Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-02-10

thinking it had been put there to balance
| the wheel, or something of that sort.
AT this juncture-or perhaps it would be
more accurate to say at this puDcture-
there happened along nice young man,
i VINO also rode wheel. He sprang off, on
seeing maiden In distress, and asked po-
| lftely If he could be Of any assistance. He
could. and he was. The girl sat there and
| admired his deft handling of Il tire that
had unexpectedly gone as limp as a rag.
There, said the young man, cheerfully,
1t Is all right now. my lady
"Oh, You know who l am said the girl,
flushing slightly.
Yes, my lady, but az it is not likely
that you recognize me. may l have the
pleasure of introducing myself?'
CTheSe board schools in England do en-
able young man to express himself beau
tifully. Pretty soon there will be no more
dialect stories written, for which mercy let
us be truly thankfully
Il should be pleased to have YOU do So
replied Lady Gwendolen, with dignity,
that may know to whom am under OBJ
legations
There is no obligation, my lady: it was
a delight to serve you. / am John A. Biggs
son of the blacksmith in Podbury -Gosset.
the village under the shadow of Stobcross
castle, as one might say, although it Is five
miles away. We do cycle repairing, and if
anything ever goes wrong with your wheel
we will put it right as cheaply as any other
| reliable house in the trade
"Cheapness has no attraction for nv
| father said Lady Gwendolen, with some
| Of the hauteur of the gentleman she had
mentioned; we have never been in tie
/ custom of haggling about price"
/ The young man bowed and was silent
He was well aware of the earl's financial
principles.
| The two rode together along the lane
| toward the castle, and chatted in the most
| amiable manner of the various merits of
i different machines, and when they parted
| at last, the girl impulsively held out her
hand, and If he kept it in his own a little
| longer than strictly yxyI,,
| shall blame him? Not ], for one; I've done
| 1t myself. He made bold to ask her If she
| was accustomed TO cycle often In that lane,
| and she answered in a low voice that she
| was.
But what is the use Of my dwelling on
| these details? l know the reader has al
ready fathomed my shallow plot There ia
! only one story to write, and that has been
! written over and over and over again Still
| l am encouraged to proceed because | am
/ dealing with fact and not with fiction This
/ Is plain, unenameled record of actual
| events (all except the Noah story, which
| am not responsible for: the monk wrote
map mai ana as long as stick rigidly to the
| truth, don't see how can be found fault
| with. If l were writing fiction | would cali
! the young man Reginald Trevour instead
| OF John A. Biggs.s-l don't see much ro-
nance about the name of Biggs myself al
| though he was a fine. stalwart young fell
| low, deeply read in clippings stolen from
| the American comic papers and consequent
| ~ possessing such a vast fund of informa
| ton that ii was an education in itself for
| any lady in the land to talk with him But
i the reader who thinks everything is poine
| smoothly from now is much mistaken
| Neither of the young people gave a thought
| to the proud earl who paced the battle
] ments with his chin in the air, and who was
| so unliterary that he didn't even take in a
4 Sunday paper. The willy reader who keeps
| his eye on that naughty earl will run the
/ best chance of gaining the guinea prize Of
fered for a solution of the 'Stobcross mvs-
| terry" '
The two young people met often in thar
| leafy lane and talked most absorbinglv of
let US say of bicycles and the com
| ponent parts thereof And the arrop,a nj
| earl Kept his nose perpendicular tha :
| he saw nothing of what was passing unda,
| nus chin, as one might remark But was
| there none to enlighten him? Reader ,.o,,
| have guessed it. No account of a griy,
| castle can be written without taking ac-
| count OF the Surly servitor the me
| NAL whose forefathers have faithfully
| shaved and spied for the baroniaI hnnse
Win whlch they nave been connected all
| through the centuries. Novelists should
| subscribe for a testimonial to the rancorous
| retainer; he Is a boon and blessing N
| them. ~
Peter Trevellick. the grabbed man-of-alI
| work about the castle, had a suspicion of
what was going forward and he stealthiIy
| watched the young pair. For long time
| he was banned. because he was seyenty-six
| years old and no Splinter on the cycle and
as most of their conferences took place in
| the aforementioned leafy lane on their
| wheels, espionage was not without its din
culties. But so eager were the twain 10
1 meet that on several occasions when the
earl was from home the blacksmith's SON
/ had the temerity to call on Lady Gwendoleu
| at the castle, and 1t was only too evident
| that the girl was most eager to see him
Trevellick. the better to further his sinister