The Dupuyer acantha. [volume] (Dupuyer, Mont.) 1894-1904, 1901-04-25
How Hezekiah Won the Race.
BY ELLIOTT FLOWER


he was the only one who did say so
did not in the least disturb him. His
neighbors said he was a crank.
Hezekiah frequently dilated at great
length on the incompleteness of many
labor-saving and time-saving inven-
tions. They were all very well in their
way. according to him, but IF he had
the tools" he could improve upon any
or all of them. Moreover, he could
explain just how he would do it. Pos
sibly an expert might have picked flaws
in his explanation, but there was no
one in the little town of Sun Prairie
who could do it, so his assertions
grew monotonous, and a ways and
means committee of his neighbors
finally undertook to devise a method
OF putting a stop to his Boosting. The
intimation that all wisdom is locked up
in a single human brain is invariably
annoying to a community.
The opportunity came when
Hegekiah tool up the subject of the
horseless carriage. He had seen one
or two and had inspected them care
fully. He had also read a good deal
about them, and he had no hesitation
in saying hat they were all too heavy
and clumsy. What was needed, he said,
was a lighter vehicle and one that
could show higher speed. For his part,
he wouldn't think he had been sue
cessful in that line unless he had con-
structed a h~orseless carriage that could
distance the best horse that ever
Travelled on four legs, and just to show
about he asserted that he proposed to
make one.
I'll bet you," put in n of the con-
spirators at this point, that you can't
put together a hossless kerridge thatn
beat my old blind mare, an I'll give
you an eighth of a mile start in a mile
race"
How much II you bet?" demanded
Hezekiah promptly.
How much II you bet?" was the
answering question.
How IL $500 suit ye?" suggested
A1CASh1un lSALdIlNSly.
Five hundred dollars was a good deal
of money, but the risk did not seem to
be very great, anyway. So the bet was
made. Hezekiah stipulated that the
race should take place on a half mile
track just outside of town and that
he should be given two days in which
to put up his share of the stakes, and
a month i'll which to prepare for the
race.
After that Hezekiah went into tenn
porary retirement. He spent nearly all
his time in the old shed, and he al
lowed no one else to enter it. When
he was there is was kept locked, and
observations made through the cracks
were not very satisfactory.
1t was nearly a month later that the
town was thrown into a state of wild
excitement by the report that he had
had his vehicle out for a test. OF
course he chose the night time for his
experiment, but one of the neighbors
had seen him and had reported that
the old thing could not cover a mile in
thirty minutes. 1t Wheezed and
whistled and groaned as it labored
along, and even then had finally
broken down and been pulled back to
the shed by a horse. Naturally there
was great sport at the postoffice that
evening, when all gathered as usual to
wait for the distribution of the &
o'clock mail. Everybody had some joke
to spring at the expense of Hezekiah's
"hossless kerridge."
The new invention was tried several
times at night before the day of the
final test, and all sorts of rumors were
afloat as to the results. Those who
were fortunate enough to see it in &C
ton all united in saying that two or
three miles an hour was the limit of
it's speed, but Hezekiah never lost con-
idence in it. Indeed. he seemed to be
SO absolutely certain of success that
the men who had contributed to the
$500 fund could not help feeling nerv-
Gus. Their reason told them hat they
could not possibly lose unless the blind
mare broke a leg or died on the course,
but Hezekiah's calm and sanguine tone
and bearing whenever the subject was
under discussion had the effect of max
ing them inwardly restless and doubt
full.
The day of the race the entire popu-
lation of the town turned out, and sur
rounding towns sent large Populations
that helped to swell the crowd. The
homemade automobile was already al
the track, having been taken to the