Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1897-12-14

I hat crushed into hopeless liatness I'M
der him
More attempts and more failures
followed in quick succession have
always felt that he must have been
q strong believer in the theory of the
''final perseverance of the saints" for
he certainly preserved with pcrsis-
tency that showed his staying quail
tiles, admirably BY and by he took
or his vest Presently cuffs aud col
lar were discarded, and had any other
portion of his raimert beers remov-
able without violating the rules Of
propriety / am confident that he
would have Invested himself of it,
lie had failed, so far, in the accom-
plishment of his undertaking, but he
was determined not to be conquered
by thing without brains, and hew
stripping himself for mortal combat
lie seemed to have forgotten my
presence. And IL lay back in the
hammock and laughed so much that
my sides were sorcr than his body was
next day, verify believe
| think he kept it up for at least
three hours. Once in awhile he had
to pause and take breath. His
clothes were wet with sweat The
perspiration ran down his face in lit
tie rills. But he was not yet ready to
acknowledge defeat. lie tried that
wheel from all quarters. He strad-
died the seat and tried to get under
Roadway by walking tiptoe and get
ting up motion in that way prcpara-
tory to getting control of the pedals
Then he got on the horse block and
tried to mount from that position.
just about half the time, as nearly as
could calculate, he was either on
his face or his back in the dust, or
getting on his feet. Once in awhile |
saw him rubbing what presumed to
be bruised places on his anatomy, and
noticed that he was evidently get
ting sitter rapidly, as the encounter
of mind and matter went on.
BY and by he sat down on the horse
block and seemed in deep thought
He looked that wheel over from all
points. He pushed it back and forth
far enough to make the pedals go
around once and made calculations as
to the position they ought to be in at
the moment when the foot took them.
Then he reused himself for the final
encounter
He decided to make this attack
from the rear He took hold of the
handle bars, got the pedals in such
a position that when the right one
had made one revolution it would be
about where his foot would strike it
while on the down grade, provided all
else went well, and then he was ready
for the trial. He started; he made
theleap; he came down squarely in the
saddle, and, oh, victory! his right
foot caught the pedal at the proper
time and he went ahead without go
ing over. lie seemed to feel that he
had conquered at last, for he gave
a little whoop of eXultation, but just
at that instant the front wheel began
to kink and wobble in that utterly
depraved way peculiar to front
wheels at times, ard the more he tried
to steady it the more uncomfortable ii
got. 1t seemed to have the ST. Vitus
dance. All this time his right foot |
was clinging to the pedal with deadly |
desperation, While his left one was
flying wildly round in space trying to |
find the pedal on that side Of the ma
chine, while he was going ahead with |
sudden and unexpected shifts TO all |
points of the compass. Then, all at |
once, the entire machine seemed to
tie itself up in knot for a moment, |
then it bucked like a mule for all the
world, and the poor man was pitched |
head first into a great clump Of bull |
thistlcs. They scratched him terri
bly,, but he ought to have been thank
full that they were there, for they
broke the force of his fall He lay |
there so long that ! began to be |
alarmed, and went to his assistance
But before | reached him he strug-
gled to his feet, corkscrewed me with |
a glare Of awful intensity, but said !
not a word lie seized the innocent
looking wheel and dragged it to the I
veranda in a series of vindictiye jerks, |
and deposited it there in silence.
Then he glanced at me again, but not
one word escaped his lips. | have al
ways thought he dared not trust him
self to speak for fear he would give
utterance to some Of the thoughts
that "arose in him"
The next day his nose had a great |
black and blue spot on it, and was
swollen to twice its usual size. There
was a bruso on one cheek, another on
his neck and thistle scratches all over
his face. He walked with great dig
nity-or difliculty-and seemed sub