The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1898-06-15


When the bad ten minutes were over
he went on his way without a word to
say for himself. He could not under
stand what the squire meant by all he
said, and he did not fully believe that
riding the Through by Daylight would
do anything to his spine or give him a
queer face. 1t troubled him that the
squire seemed to be mad about the po-
tato bugs and did not think it right for
boy to bake bread and cook breakfast
and supper for his father when there
was no one else to do it. Disapproval
from such a source took away large
part of joy he felt in the Through by
Daylight.
1t was worse after Jakey took his
turn at the bicycle. The wooden wheel
proved too much for an inexperienced
rider Likely Jakey to manage. 1t made
sad gap in the young Osage.orange
hedge that was the squire's pride and
care and landed Jakey in the middle OF
Mrs. Yorks's asparagus bed.
The squire in his wrath violently
shook Jakey, kicked the wooden wheel
out into the road-lucky it was stoutly
built-and sternly forbade any further
riding of the homemade bicycle past his
premises.
Carpenter Dobbin, when he heard of
it, said the road down the hill was C
public road, and the squire could not
keep the boys from riding there if they
wanted to. Carroty said they would
not want TO; there were other hills. 1t
would be announcement sometimes to go
three miles around to 60 TO town; but
better that than to make the squire
mad. You see it was part of Carroty's
queerness that he did not like TO make
any one mad any more than he liked to
slaughter potato bugs.
Not even Bert Shepherds wheel Gre
ated as great sensation as Carroty's
Through by Daylight. No one who
saw it failed to turn for the second
LOOK. All the boys were wild 10 try it;
and until the novelty wore off the
builder found profitable business in
hiring it out-two rides down Forks
hills for one cent.
Carroty kept on working at ibis BIZ
cycle, improving it and adding extra
attachments. Jakey's disastrous &C.
cident of the hedge showed him the
necessity of brake, and he put on one
at once. would like TO describe that
brake, but it is beyond me. l have
been told by those who understand
such things that it was very ingenious.
l know that two springs from the hair
cloth sofa went into its construction,
| and l know that it worked.
A decoration of red and blue paint
was next added, the frame and rims of
the wheels red, imitation spokes laid
in, in stripes of blue, and the name
printed on the front wheel in red and
blue letters. Before he stopped Car
roty whitfield out sprocket wheel and
made leather "chain." So from be-
ing simply coaster, the Through by
Daylight became what Carroty called
ga regular roadster"
Not once during all this time did Car
roty ride down Squire Yorke's hill, and
when he hired the wheel out it was
with a proviso against that route.
One morning Mrs. Ginter, the Dob
bins nearest neighbor, rushed over
white and breathless. Her husband
had fallen from the roof of the shed
and was badly hurt. She wanted Car
roty to hurry down to the village after
the doctor.
"He'll die if you don't hurry" the
distraught woman cried. Carroty
jumped on Through by Daylight and
dashed down the forbidden hill. Al
he whizzed around the corner he saw
the squire, bareheaded, coat-tails fly.
ing, ahead of him.
"Hell get hurt sure if he tries to
stop me now" said Carroty.
The next moment he saw what il
meant. A fair-haired little lad-tht
squirrels grandson-was running up the
hill, white with terror, and pursued by
a big, black dog with foaming, snap
ping jaws. The squire was straininl
every muscle to reach the child, We
groaning as he ran with the certainty
that he would be too late.
Carroty took his hand from the brake
and the Through by Daylight leapet
forward straight down upon the dog
swapping at the boys heels.
The squire felt rather than saw some
thing rush past him, then boy and do
were swallowed up in cloud of dust
The next moment he was holding hi
sobbing grandson in his arms, looking
at the dog motionless on one side o
the road Garrnfu pnnt;nplaoa ~, Al.