Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1896-06-19

plunged along in n l%tisurely manner
and would undoubtedly have been taken
near Interlaken II II had net been for
the fact that some years ago a company
built a fuuiculer hallway from the mar
gin Of the lake a mile or SO mp to St
BeatenburR. ] had lived In st. Beaten
burg once, md / remembered that tho
road fiom there to Intcrlaken was a
good one. 50 l thought that perhaps it
would not be a bad plan to go mp on the
railway and coast down to luterlaken.
/ knew a man who had done it once. I
can we'll believe now that no enc ev6r
tries II the second time. Tho car go-s
no 10 s.. Bsatenburg three or four times
a day only, but when a couple Of miles
away from the landing l saw q steamer
| coming in, and / knew If l reached the
landing about the time she did / would
get a car.
l am not a racer, but I thererpon put
In my best ticks TO mako connection
with tho mountain railway. The road
at this point is as level as the lake itself
and only a few feet above it. My
thoughts turned to the railway because
] 4 kuGM VIA bNyOnu AAA0 AOMOA Gnh VI ~
the carriage road rose high above the
lake, passed through several tunnels and
then went down to the Jnterlaken plain.
By taking the up car / would avoid all
this and have it down hill all the way.
The policemen, it seems, caught sight
of me as l was making my squirt, and
they at once put on extra steam, but
there is a deep bay just before oil o
reaches the funicular, and they lost
sight Of me rs I turned the point. / had
reached the top of the railway funicu-
lar. and / bicycled tho mile or more
along the street, high up above the lake,
on ore side Of which is scattered the
village of st. B%eatenburg, with its won
derful view Of the snow mountains-the
Jungfrau, tho Eiger, the Monch and a
host Of others.
l found the ride down the zigzag road
not such fun as / had expected. l saw
the brake was not going to last il
kept ON, so l had to walk most Of the
way down. Coming to a more level
ground, l cycled gently into Interlaken,
making for the place where they sell
Munich beer, and there, over a mug
and a sandwich on the main street,
made my frugal lunch, with the bicycle
standing against a pillar of the veranda.
After a smoke l proceeded out of In
terlaken and took the south road that
borders the lake. This road is not Sc
good for cycling as the other, being
much more hilly, while the roadbed IL
more stony. l therefore walked a good
deal, taking it very leisurely, and il
course of time l was overtaken by a pc
liceman, who also was walking his ma
chine. He csked me if 1 had met n mai
ON a bicycle coming from Thun, and
told him quite truly that I had not.
He seemed discouraged and told mi
all about the bicycle theft and the arres
Of the wrong man. Ho feared the this
had hidden in tho forest until he an
his comrade went past and then perhap
took the steamer across the lake, or til
villain might merely have pretended
take the north road, while in reality h
went by the south. Thus the policema
hoped to meet him yet. 1 promised (
keep q lookout, and the officer went on
When / reached Thun and came (
the place whore 1 got the bicycle,
[ found the man was in Iuterlaken, an
! his wife, who knew all about the rot
+ berry, was amazed to see the thief re
/ turn the machine ard place 8 francs I'm
his thanks ON the counter.
regret to say that the apparent hor
esty of this action did not commend !
| self to the authorities. They looked Q
it as the ruse of a crafty s%coundrel, WI
realized that, so vigilant were the p,
lice, it was impossible for him to e
| cape, and so ~endeavored to throw du
, in the eyes of the wise men of the plac
, 1 therefore had to pay the expenses
the chase and apologize to everybod
l concerned.
. Thus the bicycle, at 8 francs a da,
was not so cheap as I had at first sr
/. posed.-Luke Sharp in Detroit FIR,