The Opelousas courier., 1903-01-24
A RUNAWAY.

"Wait, Lulu; we shall have to walk
down this hill"
ooh, no." was the laughing reply.
II am going to ride"
A party of young people awheel had
reached the brow of the bluff that
bordered Indian Creek. The road
wound it's way down the steep hillside
with many a curve, and was widely
known as the most difficult and dan
gerous in all the country around.
Transfers dreaded it, and avoided it
whenever they could. Only the bold
est Of wheelmen dared descend it,
with toe pressed hard on tire; and
none had ever succeeded in riding up.
And Lulu was an inexperienced young
rider, little acquainted with the coun-
try and unaware of the danger in
volved in attempting the descent. She
had ridden a little in advance of the
party, and had started down the hill
before the rest realized what she was
doing. Her wheel had no brake, and
she had not mastered the useful art
of brakfng with the to,, while her
back-pedaling left much to be desired.
So it was that she had hardly begun
the long descent when it became evil
dent to her companions behind her
that she had lost control of her ma
chine.
"Oh, she will be killed." cried one
of the girls Of the party, and the boys
turnel pale as they realized more fully
how great the peril was. There was
no time for elaboration. Whatever
was to be done must be done on the
instant. Luckily n of the older
boys was an expert bicycler who
thought little of making a century"
or two a week, and who, as his ad-
mirers declared, "could do anything
with a wheel but make 1t talk" Be-
fore the rest knew what he had in
mind, he had buttoned his jacket tight,
mounted his wheel, and dashed down
the steep road in pursuit. He was at
least fifty yards behind, but his wheel
had a high gear" an advantage which
he now used to the utmost. Slowly
he overcame her lead, but the pace
grew terrific. He lost his cap, and a
pebble grazed by his forward tire flew
up and struck him in the face. He
pressed on, however, gaining very
gradually, until he had reached and
passed the fugitive. When he had Sc
cured a lead which he thought suf-
fcient, he swung himself of, letting
his wheel take a r of itself. His
momentum was such that although he
landed on his feet he was thrown
violently to the ground, and slid for
several yards, badly barking his hands
and knees. With a heroic effort he re-
covered and stood upright-not a mo-
ment too soon, for the runaway wheel
was now bearing down upon him at
frightful speed.
Lulu had begun the descent without
a thought of danger. The rapid in
crease of speed surprised but at first
did not alarm her. Soon, however,
the pedals began to reyolve so rapidly
that she could not follow them with
her feet, which thenceforth hung help
less, struck and bruised by the swiftly
whirling pedals at every revolution.
Then her hat blew of, and her hair,
flying loose, f1uttered behind her, or
blowing across her face, blinded her.
Most fortunately she still remained
in the saddle, and with grim determin-
alton chung to the handle bars and
was able, almost miraculously, to fol
low the various turns of the road.
AS she approached the spot where
her friend awaited her it was evident
she could not hold on much longer.
Breathless, with staring eyes and pale,
set features, she chung, hardly con-
to the wheel, which now was
from n side
of the road to the other. The boy
watched her movements keenly and
placed himself so that she must pass
close to his right side, and as the
wheel shot by he braeed himself, and,
with a desperate effort, caught her in
his arms. The shock threw him to
the ground, where he lay for a moment
stunned, while she fell beside him in
a faint, and the bicycle, after stagger-
ing on few yards further, rolled over
the high bank at the roadside.
Fortunately neither the boy nor Lulu
suffered any permanent injury, though
the fright and the shock were
to keep Lulu indoors for
some days, and her friend had the
pleasure of nursing a broken collar
bone.-St. Nicholas Magazine.