The Portland daily press., 1895-11-02


nigent tnaa st.e.. wAucls 1ney had tried,
anu was not half as liable to make
81 suuoeh sWerve and bang into wagon In
.he street or into q gatepost or over
. panA or to do any Of the 40 dozen other
tnings bicycle is likely TO do when the
riuer Is least expecting it.
VI course knew this myself and was
constantly trying to please, just as any
other public servant is, for hadn't l had
ehough of bang and batter with that IN
soaiiment plan party? guess yes, and
am sure properly regulated bicycle kneWs
Wnen 1t has had enough.
sometimes, though, couldn't help be-
ing a little frisky. Once [ remember an
athletic sort of fellow took me out, and
TOT SIX mortal hours he pedaled me all over
every road in the suburbs, rough and
smooth, and almost drove every bit OF
breath out of my tires 1 submitted be-
cause | couldn' we'll do otherwise, but the
Time OF my revenge was at hand He was
pumping me along a bit of pleasant coun-
try road where the shade would have been
very grateful to me if he had only run
along slowly, whea he caught up with a
pretty girl on an awfully ornamental
wheel.
could hear him laugh with chuckle
at his luck, and he sailed alongside OF her
and began talking. OF course he had no
business to, but bioyclists that way are
not SO extremely formal, and she talked
back at him, and it wasn't long until he
was entirely absorbed in the girl and was
leaving all the rest of the matter to me.
Then pricked up my ears and got ready,
and all at once when we came to good
place, took a header into ditch The girl
screamed, the man swore, and l lay over
on my side helpless, but happy. He and
rode home in a passing pie wagon, the girl
disappeared and it cost him 81 for repairs.
l don't know why it is; but, after some
years of experience, am prepared to as
sert that a fat woman weighing 200
pounds is just twice as heavy as a fat man
of the same weight. If some scientist will
explain this, he will do all of us bicycles q
great favor. However, I don't care very
much about it, because 1 made it con-
venient to dump the fat lady one evening
into pond of water, and she came SO near
drowning that she has organized a crusade
against the wheel and has bought an inter
est in a patent antifat remedy.
But there was another woman-ah, me,
what a delight it was to go flying with
heri She was dainty little creature,
light as a fairy and strong as wire, and
she knew where all the prettiest places
were, and there we went together, and she
drew pictures of sylvan scenes while l
leaned up against a tree and watched her
by the hour. One day handsome young
fellow wheeled by, and they nodded pleas
antly, she blushing bit and he smiling.
Several days after that they came to my
place together. and she took me away with
her for three days. That was delight to
me, for we went far off by easy stages, and
the young man on his own wheel-a
beauty it was, too-went with us.
There were others in the party, but my
interest was in these two, and paid no
heed to what the others did or where they
went The third day as we were bowling
hoineward my lady appeared to be ill at
ease and there were times when, il had
not had all my wits about me, we would
surely have gone off the road and over the
bank into whatever may have been below
to have received us. The young man was
never far off, but he was not as he had
been, and after wondering nearly all day
what could have hanpened / remembered