The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-06-20
The Real Test.

stACOn PLATFORM was not inviting, ano the
old-fssnioned village inn absorbed them.
'Inere was but one man seated before
the huge open fireplace when they en-
tered He was a biddle-aged man. dress
60 In black and had dark, poetical eyes
he moved courteously to make way for
the three friends. He had a bright pint
tankard by his side for purposes o; ref
erence, and he smoked new church,
warden clay.
The three men regarded him with some
curiosity as they ordered their drinks and
lit their cigars Then they discussed the
sports and the time for the quarter.
which had been good. It showed, one
OF them observed, that Timson was I'M
doubtedly the better man.
Pardon me-" the stranger observed,
removing the churchwarden from his lips.
but surely it only showed that he was
the superior in running the Quarter-not
that he was the better man."
The first speaker laughed. but answered
little contemporary: Certainly. I did
not suppose that tshowed that Timson
was morally better or that he was quicker
over the sticks"
l see" said the stranger, "that you
think me pedantic. Really, IL Is not I'M
natural. But 1 was thinking OF an ex-
t1aordinary test which has just come to
an end, and was intended to show which
or two men really was in all respects the
better. 1t lasted for three years.
Three years?" asked another Of the
frineds
Three long, consecutive years" He
tilted up his tankard, wiped his mouth
and resumed. mot one word of 1t ever
got into the papers. Very few people
knew anything about It. 1 got to hear
Of 1t because one of the competitors.
George Shadwell, was my cousin. My own
name is Shadwell, too. Besides. ! knew
the lady who was the cause Of IT all. II
was the strangest thing ever heard Of
in my life
IF it's not a secret I should think Il
Interesting TO hear about it."
IT'S no secret" He walked over to the
bar window and handed in his tankard
to be replenished. "I'll tell you about II
when I've got this refilled. 1 suffer ter
ribly from thirst at times, and this Is one
of my bad days" He returned TO his
place on the settee and began:
MY cousin George Shadwell and Her
| bert Bracebridge were both fair speci-
ments Of good all-around men. In looks.
position, fortune, physique, abilities any
one would have said that they were as
! near equal as they could possibly be, Yet
when 1t came to the test of which have
spoken, my cousin George won a hundred
and twelve out of a hundred and thir-
! teen items out Of which the test was COM
posed. 1t came about in this way. They
were both In love with the same lady.
This lady made them both come to her
one afternoon. and told them frankly that
| she would marry the better man, and
had made out a real test, consisting OF a
| hundred and thirteen different competi-
| tions. Both men had to swear that they
| would go through all the competitions;
| otherwise, of course, Herbert Bracebridge
1 t,y IzA
came to the end. Many of the tests were
quite ordinary. They had to learn the
| first book of 'Aeneid by heart. Both did
! Il in exactly the same time, but Brace
bridge made two mistakes in repeating
| II, and my cousin George only made one.
| This was the more extraordinary because
my cousin George didn't know a word of
Latin. In another Of the events he was
handicapped In exactly the same way.
This was a swimminesrace, and George
had never learned TO swim or course,
he would have taken lessons and trained
| for It, but no notice was ever given them
of what the next event was to be. As
soon as they were told It they had TO
begin it. He got a shilling manual on
swimming. studied the theory of ii as
he was going down 80 the swimming
baths, mastered ii completely and won
| by a heat"
what sort Of time did your cousin
make in the athletic events?"
"Well, there was only one race put
down for them; that was from the Mar
| BILE Arch to the top of the Matterhorn.
! George got the quicker of the two ham
SONS and maintained his lead throughout.
1t was a near thing. Bracebrldge almost
overhauled him at the end, and he only
won by twenty minutes. 1 don't know
the time that it took, nor. / am sorry TO
say. have l got the exact measurement
of the only jump which they had TO try
a deep jump. / fancy it was from a sec
ond-story window into street. There
| again Bracebrdge had bad luck. Both
men did It, but Bracebridge broke his
leg. That, of course, meant that he had
not done It quite as we'll as George. There
was a drinkin competition. but that was
a very hollow affair. A gift in that direc-
ton has always been in our family.
George was a bottle ahead and perfectly
sober at the finish. The starvation COM
petition was interesting, too. They had
| 10 fast for a week, and the one who lost
least weight won. George won by an
ounce"
George seems to have had all the
luck"
Not all-not absolutely ALL He won
l12, but he lost one-the last one"
AT any rate. he had all the luck he
wanted II the score ended liz to l, he
was proved te be the better man; and 1
suppose by this time he has married the
| LADY,"
mo" said the stranger. with a sigh.
draining his tankard and rising TO go.
| The one hundred and thirteenth COM
petition was TO be duel TO the death.
That is why I wear this mourning. Good
| by; must be getting on"
The three friends sat and stared at one
another. After a long silence one OF
them said:
Can nothing be done? an we leave Il
like this? Can't we go after him?"
Another Of them ran and had the land
| lord brought.
Can YOU" he asked, tell me who that
man Is who went out a minute ago? Mid
dle-aged, dressed in black. dark eyes"
You mean Mr.. SMITH said the land
! lord.
You know him. then? Who is he?''
/ "He IS an undertaken. He does not
| live here. but he is down on fob to-
| day. Also acts. I believe, as an inspector
| Of gas meters"
Are you likely TO see him again.
81 may not. Probably shall. He gen.
orally gives US q call when he Is this
| way"
THE next time you see him would you
mind telling him for US that We think he
| IS wanted?''
And with an air OF profound melancholy
| the three friends took their way II silence
| 70 the railway station.