The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-05-19

slant, as though in gigantic enmity-
their engines bombarding muzzle to
muzzie. Then they swung apart-No.
to become a wreck against the grand
stand-No. 10 TO go lurching forward
upon one fore wheel and the end of an
axle, grazing the PROSTATE body in the
road.
The grand stand breathed. They had
expected humiliation. But Morgan in
the last thousandth part of a second
had swerved his machine so that his
left fore wheel had met, and not with
direct impact, wheel of No. Z. The
crowd saw that the two men in No.
were living. and saw that the man at
the steering wheel of Nineteen still held
his seat.
Morgan. whose grip on the wheel and
supreme bracing of the legs had saved
him from being a catapultic missile,
leaped from the car and ran back to
where Jack lay. He knelt and jerked
off Jacks goggles. The boy weakly
opened his eyes. All gone to smash"
he asked.
How are your" Morgan cried.
Jack began slowly to rise. Morgan
waited for no more. He rushed to Nine
Nineteen, which officials were frantic
ally pushing from the track, for the an
nouncer's megaphone had sounded the
cry, Car coming" They lodged her
against the grand stand-beneath a box
wherein sat girl in a tan coat: and
the instant the car stopped Morgan
wriggled under 1t, and to the crowd
was only of legs. Jack limped
daZedly up, and at the sight of the bat
tered bonnet and radiator, the splinter
ed hub that had been fore wheel, the
race that was lost, the boy leaned his
elbows over his old seat and broke into
sobs. In this he was not alone, for just
above him girl in a tan coat was sob
bling, too.
Morgan began to wriggle out, and
Jack, face streaming, caught his ankles
and dragged him forth. He sprang up
frantically, his grimy face likewise tear
streaked.
How is it?" Jack asked
Seems solid-front axle bent a lit
| tie" He pointed a quivering hand at
the hub. Get it off-jack I'D the
axle,"
''why-what for?" Jack asked
blankly
Hang it, Get it off" he yelled. And
he turned and sprinted in the. direction
of their garage-why, only his frenzy
could have told, for the garage was
four miles away. But the sight of one
of the motorcycle patrolmen brought
him to stop. Without a word. he
| snatched the motorcycle from the own
er's hands and gave run and leaped
astride 1t. 1t was high-powered ma
chine, with a mile-a-minute reputa-
| ton. Whatever its best was, it showed
that best now. In a dozen seconds
Morgan was a whizzing speck down
the roadway, the tails of his yellow
dustcoat whipping the air The crowd,
oblivious of the cars racing past, stood
on its feet and watched him disappear,
and then counted the minutes until he
should come again. They guessed what
he was going to try TO do. Could he
| make it in time, and would tie car
run?
Presently the speck reappeared far
down the roadway-grew larger as it
skinned toward them-and then they
haw great hump on Morgan's back
and then, as he dashed up to the grand
stand they saw that the hump was a
wheel, its tire inflated. He sprang
from the motorcycle, gave il a push to-
ward its owner, and instantly Jack was
unstrapping the wheel from his back
The next instant the two Of them were
fitting it to its place.
But before the task was done the an
nouncer's shout went UP, car COM
ingi" and two minutes later No IS tore
by and began it's tenth round More
than another two minutes were gone
ere the last thing was finished Then
Morgan leaped to his seat and Jack be-
gan to crank the engine. Would the
engine run? the grand stand asked it
self. The engine answered with a
mighty booming.
Jack bounded to his seat. Morgan let
in the clutch. The car moved! A great
cry of relief rose from the grand stand
and changed to a cheer as the car fair
ly spBang into a leaping speed. Faster,
faster she went-swaying, lurching,
pulsing giantiy. The gale of her max
ing swept over the bonnet and struck
her riders faces like blows. And still
she went faster, as though she had the
infinite speed of flying worlds.
At the first turn Morgan called back
her speed-but not enough AS she
flew about the curve she skidded off
the course onto the grassy roadside
| twas a marvel her tires were not torn
off but they held-and missed a tele-
phone pole and destruction by a foot.
Jack shuddered, but Morgan never
wfnced-heid his statue-like stare on
the ribbon of roadway. She swung back
| into the course and her speed mounted
and mounted to its height of a minute
ago, and there seemed still more speed
in her-and she flung the miles behind
! her like Gods fastest wind.
Could they make it? A hundred
| thousand people wanted them to
pressed on their flight with their
hearts best wishes. In the grand stand
| all eyes were fixed at the beginning of
the final stretch; cars thundered by all
unnoticed. The crowd sat with watch
| in hand, counting off the minutes since
| Nineteen had started-twenty-tw
one-twenty- two-twenty-t three
Gar coming" shouted the ANNOUNCE
er.
| A tiny blot flashed into view. Eight
cen or Nineteen? All eyes strained for
| the figures on the cars front as she
came forward like meteor. The num-
| Der began to appear-the first figure
was one, the second eight or nine-eye
could not tell which. The car dipped
down a grade and was lost to sight.
| The heart of the crowd stood still. She
| flashed up into view again, and there
was her number before all. Nineteen
The next instant she roared hy-twe
tense, orouching figures in her lap-the
very soul, the very body of Speed it
self. And the grand stand, on it's feet,
roared back at her. And a little girl
| in tan coat let her head fall forward
upon her folded arms.
1t was the next morning. Mr.. Peck,
| sitting at his desk in the Office Of Pcck