Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1899-09-02
"THE 'TwIsTER WAS CLOSING IN FAST"

I looked it encountered a great barn,
and with a ripping roar some hum
dreds of shingles assembled into the
air, still further deepening the som
Der hue of the gyrating body.
The next cross road was only half q
mile ahead, but it was the freshly
graveled one leading past our farm,
and I could not turn upon it. 1t was
consequently necessary to ride full
milo and half before reaching an
other. The additional weight on the
machine told severely on my muscles,
and would gladly have taken to the
fields now. but Ethel was too heavy
to be carried, and she could not mus
ter up sufficient speed on her own
legs to evade the fast approaching
"twister."
1t was clear that the race could not
last so. 1 had almost forgotten tho
sail, snugly dashed to the mast before
me, but the thought now came to me
like an inspiration. I dared not dis
mount to unfurl it, but T clutched the
handle-bars with one hand and ner-
vously undid the knots with the other
The sail dropped and blew out, and I
pulled taut the sheet.
The effect was instantaneous. 1t
was as if an additional and violent i'm
pulse had been applied to the ma
chine, for it started off with bound
at new rate of speed. The strong
wind filed the canvas like balloon
till the bamboo mast bent with the
strain. Ethel said nothing and hung
on like o heroine, while I had much
difficulty in keeping my hold on the
pedals, being unprovided with toe.
clips. At last I was compelled to put
my feet upon the forks aud devote all
my energy to the task of steering.
The speed increased every moment.
Once we struck stone and seemed
to bound six feet before touch
ing the road again, but I recovered
my balance after frenzied wob-
BILE. The sail INSTRUCTED my view Of
the road ahead, the weight on the
front forks increased the difficulty of
accurate steering, and as the high
speed made the least movement of the
handles produce most surprising
evolution, it was no easy matter to
keep straight course.
The roar of the sail drowned the
noise of the pursuing tornado. and I
dared not turn my head. I fancied,
however, that we were gaining; it
seemed impossible that even whirl
wind could travel at a greater speed
than our own headlong rush. Now
and then 1 heard a crash as some
house-roof or shed was demolished,
but deadened as these sounds were,
it was impossible to Judge OF their
distance.
On sudden, however, a split
shingle dropped beside my wheel and
startled me. At all risks.I craned my
neck about and looked back. The
sight I saw was terrifying. The black
monster seer ed to be towering right
above my shoulders, though in reality
it must have been several hundred feet
in the rear. had glimpse OF boards
and all sorts OF rubbish whirling high
in air, along with some tiuttering
birds carried resistlessly round and
round by the current. The roar OF
the tornado was obvious enough now
that my head was turned toward it.
The strong wind that ran Immediately
before the storm protected us in &C.
celebrating our speed, and I suppose
this is the reason why we had not
been sooner overtaken. But the
"twister" was closing in fast, and this
could not avail rs long.
The next crossroads were not far
away, and oil depended on being able
to reach them. I could not improve