. Perhaps a complimentary omnibusbenefit-ride, from the Battery to Seventeenth-street, would be as suitable a way as could be suggested, to testify the public respect, and aid the chivalrous beneficiary.

If my feelings were excited before, they reached their calenture now. The humanity of our driver had enlisted my sympathies strongly in his behalf, while the ferocious looks and profane expres

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sions of the opposition, caused me to exult in his defeat. Away we flew like lightning, and gained the next corner without doing any other damage than overturning the oyster-stand of a one-legged old. sailor, who appeared to regard his loss of a few oysters, and a bottle of red peppers, with a degree of chagrin which I thought was greatly disproportioned to the occasion. Ai last, we reached Canal-street, where we had a passing glance of the romantic hills of Weehawken, and a gorgeous pile of snowy clouds rising above the green fields of New-Jersey, and just tinged with the beautiful hues of the descending sun. I looked upon the bright vision as an omen of success;

and something was wanting to sustain our spirits, for the space on which we had now entered being wider than any that we had passed before, afforded a better chance for our pursuer to avail himself of his superior bottom; but the greater number of pedestrians that we here encountered, in a great measure neutralized the advantage.

The blackened walls of the Church of the Ascension, the aspiring liberty-pole of the Conservatives, and the dépôt of the hygeian college, all might have attracted my attention at any other time; but now, they were unheeded. Our passage across this area was extremely critical; for notwithstanding our driver did all that could be done with his whip and his tongue, our rival gained upon us at every step.; and just as we had abandoned all hope, one of Kip and Brown's bloodred omnibuses, with a full load, came dashing up Broadway, and saved me from defeat, by running so close to the opposition, as to nearly upset him. But all three omnibusses meeting at the same moment, together with a charcoal wagon, two butchers' carts, a buggy, and two private carriages with out-riders, caused considerable scam. pering among the foot passengers. A terribly shrill cry suddenly pierced our ears. •O! heavens !' exclaimed my companion,' what can it be!'

It is nothing but a child,' I replied, as I saw a young lady haul something white from under the wheels of a butcher's cart, and press it to her bosom. But a second look enabled me to say, 'It is only a Spanish poodle,' just in time to save the lady from fainting, which she had made preparation to do, by taking her pocket handkerchief and smelling-bottle out of her pocket.

As we were fast approaching the end of our journey, the efforts of the rivals increased in vigor. They ballooed, they swore, they cursed, they stamped; they whipped their horses, and then brandished their whips at each other; and if we did not increase, we certainly did not diminish our speed; while the interest, if possible, grew more exciting every moment. But soon a new difficulty arose. wanted to alight at Lispenard-street, but the driver was proof against the admonitions of the check-string. The lady had 110 wish to travel so far out of her way as Bowling Green, but the driver was too intent on the race to allow a passenger to alight, and thereby give his antagonist an opportunity of beating him. And I must confess that I was highly delighted with his spirit; and forgetting, for the moment, that I was a member of a temperance society, I determined to treat him to a julap, so soon as we should reach the end of our journey. The lady continued to tug away at the check-string, but the only reply our gallant driver made was, 'No you don't !'- and by putting the

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