The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1897-09-01
mattis's Wheel

The newspaper man and his wife
were out for car ride. They had been
hidden TO leave the Cedar avenue mo-
tor I'm the woods beyond Blue Rock
Springs and wait there for the through
car, which would carry them on to
Lake View. There were two other
walters, comely young woman and a
slender man, past middle age, with a
quick and nervous manner, who walk
ed up and down the road rs if the de-
lay was very irksome. The comely
young woman kept aloof from the
others and entertained herself 10y
drawing figures in the roadway with
the ferule Of her umbrella. 1t was
clear, bracing day, with the odor of
awakening spring i'm the atmosphere
and half dozen or more wheelmen
and two wheelwomen came briskly up
from The direction of the avenue and
crossing the road bravely mounted the
rather steep slope and passed from
sight to the southwark.
The nervous man came closer.
"Nimble as goats" said he in a
quick, jerky way. "Great thing,
wheeln
The newspaper man assented to the
proposition.
"Yes,n said the nervous man, "they
are revolutionizing things generally.
l bought one last night"
The newspaper mans look plainly ex-
pressed astonishment that the new
wheel wasn't in its owners company.
"0h, it wasn't for me-" said the
nervous man, "bless you, i never rode
on one in my life. 1t was for my
daughter, Matte" He laughed in
way that was pleasing to see. "fes,
it's great day for Matte. She's been
counting on that wheel for long time.
Why, we've talked ii over hundreds of
times. l don't suppose there's many
men in the city that know more about
wheels than Matte and /. There isn't
a make that we amt posted on, and j
guess 1 could go ahead and name the
different parts that make up a bike
without skipping a solitary bolt" He
laughed again. "You see, the hard
times have kept me back a little as
well as most other people, and | didn't
just make up my mind to get Mattie's
wheel until last week. And then l
didn't get round TO it until yesterday.
You see, Mattie's good rider already.
'Twasn't as though l was getting a
wheel for a beginner. She didn't want
a cheap one just to learn. The other
girls have been good to Matte. There
isn't one in her school, nor in our
neighborhood, either, that wouldn't
let Matte borrow her wheel as long as
she wanted it. Shes good girl, and
/ guess everybody that knows her
and she's got as many friends, teachers
and all, as any girl in town-were just
as anxious as | was about that new
wheel. Matte had kind o. set her
mind on a certain make for $40, per-
haps as good wheel for the money as
the market affords, but / hadn't quite
decided on that point myself. So l
looked around. / looked at good
wheels and at cheap wheels, and l
went here and there, and only one
wheel just suited me. Every other
wheel looked at made me want that
one wheel all the more. You see, Mat
ties all I've got since her mother
died" The nervous man paused mo-
ment and looked of across the shining
landscape. Then he went on: $50
back ! go and buys that wheel" The
recollection seemed to please him
greatly and he laughed again. 81
beat the salesman down little and he
threw in all the contrivances, and the
whole thing cost me just So. | didn't
want my girl to feel ashamed of the
wheel her father bought her, and"
he laughed merrily, II didn't want
to feel ashamed of myself And now
she's got as good wheel as any girl in
town."
The newspaper man murmured some
thing about the delightful surprise.
Surprise" cried the nervous man,
''you never saw such a surprised and
happy girl in your life. She said-but
never mind what she said. There
comes the car"
He looked away from the newspaper
man as he pointed down to the road
way. Then he added with a quick
laugh:
"Do you know what Pm up to now?
Matte has gone on a ride TO the Lake
shore front with some friends and I'm
going out TO Collinwood on the car just
to see her ride by on her wheel"
Just why he did so the newspaper
man didn't know, but he gravely
shook hands with the nervous man.
And then the car came up and they
separated. Plain Dealer.