The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1896-08-28

gong uo make my first attempt ~ con
quering the unruly spirit of a souIlesS
mechanism. 1t Was after niehtfaIl when
l brought the wheel home | thought
the secret was my own and all things
seemed prOpitious to quiet contest he
TWEEN the wheel and mySeif. in which
should have won the laurelS before the
neighbors were apprised that th. battle
was on. To further insure this result I
had for several days studied the man
ners of veteran riders, especially when
leading their wheels. / fiattered my
self / had this pretty near perfection.
As / led the wheel out To the street |
even stopped 10 examine 4 spoke crit
ically, in precisely the manner l had
seen an expert do the day before. II
was in vain The audience was in wait
ing.
The prospect. as looked up and down
the street, appalled, me. Every door
and window seemed to have its occu-
pants. Women waited patiently on
front porches. Men lounged lazily over
front gates. | don't believe that there.
was a house within four blocks that
didn't have man about IL. And then
horrors, the street seemed infested
with small boys. The small bov knows
instinctively at what particular time
and place a man is about TO make a
fool of himself, and he usually manages
TO be on hand to add zest to the per
fOrmance. His comments on such oc-
casions are not original. witty or wise,
but are woefully effective.
i believe 1 am brave man. once
voluntarily acted as judge of debate in
n young ladies' literary society. and 1
stand ready, for sufficient inducement.
to be one of committee on awards at
q baby show. Nevertheless. this once l
was frightened. Not at the wheel. I
had an affectioDate contempt for that
airy-loolling skeleton of wood and steel.
but object to being stared at. particu-
larly when / feel as if am going to
make an exhibition of myself.
/ put one foot firmly on the step.
hoped along on the other. in the regu-
latioD style and stepped up. Now. l am
certain that | had that wheel balanced
all right / had raised myself with ex-
traordinary care. and if the wheel had
been a steady-going machine of a wear
or SOS service. ii would have been all
right. This was new wheel. though.
and its chief characteristic was concen-
trated villainy.
That's why, just as got my foot well
off the ground and was putting my sole
dependence on the step, the thing
lunged over. / expected TO see the
wheel broken TO pieces, but IL vas not
injured. II had a mission to perform
vet, and could not afford TO break until
il had accomplished il. That mission
was to preach 10 me the doctrine n the
total depravity of inanimafe thinEs.
After picking up the wheel ! locked
around at my audience. | hardly oN-
pected applause, but thought / might
reasonably look for mirth. l wuS even
prepared to laugh. theoretically with them.
but not a smile was visible. They all
seemed interested. but not amused.
They were reserving their merriment-
The next time l had better luck. l
succeeded in getting on the seat This
made il more interesting for the Spevta-
tors, because when the wheel lUnged,
ran around in circle and then
collapsed, the situation was good deal
more ridiculous. As a source of cmuSe-
ment | saw il was going TO be a success.
After this fall, the men who had been
lounging on the front gates Sauntered
up to where / was. The small BOYS.
who had been viewing operations from
a respectful distance. also drew around
me. / was at the fiood-tide of my mis-
cry.
no longer regarded the bicycle as
a soulless thing of steel, nickel and
wood. 1t was a treacherous and EN-
phatically animate monster TO be put
down at any cost. l Igrasped il savagely.
placed it roughly in position and
mounted. 1t threw me. but l tried
again. / had forgotten the audience.
The men advised. the boys jeered and
the women laughed; l heard. | saw, but
did not heed. I was mad. | was going
to do or die, and several times the
chances seemed greatly with the sec
ond alternative.
At last l got the wheel to go around.
4 thrill of JOY went through me. / saw
the landscape slip by. I felt myself
passing rapidly through space The
crowd which | had feared | now dis
dained. | was leaving them far behind
I felt that until that moment | had not
known life. The hitherto existing re-
lation of space To time was radically al
tered. 1t was almost as though 4 new
world had been opened to me. and chief
among all my delights was victory. On
| spun over the fine country road; at
last | was master
l ought to have noticed that gravel
bed. ENaltation is good thing in its
place. but its place is not astride a
brand new wheel. / picked myself up
laboriously. The wheel was only par
tally ruined. just matter of bent
pedals and crimped handle-bars. was
a good deal worse used up myself. but
that didn't matter. | had conquered
the wheel. and henceforth / knew
would be master of that or any other
wheel: and | am.-Outing.