Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1897-01-14

out an agreement giving me a third
share in his invention before he wen
to bed--which share represented, &C
cording to some close and intricate cal
culations Of his, capital sum Of
E24OOOO. Then he borrowed half @
sovereign from mo for a couple Of
days In the klndest possible manner
and said he didn't mind me at all, be-
cause he understood me and knew thai
there was not bit Of harm in me.
The next mogning / met him as
agreed. The first trial of the machine
was to take place down the Chalk hill
as 1t Is called, This is steep, grassy
incline, with a brick wall about six
feet high running along the bottom.
He was going to leap the wall; though,
II had been he, l think should have
chosen something softer than brick to
experiment on. / did the best l could,
though, by preparing the ground on the
other side Of the wall with the garden
tools until tho soil was beautifully
soft and loose-quite an ideal place to
fall on. | didn't tell the genius about
my foresight in this matter; he had
such a wretched way Of sitting on a
fellow.
He said he would try It on the road,
though we begged him to deslst. He
said the hill was not long enough; he
found that what he wanted was not so
much a hill as a good, long, level run.
He also proposed that should get on
an ordinary bicycle and accompany
him; so left Polly and mounted my
machine.
At this time the machine was act
ing In a very peculiar manner and
seemed to have taken the bit in its
teeth, so to speak. 1t began to tear
along the road with the speed of a
runaway horse, shying at every post
and making spasmodlc jumps at the
slightest obstacles BY the most flu
rious riding was able to get along
side and excitedly advised the genius
to hurl himself from the demonlacal
machine and risk the consequences.
He didn't hear me, or II he did he
paid no attention. He had an in
tense, far-away look in his eyes and
seemed to have no interest in mere
earthly matters The machine, re-
joicing In its newly found power, put
on an extra squirt and drew well ahead
of me, making the most extraordinary
leaps from time to time.
We were now close to the village,
and the few people still lingering
about commenced to take lively in
terest In the proceedings, especially
the constable, who is a very stubborn
and oftlcious person and seems to think
that If 1t were not for him the nation
and the law would fall to pieces, so
l cannot say feel very sorry for him
he should attend more to his own
business. When he saw the bicycle
coming he shouted to the rider to stop.
To this the genius gave no heed, and
the constable prepared for action. He
ran out into the middle Of the road
and clutched at the genius as he few
by. Unluckily for him, he missed COM
pletely and the front wheel of the
machine smote him heavily in the
loose ribs, leaving him dusty and
disheveled wreck on the side Of the
road. When l passed him he was
slowly recovering and / judged from
his expression that his emotions were
violent and mingled. We fed along
the main street amid horrible clat-
ter. At the end of the village the road
makes sharp turn to the left and
knew that this would be the decisive
point in the genius furious career.
II he could but turn the corner he
would have nearly straight road in
front of him for three miles. II he
could not, there was the ten-foot wall
Of the ladies' seminary to be sur
mounted. l confess I had no hopes
whatever, either Of his turning the
corner or of his forcing the bicycle to
take the jump. The machine now
seemed to be pulling itself together
for final struggle, which fact the
genius seemed to grasp, and he
groaned audibly as he tried to pull the
handles round in order to take the
turn. But the bicycle was too much
for him,
1t was a splendid effort; indeed,
never saw such a tremendous jump so
CALAMITY attempted. But, as it hap
pened, the plucky bicycle just landed
ON the top of the wall and with a hor-
rid crash both machine and rider fell
at the feet of procession of fourteen
young ladies who were about to take
their daily airing. The bicycle used
the last of the compressed air in the
cylinder to deliver several violent
kicks at the genius as he lay on the
ground
He will be carried down from his
bedroom into the garden some time to-
morrow afternoon, and the doctor says
that IL his collar-bone sets we'll he will
be fairly sound in about another week.
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