Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1889-10-23

"Oh, no, he won'tl'' burst in the I'M |
petuous Mel II know Mr.. Brooks"
..Oh. very welll'' he replied with !
peculiar smile, as he picked up a valise. !
~ hope you'll have no serious trouble"
"None at all!'' L responded, cheer |
fully.
And then his footsteps died away
down the hall.
After a great deal of ''see saving
We got it through the door. 1 carried
the front, Mel the back, and down the
stairs we went. All went well until
we reached the bottom flight, leading
through the office, when We received a
startling check.
''Hold on therel" shouted Mr.. Brooks,
hurrying across the office. "Where
are you going with that machine?''
"Home," was our intripid answer,
in one voice.
IL guess notl" was the emphatic re-
sponse.
"I've got $50 boarJ bill tackled onto
that vehicle"
81 felt a sickening sensation come
over me. Thirty dollars more-eighty
dollars. What next? Everything SWAN
for an instant; then l was aroused by
Mel's awe struck voice from above:
~ say, Ben, can we stand it?''
Involuntarily l glanced back at the
shining enamel and glittering nickel.
Its silent persuasive powers were too
much,
"Of course; we'll have to stand it!'
l burst forth.
Then here goes" was the mournful
reply.
And we once more descended.
Mel WAS brilliant conversationalist;
.S ~ ,Nz~.-g II
powers ana the signing Of two notes,
each for fifteen dollars, before Mr..
Brooks would consent to let the ma
chine pass over the door sill.
mo wonder Morton changed his
mind and let us have ItI'' cried Mel,
Indignantly, as We pushed it into the
street. Eighty dollars is all its worth. F"
And hoped we'd have no serious
trouble, - added, sarcastically.
Then we mounted, / in the front
saddle, Mel foot higher behind.
What a sensation we created, spin
ming down the smooth streets.
How our hearts did beat with To-
year-old boyish pride, as we noted peo-
pie stop TO stare after us; but how
quickly they sank when crowd of
small boys gave chasel
Don't hit 'em wild de rock, Jimmy" 8"
pleaded a voice from an alley.
We both dodged to escape the imagl-
nary missile, TO be greeted with bolster
Gus laughter.
Then followed a series OF cries that
made our ears tingle.
"who owns 'em? Head 'em off
from the hall, or we'll be out a clock!''
''Who said it breathed?' sis ii tag
ged?'' They use it to haul brickl"
Hurry, please" cried girlish
voice Don't let my dog see you, or
he'll have fits again.
That settled it. With faces the color
of AN auctioneer's flag, we turned down
a side street and made direct for the
academy
All thoughts of vanity had fed, Ieav-
ing in their stead modification.
Davis met us at the porch with a
! genuine stare of astonishment.
"HelIol" he cried. What have we
here-a tandem? Well, now, amt
that Just jolly?"
We look, d at each OF er. but neither
could see anything amusing. Evidently,
Davis had never rode a tandem through
our town.
They're fine for coasting," he *
planned Wouldn't it be great
s-heme to try it on Five Mile hill to-
morrow It's Saturday, you know"
Just the thing" l cried, enthusIas-
tically. "What do you say, Mel?"
Same thing"
Therefore, all present being unani-
moiis on the subject, it was agreed that
we should push the tandem up live
miles OF steady grade for the pleasure
! of coastIng down.
l turned out bright and early next
morning. TO find Mel excitedly walking
round and round the tandem on the
! lawn.
81 say, Ben, there's something the
matter with this machine" he cried,
, excitedly, as l came up.
'Wh is it?''
That's It." was the rueful reply.
"I'ge looked at It for ten minutes, and
1 can't see what il is, though there's
something wrong"
] looked al it, too, with the same
result.
What conij it be? Everything look ed
all right, yet there was an indescribable
sensation that something was wrong
Coming to the conclusion that we
must be laboring under hallucInation,
We mounted and rode slowly out OF the
| grounds
How invigorating it was to skim
along the roads, packed as hard as flint,
lined with orchards and hedges, with
| OCCASIONAL long, shallow ruts that gave
| you a wavy, springy motionl
Two miles of these roads, and then
we reached the foot of Five Mile hill
A railroad curves around the left
side, going up, crosses the road, and
strikes off to the right. For two hun
dred yards above this, the road has its
steepest grade. Here we found it nee
essary 10 dismount and push the ma
chine.
A quarter of mile farther we came
10 what is called the "Hollow''-s kind
of ravine, a couple OF hundred feet
broad, with slanting banks fourteen
feet high
There are places on Five Mile hill
that comparatively speak ng, are very
near level. On these We would gather
sire Myth for another eXertion, and then,
toiling, painting, We would creep slowly
up
There were but few turns, broad and
| far between.
Just two hours and thirty-five min
utes after leaving the academy, we
stopped on the crest of Five Mile hill,
| the perspiration streaming down our
/ dusty faces, our hands bliste ed and
cramped with holding the handles, our
feet nearly paralyzed with the strain.
But in spite OF the above drawbacks.
We managed to make a victorious as
saul. OH an apple orchard.
Seated on our tandem at one side OF
the road, we amused ourselves by plac-
ing the fruit where il would do the
| most good. recountinR the trip to find
what pleasure we had derived from il
| and found none at all-and deciding
whether TO return or make another as
| sault.
| We decided ON the former Pushing