The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1898-07-15


wheel a nocturnal one. l must face the
ordeal in the cruel verac;tv NJ Fn
light.
l never could quite understand how
every one in the neighborhood found
out that on that particular DAY 80.
gor~ 10 make my first attcn. q. CO.
quer II the unruly spirit Of sou es
mechuu SIN. 1t was after nightfalI when
brought the wheel home. | thought
the secret was my own and all things
seemed propitious to quiet contest be-
TWEEN the wheel and myself, in which l
should have won the laurels before the
neighbors were apprised thai battle
was on. To further insure tbs result L
had for several days studied tie man
ners of veteran riders, especially when
leading their wheels. I hattered my
self l had this pretty near perfection
AS I led the wheel out to the street l
even stopped to examine spoke crit
ically, in precisely the manner l had
seen an expert do the day before. 1t
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 lazly over
front rates. I don't believe that there
was house within four blocks that
didn't have a man about it. Ard then
horrors! the street seemed infested
with small boys. The small boy 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-
forrc Gree. His comments Oh such oc-
cos'o'.- &c rot original, witty or wise,
but e.. oefully effective.
l l0i'~~c I am brave man. I once
voluntarily acted as judge of debate in
q YOUR ladies' literary society, and l
star roa6v', for a sufficient induccmcnt,
to i Of committee on Awards at
was : 49, med. Not at the wheel. I
had Tomato cOnteir'>+ ~ 4het
a; '.cleton Of WOO" ""l,
being stared ".'-
feel as if { .
'}ition Of myscli
foot firmly on e.c0,
l.: d" on the other, in t.. GU
Il and stepped up. Nov am
c" 81 [ had that wheel 1'~'~~c ed
all ! had raised myself 4 cx
trao,' rary care, and if the wtc~l had
been 4 stcady-going machine Of year
OF SOS service, it would have Ee"r all
rirht MS was new wheel t''n"~'',
arr characteristic v
tr" ny.
~ -, just as / got ny 100; well
off : and and was putting my sole
dependence On the step. the thing
lunged over. I expected to see the
wheel broken ito pieces, but it was not
injured. 1t had mission to perform
yet. ii could not afford to break until
it had ~"omplished it. That r';esion
wa. . ;. ~"ch to me the doct~'r" # the
total > Hvity of mammal -
Az Ling up the VIII
arou:' - nv audience. /
pectod ~lause, but thour' Z o.
reasonably look for mirth. Tv.l~ o-c..
prepared to laugh.heroicallv with them.
but not a smile was visible They al
seemed interested, but not amused.
They were reserving their merrinent.
The next time I had better luck. I
succeeded in getting on the seat. This
made it more interesting for the S,octa-
tors, because when the wheel lur ~od,
ran around in circle an1 II
cola ns"d, the situation was a ~Q01 dool
more ridiculous. AS q source c. ~.'n g.
menf I saw it was going to DC g ~'- ~
After this fall, the men who = Eoe.-
lounginr On the front gates gen! rcd
up to where | was. The small No~s
who had been viewing operate from
respectful distance, also drew arouid
me. was at the flood-tide of r'v mis-
cry.
I no longer regarded the hicvtle as
soulless thing of steel, nickel ard
wood. 1t was a treacherous a1'd en-
phatically animate monster u Il nut
down at any cost. Igrasped it savame IT,.
placed it roughly in position and
mounted. It threw me, but I tried
again. had forgotten the au1'onco.
The men advised, the boys iccrcd ard
the women laughed; I heard, ~ hui
did rot heed. I was mad. I've -o'~~-
to 90 O. die, and several tit
cho@ ROC "n"med greatly with ~
or - ativc.
!. got the wheel to 90 "
\ t ! e Joy went through r.
the l9;7s'v0aDc slip by. | felf
passing rapidly through space. r =
crowd which 1 had feared I rc-- -
dafn"a. was leaving them f. -
| felt ~ until that moment = 10
known life. The hitherto cx;c4'ro T.
lation O. snace to time was rad'-@i,- a.
tered. It was almost as thou 49,
worl" -! been opened to me. e - :
arc 7 my delights was victc g.
1 g un over the fine country ro27, ..
last l was master
l ou~ht to have noticed that gravel
bed. Exaltation is good thing in IFS
place, but its place is not astrido =
brand new wheel. l picked myself III
laboriously. The wheel was onlv par
tally ruined. Just matter of bert
pedals and crimped handle-bars. I was
good deal worse used up myself, but
that didn't matter. I had conouered
the wheel, and henceforth / knew
would be master of that or any other
wheel; and 1 am.-Outing.