The Madisonian. (Virginia City, Mont.) 1873-1915, 1895-10-05

So long ago / nau partially forgotten it.
When we began to descend the noun
tain, l told them we had better walk,
as the road was very steep. They took
my advice for a time, and we had gone
the greater part of the way, when one
Of the party, in aspirit of frolic, mount
ed his wheel and dared the others to do
likewise.
thinking we were almost at the foot
Of the mountain, we all followed his
example. l was riding in the lead, Ear
nest Fernow a close beside me. Sud
denly, on turning a bend, we came upon
q pitch i'll The road SO steep as to greatly
alarm us.
"We had all been riding at good
speed. This in itself would have mat
tered little had each one Of us had our
wheels under perfect control, but timid-
ity, carelessness Or fright might mean
great danger.
81 saw Earnest Fernow turn white
and jam his brake down hard, while he
back pedaled with all his might. Sud-
denly we were startled by a cry Of fear
"a cry for help, Earnest, save mel
The next instant Emily Brant sped by
us. She had lost control of her wheel.
"Fernow paid 10 heed. He was too
frightened himself. He turned his BIZ
cycle into the bank and jumped. Even
at the speed with which she was going
I knew she realized he had deserted her.
UNLESS you have been similarly
placed, you cannot understand the
CHASTITY feeling Of horror that comes over
you as you know your wheel is beyond
your control on steep mountain. There
is no way to stop but by turning into
the bank and taking a headlong plunge,
and the chances Of injury or death, or to
keep on, while the speed increased with
each revolution Of the wheels, and the
chances Of escape grow less.
II realized if I started in pursuit my
wheel would be in a moment more be-
You'd my control. Still, my opportunity
had come, and I did not hesitate. A
moment more, and l was close behind
her. / had nc idea up to this time what
! should do, but as my wheel, owing to
superior weight, closed up the gap be-
tween us my thoughts began to take
form.
"The road, fortunately, was almost
straight. l remembered that where it
came upon the valley there was a wide,
shallow river. 1t came down the noun
tain at right angles to this river, then
turned to the left. There was a small
open field between the road and river. I
knew that instinctively she would try
to turn away from the river. In that
case she would be hurled against a mass
of rock through which the road had
been cut.
II must reach her before we came
upon the river. For a time our speed
was terrific. The rocks and trees seemed
to be strangely blurred as they sped by.
We could feel the air like a resisting
wall through which we were plunging.
Then we came upon a rise in the road,
almost a hill, which reduced our speed
somewhat, and l came nearer her.
GAS I came close beside her wheel
she turned her head as if she could not
bear the sight Of the water toward
which we were plunging.
JAN DOW AIC, uUO III OA4 Vllo uOIIOI
that surrounded S I felt a great happi-
ness, for there was trust, confidence and
admiration in that look. It said, You
will save me-
up to that time believe she thought
She was riding to death alone.
"Ihen l was close beside her, and as
we came toward the turn in the road I
reached over and seized, for one instant,
the handle bars Of her wheel, keeping
both wheels pointed for the open field
and the river.
"There was a minutes jar as we
crossed the field, then the river seemed
to spring forward to meet us. There
was Il dull shock, and a plunge into the
water.
Il found myself, when I had recover
ed from the force Of the blow, half stand.
ing, half floating in the shallow water
holding Emily Brant, who was white
and unconscious. The landscape seemed
to be spinning round like a top.
Il realized we had escaped serious in
jury, as the river had acted as a cushion
and lessened the force Of the impact as
we pIuNSeu from our NheelS. Sne soon
revived, but was very weak and dizzy.
That night the order CT things was
changed. / remained, and it was Fer
now who left for the city.
From that day the haze Of Indian
summer that threatened to enve.op my
life has given place to the glory Of noon
tide"
For a moment or two as Fred ceased
speaking we both sat looking at the
CRATE fire where the Goals gloved in the
ruddy fame.