The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-19

1 dazzling smile drove the severity
 from her face. But see how I have for
 given you. I've stayed up all night and
 come here just to see you win.' "You want me to win?' he cried.
 'Yes," she said, and her face grew very
 steady and she held out a little gloved
 hand He showed his grimy palm and shook his head She leaned further oyer
 and the little hand slipped into the palm.
 He gripped it tightly.
 The hand withdrew, fell upon his l shoulder, and gave him a light push. l You must go; your machine Is getting 1 frantic"
 Morgan touched his cap and sprang to
 his seat just as No. 1T shot across the 1 tape Jack" he said, between his teeth, l "I'll bet million to one we win!' 1 As No IS rolled up to the tape the l grand stand burst into cheering and 1 elapping of hands. No. IS was easily the
 favorte. It was made by a famous firm,
 and had won several smaller races during | the summer and had made a good show i ing in France in the Gordon Bennett cup
 race It's driver, Pearson, was skillful
 and reckless; and though he habtitually 1 dlsregarded the rights of other drivers, this affected him little with the public, !, which sees only results and judges by
 them. As he bolted away Pearson re | sponded to the applause with Jaunty wave of a gauntleted hand
 1 Nineteen was next. The grand stand 1 looked on listlessly she was the nobody l of the race. Jack cranked the engine, which started going with the din of a rapid-fire gun, and leaped in. Morgan !. pulled his goggles down over his eyes i and sat tensely waiting, while the | starters, who shared the grand stand s l opinion of Nineteen. perfunctorily shouted sthe seconds into his ears: "Fiften-ten-7 1 four-three--" he turned his head and | lA13 3afafT over a box g-''two-one-gol" He l let the clutch In slowly, and the car | moved easily away from the silent grand l stand-silent save for one pair of clapplng | hands. He shifted to the high gear the I car fairly sprang into sprintins speed, l and flashed away down the oiled road
 and the race that was to mean everything l or nothing to Morgan was on
 l On the racer sped, the incarnation of | velocity To drive this creature of steel | and fire is the most dangerous thing man l does in the name of sport. Man'h high l est development of Gods material Is in | it. but under so terrific strain mans | best may snap. The course is narrow and 1 has It's turns, and only the coolest nerve 1 and the steadest, quickest hand can hold | the creature to her path. A snap, or an | instant's unsteadiness of hand, and the race may be forever over for man ana ! machine. And there may be ragged hole in the bordering human wall where
 the machine tore through.
 To keep your machine in the road, and
 to keep 1t going at eighty miles an hour
 on the straightaways and at forty on
 the turns-thats the substance of driving racer, barring mishaps. And that was the substance of Morgan's first round. He crept up to within half a mile of Eign-
 teen and was holding that position when
 he skinned past the grand stand. The hI hIttr tn him corner of his eye caught the waving of single handkerchief.
 Thirty minutesl" Jack announced.
 "Greatr'
 Morgan nodded. his eyes on the oiled roadway.
 A few miles on Pearson had puncture
 in his rear tire and stopped In the very middle of the road to repair 1t. 1t was such breaches of racing etiquette as this that made him so cordially detested by other drivers Morgan, tearing on behind, had to slow down and run almost off the course to get by. The slow down cost him quarter of q minute. and 300-mile races are sometimes won by little more. A little further on Morgan himself: had a rear tire punctured. He stopped at the next tire station and had 1t replaced ! and was starting off again, after loss of three minutes, when Pearson came whizzng by. Morgan set out in grim pursuit and gradually clOSeu the gap De- tween them When thirty yards behind he sounded his horn for Pearson to give him half the road, but Pearson, despite the rule that a machine being overtaken
 must keep to the right, held the middle of the course They ran so for mile, then the way broadened and Morgan touched his accelerator. Nineteen re- sponded like a horse to a whip, darted forward. swung around Eighteen and again took the middle of the road When | they flashed by the grand stand Eighteen was a mile behind.
 The next four rounds were wild speed l ing. Nineteen ran as though she knew | the stake she carried. She passed car | after car always ready with bursts of l swifter flight when asked of her, as tire | less as Speed in the abstract. She swept by cars that stood beside the course with l cracked cylinders and broken frames; and | At one turn she passed a heap of shat | tered steel and the wheel-plowed road. I side and splintered telephone pole told that machines story But her parts had | the strength that comes of perfect mak- l ing. and she rushed on with the speed of ! thought.
 Her third round was done in twenty nine minutes. The grand stand began to ] he interested. The fourth round in the | same-a slight cheer came from the stand. | The fifth round in the same-a louder cheer. The sixth round Nineteen came by | in twenty-seven minutes. leading the next
 machine, Pearsons, by more than half