Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1899-07-28
Tie Real Test.
BY BARRY PAIN.

| platform was not inviting and the oil.
| fashioned village inn absorbed them
| There was but one man seated before ths
huge open fireplace when they entered
He was middle aged man, dressed in
black. and had dark, poetical eyes. He
| moved courtcously TO make way for tht
three friends. He had Il bright pint tank
ard by his side for purposes of reference
| and he smoked Il new church warden
clay. The three men regarded him with
| some curiosity as they ordered theil
drinks and lit their cigars. Then they
| discussed the sports and the time for the
quarter, which had been good. 1t showed
one of them observed, that Timson was
undoubtedly the better man.
| Pardon me-" the stranger observed
removing the church warden 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 answer
| ed little contemptuously: Certainly.
didn't suppose that it showed that Tim
son was morally better or that he was
| quicker over the sticks"
4 see," said the stranger. that you
| think me pedantic. Really. it is not un-
natural. But | was thinking of an ex-
| t.aordinary test which has just come to
an end and was intended TO show which
| Of two men really was in all respects the
better. 1t lasted for three years.
Three years. asked another of the
friends.
Three long consecutive years" He
tilted up his tankard, wiped his mouth
and resumed. Not one word of it ever
got into the papers. Very few people
knew anything about it. | got to hear
Of ii 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. 1t was the strangest thing ever
heard of in my life"
IF it's not secret, l should think it
Interesting to hear about it
Its no secret" He walked over to
the bar window and handed in his tank
ard to he repenished. IN tell you about
il when I've got this refiIled. | suffer
terribly from thirst at times, and this is
one of my bad days" He returned to
his place on the settle and began.
My cousin, George Shadwell, and Her
bert Bracebridge were both fair speci-
mems of good all round 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 it came to the test of which | have
spoken my cousin George won 112 out of
113 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, to
find out which was the better man, she
had made out real test, consisting of
113 different competitions. Both men
had to swear that they would go through
all the competitions; otherwise, of course,
Herbert Bracebridge would have given it
up long before it came to the end. Many
of the tests were quite ordinary. The
first was test for memory. They had
to learn the first book of the 'Aeneid' by
heart Both did it in exactly the same
time. but Bracebridge made two mistakes
in repeating it, and my cousin George
only made one. This was the more ex-
traordinary because my cousin George
didn't know Il word of Latin. In another
of the events he was handicapped in eX-
actly the same way. This was SWIM
ming race, and George had never learned
to swim. OF course he would have taken
lessons and trained for it, but no notice
was ever given them Of what the next
event was to he. AS soon as they were
told it they had to begin it. He got
shilling manual on swimming, studied the
theory of it as he was going down to the
swimming baths, mastered it completely
and won by a head"
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
bie arch to the top of the Matterhorn.
George got the quicker of the two han
SONS and maintained his lead throughout.
1t was a near thing. Bracebridge almost
oyerlaued him at the end, and he only
won by about 20 minutes. / don't know
the time that it took, nor, | am sorry to
say, have | got the exact measurement
of the only jump which they had to try
a deep jump | fancy it was from sec
ont! story window into street. There,
again, Bracebridge had bad luck. Both
men did il, but Bracebridge broke his
leg. That, of course, meant that he had
not uone it quite so well as George.
There was drinking competition. but
that was a very hollow affair. A gift in
that direction has always been in our
family George was a bottle ahead and
perfectly sober at the finish. The star
vation competition was interesting too.
They had 10 fast for 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
112, but he lost one-the last one"
"At any rate, he had all the luck he
wanted If the score ended 112 to 1, he
was proved to be the better man, and l
suppose by this time he has married the
lady,
''No," said the stranger, with a sigh,
draining his tankard and rising to go.
1.-The hundred and thirteenth competition
was to be duel to the death. 1t was
fought abroad. and George lost. That is
why wear this mourning. Goodby. |
must be getting on."-Black and White.