The Coconino weekly sun., 1895-09-12
4 ROMANCE OF THE DAY.

lives.
.coorre, it makes me very unhappy;
I,,. never, never can marry man
who rides lister
And so you will let wheel come
>,.,yccn us. That shall never be,
r,heI for so pner will l give up all my
homes of inhel'iting my uncle's estate,
which have valued for your sake only.
Yes. will Civ, it up"
And that must not be, George II
Won displease him you not only throw
- the winds large fortune, but You
ava left pelnile',S. Then what would
VA live on? No; there is no alterna-
I'VE All is ovel' between us"
Ethel think Here is old Uncle
panben, with one foot in the grave,
dev,,,e of the Buster wheel, and l
,rust ride buster. He says that no
ranhew of his shall risk his life and
limb on a Whizzer. And you-you
will not ride with me unless l use
Whizzer."
Ethel Wheeler was silent. At length
she replied: George, l will never
marry man who rides anything but
Whizzer No person of sense would
ride any other machine. And as to
that foolish old Mr.. Tires, he has no
right to insist that you ride horrid
Buster. Come, George, try and"
Van Spoke shook his head and gazed
ont over the sunlit sound. There was
silence, save for the hummirg OF the
hoes in the vines that shaded the broad
veranda.
He arose to his feet. and looking
earnestly at the fair girl who was re-
clining among the cushions of the
great chair, he said, slowly: Ethel
Wheeling, you have let machine, a
mere machine, come between us. For
tune has decreed that l must ride a
buster. All bonds between us are
broken. May you forget it; but
H.
lie turned away and strobe rapidly
toward the end of the veranda, where
he had left his bicycle.
The girl buried her face among the
cushions and groaned: II will never,
never use any wheel but Whizzer."
For a moment she wept; then she re-
covered herself and would have called
after him but he was far out of hear
ing, spinning down the driveway out
OF the park.
As Van Spoke pedaled rapidly along
the smooth road that skirted the
sound his heart seemed to him to be
resting almost on the saddle of his
wheel. so heavy was it. His, he felt,
was hard fate, for he loved Ethel
Wheeling with his whole soul, and
now it was all over between them.
Size would not marry another for some
years at least. He was confident tina,
it would be long time before she re-
covered from the effects of their sep
aratiOn.
Then his uncle could not last much
longer. If she would only wait fol
him
He heard a ping pling and looked
up. Coming swiftly toward him was
another wheel, the rider of which
had his chin almost resting on the
handle bar as he forced his machine
along, Van Spoke caught sight of hi
4 face as he passed and was SO unstrunl
N that his wheel wiggled violently ant
then threw him headlong on the grass!
bank at the roadside.
Charley Spockett," he groaned
'and on brand-new Whizzer. Oh
Ethel. Ethel heartless woman"
II He rose to his knees and gazed dow
"a the road just in time to see his riva
swing round turn into the lane tina
II led to Wheeling's place. Aching IL
every joint in heart and in mind
cursing himself and Sprockett and hi
NJ venerable uncle, he clambered one
more onto his machine and rode ava.
toward home.
n YEARLY he worked up the hill on tn
II brow Of which stood the Tires house
groom was just leading away hi
N uncle's bicycle as he reached the door
way' lie threw himself from his ma
chine, turned it over to the man an
went in search of his patron. ii
M found him seated in a cool corner G
NJ the porch putting vigorously and far
ming himself.
Reuben Tires was handsome oil