The Portland daily press., 1894-10-03

1e~ASN ~-~~~S s>-r ~~-~-
that club
s'But where did you become acquainted
with them?"
'sWhy, in the park and on the road.
They are real nice fellows, and one of
them is to pace me tomorrow and another
is to pull a watch on me-"
Mrs. Hayetall feebly shook her head. 1t
was beyond her comprehension. She real
lied how vain were her efforts to under
stand the new developments and subsidized.
That night Miss Roberta sat up late,
and the next afternoon when she mounted
her wheel she wore divided skirts. They
were great success, for the dress did not
wrap itself around the machine when the
wind blew on the quarter, and she aston
ished the man who timed her by coming
within speaking distance of the road rec
ord for women. He spoke of her at the
club that night.
''That little Havetall is good one, :"
he said. s'She needs a little training and
coaching, and she'll do for anything from
mile to century. We ought to develop
her and enter her for Pullman or the
Elgin road race. She's almighty pretty,
and I'll back her to win, for she's hum
mer and no mistake.
1t was arranged that Miss Roberta
should wear the colors of the Cross Coun-
tries at little road race which was to
come off the next week. and Miss Roberta
did not say mo" when she was asked to
enter the race.
Mrs. Havetall saw but little of her
daughter that week, for when Roberta
was not locked in her room she was out on
her wheel and always came home hot, di-
sheveled and dusty. The day of the race
she left the house early, carrying bulky
package.
Four young women made the race, and
Miss Roberta Havetall, in wide, baggy
boomers, carried the cherry and yellow of
the Cross Countries across the line 100
yards in advance. She was lifted from the
saddle and overcome by the enthusiasm
of the moment gave the clubs yell with
vigor as she was carried around on the
shoulders of the jubilant members of the
club.
The next morning her father read in the
papers that Bob Havetall of the Cross
Countries had broken the record for wom-
en- in the 10 mile road race. His daugh-
ter, worn out, was still in bed when he
went to business. He had noticed great
change coming over her. He took the pa
POI WlUll ullll, IOI llO ulu uOU w LIS Wll0
to see the account of Bob Havetall's tri-
umph.
Mrs Havetall had become accustomed
to bloomers, because they had suddenly
grown common, and she felt that her
daughter would soon appear in pair of
them. When Miss Roberta walked through
the sitting room with her new bloomers
on, her mother said nothing, for, after all,
1~<,I 1osJ
the short dress and yellow leggings. The
shock came when Miss Roberta wheeled
away from her and she caught the rear
view.
Before another month had gone Miss
Roberta had become full blown scorcher.
She was the pride of the club, and Mr..
Hayetall's front step became a gathering
place for all the cyclists in the neighbor-.
hood. In time the father and mother be-
came used to the bicycle slang and racing
terms and even to the cigarettes which the
young men smoked and Miss Roberta had
never enjoyed better health. This was
some recompense for the loss of the daugh-
ter of the house, for Miss Roberta was sell
dom at home. She attended all the track
and road races in the city, either as
locker on or as participant. Her name
was often found in the racing columns of
the daily papers, and in time Mr.. Have
tall felt something akin to pride when he
read of her success and counted her med
ais. Bob, as she was called by all the
wheelmen who knew her, had overcome
her fathers prejudice regarding Sunday
outings, and she often had a Sunday
morning spin before going to church.
Sometimes she would go out before the
Ec1., tIr-~ IL .G.-1
day morning when Bob did not appear for
breakfast nothing was thought of it.
The sermon was shorter than usual that
morning, and Mr.. and Mrs. Havetall con-
cluded to walk home through the park.
Several blocks from the church they found
the sidewalk choked by crowd before
saloon. On chair near the curb stood
man with watch in his hand, calling
out the time of the arrival of dusty, dirty,
tired out wheelmen who came from the
north. Mr.. Hayetall gathered from the
talk that the men who staggered up to the
saloon had just ridden 100 miles and had
scored century. He was about to push
through the crowd when loud cheer
broke from the men who were gathered in
the middle of the street.
Here she comes! Get out of the way
yoo Ao1ioWS! OduSWSy tutE0! Mdko d
gangway, for Bob Havetall is coming
down strong!'
Mr.. Havetall fought his way through
the crowd to the center of the street, and
the next instant Miss Roberta rode up
Her face was white with fatigue and
streaked with dirt and perspiration. One
cheek was bleeding for she had fallen
against a stone on the road Her lips were
caked, and her mouth was partly opened,
showing her dry tongue. Her cap was
thrust back on her head, and her hair had
escaped and was tumbled over her shoul-
ders. All of this her father took in as she
came up to the line. But something rose
in his throat when he saw that his daugh-
ter, who had been SO gentle and winsome
a few months before, was now finishing
century to the cheers and wild applause of
crowd of men in front of saloon and
wearing knickerkockers which fitted her
tender limbs as tightly as those worn by
the men.
He looked no farther, but catching her
in his arms as she fell from the bicycle hs
gave her to her mother, and then with
mighty spring jumped upon the delicate