The Wilmington daily Republican., 1895-08-19
MADE FOR TWO.

Jack Hinkston was her slave, bound
hand and foot to her chariot wheel, or per-
haps 1t would be modern to say, now that
she has taken to cycling, that he was
bound to her bicycle wheel. She had hout-
cd him and scorned him for upward Of two
years, and In despair Jaok set himself at
undoing his bonds. 1t was slow and
painful process, and the bonds had q habit
Of slipping again into hard knots when he
caught glimpse Of Cissie, and Jack had
almost made up his mind to emigrate to
some outlandish country, for he feared he
would never be his own man again unless
very broad and extensive ocean rolled be-
tween them. No matter how stern his res
olutions were, they faded away to nothing
ness when he met Cissie In n new, pretty
and stylish dress, for every costume she
adopted seemed to be even more fetching
than the last. Clothes have so much to do
with the appearance Of pretty girl. Tho
trouble with Jack was that he had too
much respect for women In general, and
they all knew that and consequently de-
spised him, Cissie being the leader in
heaping contumely ON poor Hinkston,
who, after all, was very nice fellow, who
did not realize that girls as a rule are
somewhat silly and more apt to take up
with shadow Drained, conceited rascal
lion than with fellow of genuine worth
like Jack Hinkston.
Jack had heard that Cissie had taken to
the bicycle, but he had never seen the
young lady on machine. For tho past
week or two Jack had avoided Cissie, and
his resolutions of abandonment had SO
strengthened themselves that he felt he
would be a free man II he could keep away
from her; but, on the other hand, he real
lied that the next time he saw her she
would have on q new dress and would look
more like an angel than ever, and he trem-
bled for the result
In the matter of tho new dress Jack was
perfectly right and he saw the girl under
circumstances that nearly resulted in his
downfall, but not the kind Of downfall he
had looked for. He had taken out his bi-
cycle and had gone for a long wheel into
the peaceful country where he would have
no comrades but the trees and the green
fields and the hedges that borderod the
lanes. AS he cyoled along q narrow coun-
try thoroughfare, wheeling at leisurely
pace, for rapid cycling doesn't lend itself
to somber meditation, he heard behind
him the sharp ring of a bicycle bell.
Something in its imperative clang, or else
the fact that he was on lonely road,
caused him to look over his shoulder, and
he nearly tumbled off his machine with
amazement and surprise. There was Cissie
on the top Of silver plated machine, with
the very newest and most natty cut of an
advanced woman's bicycle costume, clip.
ping over the distance at a tremendous
rate Of speed. She passed him with
whir, giving him saucy nod and n salu-
tation as she went by. Jack gasped and
said under his breath, we'll, he would be
flt .s.N1 tN1r mt pnt
look pretty on these pages, but 1t must not
be taken as typical of Jack 8 conversation.
He was knocked all of heap by the as
touishing sight Of Cissie in the very latest
lady's bicycling costume. The next in
slant he put his muscles to the wheel and
sped after her, shouting:
"Stop minute, Cissiel want to tell
you somethingl"
But the young woman never paid the
slightest attention. She bent over the
handle bars and raced down that lane In a
way to mako pedestrians heads swim.
Jack shouted Intellectually two or three
times, then pulled up and said to himself:
"well, let her go. She will find out all
wanted to tell her. :"
Cissie disappeared round corner and
when Jack came to 1t she was not to be
seen down the long avenue, on which the
sunshine flickered through the entwining
branches of the trees overhead. Jack went
on leisurely for q mile or two; then he
jumped lightly off his machine and trun-
died 1t along beside him. He was now
miles away from civilization, deep in the
midst of the country. The road had sud
denly become very bad, and Jack, who
knew the peculiarities of every lane within
miles around, thought 1t safer to wheel the
bicycle along by hand rather than risk a
puncture of his pneumatic tires on the
sharp flint stones scattered with such pro-
fusion along the way. Near little rustic
bridge over clear stream at the bottom
of dell he found what he expected to find
"A very pretty girl with a most woebe-
gone, disconsolate look on her face sitting
on tho grassy bank looking forlornly at a
bicycle that lay on the road with the tire
of the hind wheel collapsed.
-"Hello, Cissie," said Jack breezily.
"Had q tumbleP"
"No," snapped Cissie 81 am not In the
habit of tumbling."
"Ah," said Jack. "I see what is the
matter. The tire is punotured. l knew
that would happen. L shouted after you to
tell you of this bit Of road, but you would
not listen"
"I did not hear you,' said Cissie, Mt
with incredulity, which made Cissie all
tho more angry, especially as she knew she
was telling thing which was not true.
"Well, don't want any help from you, "
she said curtly.
why, Of course not, :" returned Jack,
sitting down on the opposite bank and
leaning his bicycle against the hedge. "A
person who comes out on q wheel and
doesn't know how to mend anything that
goes wrong is simply silly fool. Ono can
see you understand all about cycling be-
cause you have left your machine lying ON
the ground and the oil is running out OF
your lamp"
Cissio looked at the young man in
knlazement.
1t isn't your lamp she said at last,
"and can surely do what like with my
own. l don't sec what right you have to
interfere"
"Bless you, Cissie, " said Jack. 81 am
aot interfering. / am not even offering
advice. have never yet had the pleasure
OF seeing a woman take off pneumatic
tire and mend the inner tube. This OF
course you have to do before you can move
on, for you nre miles away from any place,
and even II you left your machine here you
idiotio costume"
Cissie blushed deeply, and the tears
came Into her usually bright eyes. She
tugged nervonsly at the skirts of her coat,
and then seeing what she was doing and
finding that they but scantily covered hbr