Wichita eagle., 1889-08-11

Mel. 81 know Mr.. Brooks"
.'Oh, very WE'LL" he replied with a peculiar
emile, as he picked mp a valise. 81 hope you'll
have no serious trouble"
.sNone at ALL" responded, cheerfully.
And then his footsteps died away down the
hall
AfNar a great deal of ''see saving" we got
Il through the door. / carried the front, Mel
the back, and down the stairs we went. All
went well until We reached the bottom fight,
leading through the Office, when we received
q startling check.
Hold on there!n shouted Dir. Brooks, bur-
rying across the Office. "Where are you
going with that machine"
''Home,n was our intrepid answer, in one
voice
az guess notp' was the emphatic response.
''Pve got $50 board bill tackled onto that
felt a sickening sensation come over me.
Thirty dollars more-eighty dollars What
nextl Everything swan for an instant; then
l was aroused by Mel's awe struck voice
from above:
Il say, Ben, can we stand itF
InvoluntariIy glanced back at the shining
enamel and glittering nickel. Its silent per-
suaSiye powers were too much.
"Of course; we'll have to stand It'll" I burst
forth
'Then here gees" was the mournful reply.
And we once more descended
Mel was brilliant conversationalist; but
it took our combined oratorical powers and
the signing of two notes, each for fifteen dol
lars, before Mr.. Brooks would consent to let
the machine pass over the door sill.
mo wonder Morton changed his mind and
let us have it'll" cried Mel, Indignantly, as we
pushed it into the street Eighty dollars is
all it's worth"
Sand hoped we'd have no serious trouble"
added sarcastically.
Then we mounted, in the front saddle,
Mel foot higher behind.
What sensation we created, spinning
down the smooth streetsl
How our hearts did beat with 16-year-old
boyish pride, as we noted people stop to stare
after US; but how quickly they sank when
crowd of small boys gave chase!
Don't hit em wild de rock, Jimmy"
pleaded voice from an alley.
We both lodged to escape the imaginary
missile, to be greeted with boisterous laugh
ter.
our ears tingle.
hall, or We'll be out a clock!" who said it
breathedp us it tagged!' "They use it to
haul brickp'
Hurry, please cried a girlish voice
Don't let my dog see you, or he'll have fits
again"
That settled it. With faces the color of an
auctioneers flag, we turned down side street
and made direct for the academy.
~ ho1 Had 1oox in,
their stead modification.
Davis met us at the porch with genuine
stare Of establishment.
"Hellol" he cried What have we here
tandem2 Well, now, amt that just jolly?'
We looked at each other, but neither could
see anything amusing. Evidently, Davis had
never rode tandem through our town.
They're fine for coasting,n he explained.
Wouldn't it be great scheme to try it on
Five Mile hill tomorrow It's Saturday,
you know"
Just the thing" I cried, enthusiastically.
What do you say, Mels"
"Same thing"
Therefore, all present being unanimous on
the subject, it was agreed that we should
push the tandem up five miles of steady grade
for the pleasure Of coasting down.
ing, to find Mel excitedly walking round and
round the tandem on the lawn
Il say, Ben, there's something the matter
with this machine" he cried, excitedly, as
came up.
what is tY'
That's it," was the rueful reply. "I've
looked at it for ten minutes, and l can't see
what it is, though there's something wrong"
looked at it, too, with the same result.
What could it bei Everything looked all
right, yet there was an indescribable sensa-
ton 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 Or
chards and hedges, with occasional long, shall
low ruts that gave you a wavs, springy
motion
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 hundred yards above
this, the road has its steepest grade. Here we
found it necessary to dignount and push the
machine.
A quarter Of a mile farther we came to
what is called the "Hollow"-a kind Of ravine,
a couple of hundred feet broad, with slanting
banks fourteen feet high.
There are places on Five Mile hill that
comparatively speaking, are very near level
On these we would gather strength for an
other exertion, and then, toiling, painting, We
would creep slowly up.
There were but few turns, broad and far
between.
Just two hours and thi-ty-five minutes
after leaving the academy, we stopped on the
crest Of Five Mile hill, the perspiration
streaming down our dusty faces. our hands
blistered and cramped with holding the ham
dies, our feet nearly paralyzed with the
strain.
But in spite of the above drawbacks. we
managed to make victorious assault ON an
apple orchard.
Seated on our tandem at one side Of the
road, we amused ourselves by placing the
fruit where it would do the most good, re-
counting the trip TO find what pleasure we
had derived from hand found none at all
and deciding whether to return or make an
other assault.
We decided on the former. Pushing the
machine into TIE middle OF the road, mount
ed. Mel held a driver in one hand TO prevent
its starting, his watch in the other to time our
downward journey.
"Readyf'
And receiving an affirmative reply, he
sprang into his saddle.
Two or three turns on the pedals TO give US
a start, and with feet pressed firmly on the
rubber foot rests, hands clasping the vi
brating handle bars, we prepared for quick