The Grand Duke vastly admired the manner in which he handled the reins.
On the way over, General Sheridan told his guest that I too was a stage-driver, and Alexis expressed a desire to see me drive.
"Cody," called the general, "come back here and exchange places with Reed.

The Grand Duke wants you to drive for a while." In a few minutes I had the reins, and we were racing across the prairie.

We jogged along steadily enough, despite a pretty rapid pace, and this did not suit General Sheridan at all.
"Shake 'em up a little, Bill," he told me as we were approaching Medicine Creek.

"Show us some old-time stage-driving." I gave the horses a sounding crack with the whip, and they jumped into their work with a real interest.

The load was light and their pace increased with every second.
Soon they were fairly flying over the ground, and I had all I could do to maintain any control over them.