The Mena weekly star., 1896-09-09

new home, magnificent brown stone on Connecticut avenue, and in few days l knew all about the family, for gossip is rife in the servants hall, in
 little room adjoining which was kept
 My young mistress was named Bessie Bainbridge, she was the only-and need
 less to say overindulged-child of wealthy parents, and just now, of course, she was suffering from bad
 ease of bicycle fever.
 Almost every evening after dark the
 devoted father and mother would sit out on the porch and watch Bessie and
 me struggle up and down the street. A
 young friend of hers was teaching her
 to ride, and of all patient and devoted
 instructors that handsome man took the lead. He was a nice fellow, too, and never seemed too hot or tired to invent
 suitable answers to the parents endless
 questions as 10 why Bessie couldn't ride
 along like the other girls did, and what made the wheel wobble so, wasn't some thing the matter, and hadn't they bet
 ter go back to the man and complain,
 and was he sure there was no danger.
 The last time Bessie had run into the
 tree box it looked from where they sat
 as though she might have had Q serious fall if he hadn't caught her in time. As say, he was wonderfully patient, for Bessie, to tell the truth, was very
 stupid and had a silly little way of
 grabbing one of my handle bars tightly oil frrl, ko%
 same side, which was enough to make any self-respecting wheel turn her over in the gutter. I must confess I did this numberless times, and also played few other little tricks on her, one of which turning into the pavement when the rider is trying to mount and turn you out-is a great favorite among the la-
 dies wheels.
 Later on, however, I got to like Bes- sic, who was as clever off a wheel as
 she was stupid on, and Bob, as they | called the young man, was my friend from the first.
 So in about a week we began to make
 a most harmonious trio, and then Bob would bring his own wheel around. and that made pleasant company for 
 me.
 One thing I objected to from the first,
 and Bob agreed with me, I think, was
 friend of Bessie's who came to the
 house almost every night and sat with
 her parents calmly slipping some cool drink, and encouraging us by calling out from time to time how such and such thing might be avoided, or how to act under certain circumstances.
 Then he would add to the comfort of the parents by low remark 10 the effect that Bob Richards didn't know
 a thing about a wheel" and sometimes he would keep Bessie's courage up by promising to take her for some long rides as soon as she had mastered the wary bicycle.
 l didn't like him and Bob didn't, and Bessie--well, we couldn't tell about her. l only know after we had put in an hours exhausting labor she would go off to rest, and, leaving Bob to see lo me, would run up the steps to ask if Mir. Meredith didn't think she was do-
 ing better, and wasn't it entirely Bob's fault that she fell over that last time; she thought he had hold of the wheel, and when she found he hadn't, of course
 she fell off, and it was mean trick to
 play her! And then the whole party
 berated poor Bob, whose sole olfense
 seemed to be desire to hasten her progress.
 Bob never would say word in his | own behalf, but I used to even up mat
 ters by going very carefully when felt i him let go, until Bessie would cry out
 in delight: "Oh, look at me! am rid :.
 ing beautifully!" and Mir. Meredith
 would say, languidly: "Bravol Now
 remember what l told you about the pedals" And then I would lose my tenn
 per and stop suddenly in bit of mud
 and off would go Bessie before you | could say Jack Robinson.
 | She didn't know thing about mAk- ing herself mistress of wheel. All 4- S3c1 Saaa @