The Opelousas courier., 1895-07-20

GfM mount it, and yot
will learn tina
III what has seemed
~ to you but a beau
~ tiful piece o.
mechanism is rather a thing of heart
and brain, of will power, of caprice, {
mere echo of yourself at your best Oh
at your worst. And if you have a weak
point, If there fingers within your owl
mechanism any least trace of coward
ice of which ven You yourself may be
unconscious, be SURF the wheel will
find it out. .u -t
When | first saw my wheel just re.
leased from the crate, I was sure
could mount it and ride away instant.
ly across the continent, to the moon, OF
anywhere. It seems such an easy
thing TO do, just as it seems that it
would be easy to fly when you are
watching a bird IN the wing. Cycling is
the perfection of motion, morel like what
flying must be than anything that has
eve been tried. Everyone thinks he
could get on and ride right off. Per
haps some people can, indeed | have
heard of one or two thathave, but such
people are born self-poised, I suppose:
Such a faculty is like being a natural
poet or singer or moralist. 1t reminds
n irresistibly Of the famous sheriff
who never, eve made a mistake, but
would like to, just for variety's sake
We all know people like that, whose
only fault is in being faultless.
That wonderful evening that my BIZ
cycle came ! waited for the sun to go
down and the twilight to fade and the
stars to come out. I'm never bashful
with the stars. l rolled my wheel out
the front door and across the lawn to a
little strip of roadway which is shad-
owed by ancieHSt elms. If / were to
ride right off, the stars should have
the first. benefit; equally if I were to
fall and fail, the silent stars should be
the only witnesses. For stars never
laugh at you, that is, not aloud; they
neither gossip, nor comment, nor criti-
else; above all, they never, never hint
that they could do it better them
selves. They r all delightfully."- Occur
pied in minding their own business,
which is doubtless the reason they
shine. .,.. 49,, ,4. l,...
I'm perfectly positive that 1 could
have mounted that bicycle and ridden
right off far and away at the first trial,
had not my heart foolishly begun to
quake. II / never had had the slight
est misgiving there wouldha been no
difficulty, but in those early days I did
not understand my wheel; there had
not grown up an intimacy between us.
/ felt not unlike a rustic swain when
he first goes accounting, awkward and
shy and se~lf-conscious, hands a-tremble
and heart pit-a-pat. ,#,aala @
I put one foot on the pedal, grasped
the hand-bar firmly with both hands,
bore down upon it with all my weight
mot yet knowing any better) leaped to
the saddle-and straightway tumbled
of on the other side.
It would be ignominious to tell how
many times | tumbled off either on one
side or the other. The wheel was not
to blame, in my most abject moments |
never blamed the wheel; we had simply
not adjusted ourselves to each other,
that was all. After a time l ignored
the pedals, or tried to, seated myself in
the saddle rs in a rocking chair, eau |
placed one foot on one pedal,
and then padded along with the other
foot on the ground. / could almost
imagine myself canoeing on the st.
and there was equal like1i |
hood of going to the bottom.
Bravo! In this way I found / could
ride right off" To be SURE every. time
pedal swung around it bumped
Itself against the padding foot, which
yer foot that might be, until before
ong both began to feel like battle
worn veterans - but what of that?
Who counts bruises in a good cause?
Where would all the world heroes be
I each had stopped short or deserted
lis aim. for a singing thump now and
hen?
So this makeshift, one foot, noctur-
lal method went on, for how long a
lime / shall never, never tell. and / hope
ny neighbors have already forgotten.
dy wheel reposed by day to recover
tself, and was regularly rolled out to
'erform deeds OF highway violence at
light. Sometimes / would creep along
the fence hand over hand, with both
eet triumphantly on the pedals, bnt
often | padded. 1t began to be
It seemed to me that
60 on padding till the crack of
DOM. / began to upbraid the stars.
I provoked me to see them SO calm
nd peaceful and unmoyed. felt like
tanning everything and everybody,
ven the wheel. .,
But II the stars were Indifferent the !
eighbors wer enot. 'sYou know, they
aid, "if we don't watch you openly
the windows we shall peep at you
behind the blinds.n
/ determined to be magnanimous and
i've . new sensation to the town. Be-
ldes ! grew tired Of practicing in the 5
ark, and I tried holding rolling the
heel out early in the morning and in /
be afternoon, and Az almost any hour
mt the fierce summer sun would grant {
e his permission. All, then ] had en- !
engagement and to spare. igs.
oh. you'll ride pretty soon. l
Hard work, isn't it??" .
why, it looks is though you could (
lst get on and ride right off
They say il comes to You all at :
nee" HI 1
How are you getting onP Oh, You'll
de yet. Don't be discouraged. 4
My! Ain'tyou p~erseverin's' /
One night / was discouraged. utterly Z
thoroughly, through and through. s
bruised and sore from head to +
BOT, yet paddle as I would Il never c
get the second foot up TO the