Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1901-04-19


probably break your neck IL you III tos1
ride him But the young fear neither
the one nor the other, and as for neck
breaking wen, that simply does not
come into the count.
K However, rode straight on through
! the town down to the Clarence pier
and, dismounting, looked about me-.
Truly the sky was dark, the clouds
seeming to hold a perfect deluge, but
1 rs ret they were high and. though
scudding fWiously, promised not, re
thought, an immediate downpour.s
Therefore / turned about. determined
to get some distance on the road before,
the deluge came But before. / reach
ed Cosham iathe first drops fell, and
these were followed so quickly By the
real downpour that rode into the
little town amid perfect torrent OF
rain. '#:.. S
Here, much to my chagrin, was
forced to stop for nearly two hours,
and when at last ventured forth tt.
was in a slight drizzle as there were
no prospects Of the weather clearing
Carefully ,pedaled my way along.
now splashing through pools. now i1l-a
dulging in various forms of the side
slip, and expecting every moment to-;
be projected into the road. 1t was
quite dark as wheeled my way
through Havant, and l looked with
longing at the lights of the shop win
dows. But the genial warmth within
was not for me, SO l passed on into the
night. ~S ..z .Eg
AS l left the town the rain began to-
descend with renewed vigor, but as Il
was already we'll saturated it did not
affect me in the least. albeit it did not
add to the cheerfulness of my sur-@
roundings. Once wet second CT third
deluge mattered nothing, and had no
fear of a cold, given the exercise Of
pedaling. That was why should
have feared to train to Chichester
even IL l had had the money. which
was not the case. My father rarely
seemed to think that might like
shilling or two in my pocket, and as
consequence he saw no necessity to
burden me with the dross. Il believe it
is not an uncommon consideration with
parents. = i +4a-' - 49, III
So far had progressed satisfactory
~, If slowly. but about half a mile OUT
side Of Ellsworth went into rut. "A:
swishing Of water followed, the MAJ
chine swerved suddenly. and was
precipitated with some violence into
the road. s#t
Picking myself up. much shaken. my:
first thought was naturally Of the bicy-.
Gle. and upon examining it in the dark,
for my lamp had gone out. discover
ed, to my dismay. that the front wheel
would not bulge. Feeling in full the
horror Of the situation. i succeeded aft
er several vain attempts in lighting my
lamp. when an investigation of the
front wheel disclosed the fact that the
fork had been twisted and that the rim
of the wheel pressed against the side S
There was nothing left How but to
run the thing on its back wheel and
trundle it before me, and this did, q
feeling my misfortune very keenly.a
The rain came down in torrents, and
the road was gradually transformed
Into series of miniature lakes, into
which l splashed with disconcerting
regularity. But plodded on sturdily,
and presently the lights of the town
opened up. a glad sight to the eyes Of I
the weary wayfarer. - Estta5,ss,ss
Then began the trying search for q
repairer's shop. and after the shop was
found another expedition had to be
formed to so in search of the repairer.
Eventually he was run to earth In IA
neighboring public house. and with q
very bad grace he consented to see
what he could do. < s:s.zs,. ii. .@S q
When ! at length left Ellsworth, r.
found that it was after II O'Clock.
Save for the street lamps the town was
In complete darkness. and melan-
cholya and uninspiring sight it presented.
But was glad to see the rain had stop
ped for that had seemed to make the
darkness more profound. It was, how
ever, a melancholy outlook. and set
forth feeling in a marked degree the In
sduence of the night. rs
passed never a soul upon that drea-
~ road Occasionally a belated light
shone dimly from window. The trees
lowered above me like gloomy phan-
toms; the wind whistled In an uncanny
manner through the hedgerows. fan.
cied l saw men plodding before me IN s
the dark; even thought / could hear
the swish Of their boots as they rose
and fell in the mud. thousand.
strange thoughts kept me company.
and 4 have vivid recollection OF re-
peating over and over to myself, keep
ing time, as it were. with the crunch
Of the wheels and the movement of the
pedals. snatches of that ballad which
tells how Horatius kept the bridge In
the brave days Of old. my favorites
stanza beginning: 80.
&c rseled, and Oh Hefminius E ssg
= Re leant one breathing space. - 81.
Then. like aswildcat mad with wounds
sprang st!aisht ct Asturs face.
! suppose most people have expert