The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1898-06-03
The squire did not approve of b

down by one in the city and laid up for
three weeks. The squire did not ap-
prove of Carroty, either. He said il
made him sick to see boy of 10 years
old pottering at housework and whit
Ting out toys, and when he was offered
a job killing potato bugs at ten cents
a hundred making the silly excuse that
he "didn't like to hurt 'em!"
Carroty stood first on one foot then
on the other during the squire's lee
ture. When the bad ten minutes were
over he went on his way without a
word to say for himself. He could not
understand 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 queer face. 1t troubled him that
the squire seemed to be mad about the
potato bugs and did not think it right
for boy to bake bread and cook break
fast and supper for his father when
there was no one else to do it. Disap-
| proval from such source took away a
large part of the Joy he felt in the
Through by Daylight.
II was worse after Jakey took his
turn at the bicycle. The wooden
wheel proved too much for an inexperi-
enced rider like Jakey to manage. 1t
made sad gap in the young Usage
orange hedge that was the squire's
pride and care and landed Jakey in the
middle of Mrs. Yorlse's asparagus bed.
The squire in his wrath violently
shook Jakey, kicked the wooden wheel
out into the road-lucky 1t 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 a
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 inconvenient sometimes to ge
three miles around to go to town; but
better that than to make the squire
mad. You see it was part of Carroty's S
queerness that he did not like to make
anyone mad any more than he liked to
slaughter potato bugs.
Not even Bert Shepherds wheel
created as great a sensation as Car
roty's Through by Daylight. No one
who saw it failed to turn for the sec
ond look. All the boys were wild to
try it; and until the novelty wore off
the builder found profitable business
in hiring it out-two rides down Forks
hill for one cent.
Carroty kept on working at his bicy-
Gle, improving it and adding extra at
tachments. Jakey's disastrous acci-
dent of the hedge showed him the neces-
sity of a brake, and he put one on at
once. 1 would like to describe that
brake, but it is beyond me. Ihave been
told by those who understand such
things that it was very ingenious.
know that two springs from the hair
cloth sofa went into it's construction,
and 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 let
ters. Before he stopped, Carroty
whitfield out a sprocket wheel and
made leather CHAIN" So from be-
ing simply coaster, the Through by
Daylight became what Carroty called
"a regular roadster"
Not once during all this time did
Carroty ride down Squire Yorke's hill,
and when he hired the wheel ont it
was with proviso against that route.
One morning Mrs. Ginter, the Dob
bins nearest neighbor, rushed over,
white and breathless. Her husband
had fallen from tine roof of the shed
and was badly hurt. She wanted Car
roty to hurry down to the village after
the doctor.
Hell die if you don't hurry" the
distraught woman cried. Carroty
jumped on Through by Daylight and
dashed down the forbidden hill. AS
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 it
meant. A fair-haired little lad-the
squire's grandson-was running up the
hill, white with terror, and pursued by
big, black dog with foaming, snap
ping jaws. The squire was straining
every muscle to reach the child, yet
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 leaped
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 dog
were swallowed up in a cloud of dust.
The next moment he was holding his
sobbng grandson in his arms, looking
at the dog motionless on one side of the
road, Carroty motionless on the other
side, the wooden bicycle between. He
got fence-rail to make sure of the dog,
but it was Unnecessary; the heavy
wooden wheel had broken the rabid
animals back.
When the squire turned to Carroty
ne found that youth, dusty and bloody
from bleeding nose, preparing to re-
mount.
I'm going after the doctor, squire,
for Jack Ginter; he's hurt" Carroty
said, apologetically. 81 wouldn't have
come this way riding this, if it had been
for anything else. l thought you
wouldn't mind, since it is for the doc
tor in a hurry"
He started off too quickly to hear