Telegram-herald., 1889-06-09
TRAGEDY. OF A TRICYCLE..
- } 7. rEesszspcs


~t-1 cas- nor NE he kseps a
boat 2nd &c Used oi1sa to eross Tia AKA
IA y shsn BE s~nt - TAX. the trAsa 81 !.
station near the opDosits shore. n tbs
weather Nas al1aF0raDis Ia tne morning
DAT TAR IN tae afternoon. ths1 hl, b,5g.
Azed no better fua thaa % 20 ever ia
the osAE u meet kim aad bring hsu
Esme.
t"o o. tAres years ago he bought 4
tricycle., and after that TIE boat TAD !.
fofulldabls rival Besides the faseias~
tion " tae new mode u mscioB. there
as TIE great con FsaIeace og making the
eifeaitogs aliis bY the streets In a quarter
cf me TINS u tlck for the direct half
Aiiis Df water. He Eoald have his
machine az tas station. fortunately there
"aa a doorway wide enough for him 10
Ket ll IA az and hnd 10 ready for the re-
turn tfiy when be came 0uE from TIE city
As hisht. That l. 20 say. when he did
h't riae II into the city, as he sometimes
oi4 Ia ha- weather. This was in the sum
hler aud faiL Then followed a time
"aen the soft mud. % what WAS worse,
The frozea mud. of the streets aud side
walks rendered these rides imDracti-
cable, and the tricycle. was housed ike
boat A brief time, however, for the
LAKE froze over early. aud then with the
skates and ile boats, cut came the Hsht
vehicle again.
Tie nrsl tail of snow was soaked down
By the company thar cuts Ice on the lake.
Subsequent falls were scraped up In inn
niense, long parallel heaps, like windows
Or hay. leaving the intervening fields.
clear for the Ice plows and ice-olane@.
ia Hart .. "a A.
enough for harvesting Then came a rain
followed BY intense cold. sweeping the
last traces = snow from these fields, and
leaving their sarfsce as polished a. the
glare of tbs drss- formed lee.
>lcn Was The state OK things when Her
n4an ore day crossed the lake on his trF
cycle. which Pc lei- 40 the station, on his
Way % town Tie expected o. return At the
usual hour la the afternoon bat at two
o'clock teirSrap phrd % his wife that be had
been invited 20 sdinner. and THAI he would
come cut By the last train. which meant
thas be would not reach h0iae until about
midnight
A. . o'clock that evening the children
were in bed, aud an hour later Mrs Day
herself retired. leaving the entry gas
bnruing low for her husband. She thinks
she must have slept nearly two hours,
when some startling dream which she
could not afterwards recall awoke her,
and she sat up,with a strange feeling that
Mr. Day was Ia some great distress aud
DANGER
II seemed TO her that s,e had heard him
cali. The house was perfectly still; the
~ was burning dimly. ~ she had left it;
there seemed to he no cause whatever for
her anxiety, and being reasonable wo-
man, Sue laid down and tried 10 sleep
again
Bat this was ont OF the question, and
getting up in a little while 10 look at her
watch, she found that it was seven min
utcs past twelve The discovery increased
her alarm, for II Herman had come by the
train, and the train had been on time he
should have been ut home. IL was due
ar the station ten minutes before mid
night. and on = cold night like that, il
could not have taken him more than
twelve or fifteen minutes 10 walk from
the cars 20 his own door.
lie has missed the train, or it is late"
thought she. = 10 is yery foolish for NE 20
be anxious" Aud so perfect was her
faith IN bis ability to take care of him
self. that she siIenced her fears and re-
turned 20 bed
Then all 10 once came over her a ter
rihle recOllection-uhs tricycle.. She
could not remem Der whether he had taken
IT 20 cross the lake in the morning; she
was busy about some domestic affairs
when he left the house, and till this
moment it had not occurred to her that
BE could Be coming from the station, in
the middle ofa midwinter night, by any
other way than the street.
Up again. she opened a window that
overlooked the lake. and gazed out upon
the dim scene Of desoiation that stretched
away from the snowy garden below the
house. There was no moon, but IL was
brilliant starlight; the consultations
5parkled and slittered A. they sparkle and
glitter only on a still and clear winter
night, when Siriu~and Aldevaran aud the
blazing belt OF Orion are in the
ci0udless heavens. Beyond the pallid
shores spread the dark expanss OF
the frozen lake. scarcely ruled Ike
vast slate by the lines of heaped
snow ~ wide intervals dividing the clear
ice Eeics. Not a moving thing was visible
as she cast her eyes scross tou ard the
railroad station: and not sound broke
the universal stiffness. except that now
and then the ice. contracting with the in
tense cold. cracked with = sharp report,
that reverberatsd and died away like
small thunder-clap in the dim distance.
Il did nos seem possible that any human /
bsing should De on the lake at that hour.
or struggling in it.
After looking and listening till she was
chilled by the biting air that rushed in.
.r 10 - ? a
bedside ~ her boys in an adjoining room.
IL was some tiuis before she could shake /
the sleep out n James. the oldest. sgfiic-
i-ntiy 20 get from him snY intelligent
answer 90 her questions.
James. see here. wake NJ Tell me. 40
you bsars Dij your father cross the ice
oo his tricycle. when ke went 20 take the
train this morning p
'Nhv. what II be dit or didn't'
csn'f thjnx now. mamb.ed James. stilI
drunk with siesp
"It is time he ~sT>s ~ home long ago.
but he does0 come. aad I am anxious
about him"
These words from his mother brought
the boy 20 his senses.
No need ~ being anxious. whether
he took ais tricycle. or not No accident
ccrlt happen to him on the ice. why, its
fifteen inches thick
Couldn't he get thruu gh -
No way in the world. unless Re took
a. sxa and chopped through"
Bur the ice i cracking dreadfuily"
80 81 always does. cold nights. Bus
vou couldn't poke sick through one of
those cracks into shs water. They're only
iass ersu enough ~ catch skate runner
and make a felinw uFf -
"And they havsut bsgun 70 cut fee