The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1896-07-19
TO BICYCLE LAND.

u was long. hard, sandy hill and by
the tine Bert reached the top OF 1t HIS
| legs were very tree indeed. There was n
big npplc ttee growing in the elbow of Il
ooked rail fence. and 1t threw 4 shadow
| clover and timothy that catpcted the road
| SIDE. ON u hot day tina spot looked Tempt
| ing; aud Bert dropped easily off HIS wheel
| aud lay down closs under some low bushes
| that fr.ure's the fence lie clagpcd his
hands back Of his head and watched the
blue sky above HIN where hawk was
| wheeling ln2ily about.
y WISH" hc said to himself. they'd
make bicycle that would sail around
n the az; ieaahns Is such hard worl;
| Its plain to mo that you're not up to
the times" sud- a funny little voice no,
lar away and When iart turned his head
hecn iumnlng Mostly about Tor the last
| FIVE minutes, Just TO show that he was a
nerson oi mp rtance was MT "A lsttle-
blue s'eus@rs and short-tailed coat.
Down ~ Asr-lnn Crossing" this lsy
was saying, we've got ui'-io-dAt@ bicy-
az on the ground. and You don't have
any trouble with sand or mu6 OF course.
whcn You got up TOO high It's chilly, but
that can't very well I've hclrod l DON'T
! inr For tho amusement OF this thing.
should ever venture more than two miles
ana half above tho oacth. OF course
pintesr ana's may 70 farther. but they
can oiroid to take the risks.
| A. This Bort sat up aud rubbed his ewes
wonder II I'm really wide awake he
said to himself.
There was HIS bicycle on the grass n,
| nus SIDE and there was the rail frncc and
| th" hawks sailing about IN the air and
| there was the funny blue hoy. 10 make
! sure that his eyes were not dcceivinr him
l'rrt reached over and touched his visitor
on the knee.
who are you. anyway" he asked
My name Is DC Purifier pnemrna,lcum
no II FAMILY names but they all call me
| Pun for Short
| With This remark Pun iumncd IN from
| the howlder whore he had hecn sitting
n't instead of stopping like nm ordinary
boy would have done he kept on going M
into the ar uniil hc was among the
branches Of the apple tree.
"liave an apple" he asked OF Bert
when he came down again.
After Bert had muncNed away on the
apple for icM mouiruta he said
al, must he getting laie / guess III
have 10 scorch to get hume by dinner
"oh, no" was tho comfortable answer.
oniy. ten or fifteen minutes"
TWO hours. you better say" ru, IA
Bort Then he saw Pums wheel for the
frs time u was good deal Ike an or
y nary wheel. only the tires were larger,
aud il was stored by a short tail behind,
Which vas operaied by cords from the
hlndo bar. like tn. rulicr Of si<ir
AT that moment Puff sprang asirlde Of
the wheel, bat instead Of ioiling I'm tn.
sandy road lie rode night over the ton OF
he apple tree curved around Nike one OF
the hawks Above him ard started IN the
dsr'cilcn of Earlv.llc.
come ont" he shouted 10 Bert.
Bert was standing with bis mouth open.
N can't" he shouted
THAT'S so" came the answer lyon
haven't got one of the late wheels" and
IN Il minute tho airy Puff came circlins
Never mind" he snid' perhaps can
fix you. lt's plain you don't know about
orr town whore everything is run by ban
bearings and pneumatics JGst look at
me. Tor instance. I'm II living example OF
the very latest improvements
And Puff pointed with pride 10 his
shoulders. For the fiist time Bert saw
that Pun wore sleeves that looked goot
dchl like those on woman's Jacket and
that they were blown up. as was also his
hat. On the bottom of his feet there were
small pouches. also pumped fun When
Pun walked he looked Ike lively toy
bllloon bohhiug about.
Iun whipped out from his tool case
long AIR pump ana knott by the side of
l'nri's b.cyolc. Tho moment he begau 10
pump on VI the Tires expanded until They
were more than four Tines tho osdinary
a3e, and then IN q very Duaine-Hiikc way
he pumped up Bert's sleeves. Wllen he
had finished Buri gave a li'tle jump OF
joy, and what was his surprise TO Ind
himself among the branches of the apple
Ercr. Pun took him by the foot and pulled
him down.
Let's get started" he said, and In a
minute Bert was nstrlde his bicycle Every
time II. pushed ON the pedal the wheel
leapod higher into the air
This Is sraat sport" he said 10 run;
rye often wished tha, incycles could be
made to navigate the air"
"oh, in both i,ikc'on and Air-e'un Cross
Ing bicycling has been reduced 10 II sci
once ri take yon down there."
And almost before Bert knew II ne was
in Tho street. where the air was fu'l Of
mryicrs riding NJ and down aud going
m ana coming ont o: holes IN the roofs
OF houses. Tlpcy all seemed very fat in
deed, hut Pan assured him that this was
mer,ly OWING 20 the fact that they wore
pnuomahc clothes with bail-bearing
seams. They went whlrring and buzz'ns
about Ike 50 many June bugs.
What makes all The trees go bs?'
asked Bert AK they wheeled down into
"Baii bearings" was tho promp. an
swer. you zee, when they we're small
,hcr roots were FITTED mp w.m haii
bearings. aud row they can't help but
lust at this momont merry group OF
hicyclers came whecling down the roof
of ihc Episcopal church
That's one Of our NOS, fashionable
clubs out for n rum" explained Pun. Tho
pa, ar with the red and hlue ribbons on
his handle bars Is shle 70 turn four baek
ping. pretty good lent ~"
litri nas 20 much astonished NJ his nc
count Of the possible iics Of pneumatic |
BICYCLE that he turned his head ant. be-
fore lie knew #, one Of the club bicyclers |
crashed in,o him. Instantly he saw the
front tire OF his bicycle explode with a
before he reached the sronnd, howeyc,,,
a peculiar machine that hooked something |
Ike ladder, such as = nsed b., iIemep,
when he came down he struck his head |
aquoreiy Or, top ~ 4. but I ID no' hurt
him u; all. because the machine waaflifted |
ygth nroilma,lc cushions. on raith'ns |
the street surface Puff rode down and
ininod him ana the men WIN the ladder |
machine rushed away. changing thir
gongs
"Thara our Emergency Lifo Saving
crew" expla ned Pun. they are con
stantly On cali. and whom anyone's tire Is
punctured and the rider falls they rush
out and catch him"
suddenly the air. above him grew black
With blcyclers. who hew about with n
loud. blzzins sound apparently greatly
frightened over something. Pun jumpei
suddenly INTO the mir.
ms 4 wlndstorm." he said.
Rert was much frightened. but when nc
tried 10 run something hi him sharp
blow I'm the face.