The Palatka news. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1905-1908, 1907-05-03

he was an object of unfavorable COM
ment he needed the warning whispers
When his nerve" was questioned he
was forced to buy. He talked, and the
salesman and the chauffeur talked.
Some one else talked also. 1t was the
auto and he alone heard its words. 1t
breathed heavily. 1t Kissed warning
ly. Its "chug, chug, chug," had men
ace. 1t said:
BUY me If you will, but look out.
am q creature of strange moods.
balk; l stampede; go wrong as often
as go right. Buy me and possess me,
but remember that some day Twill be
the death Of you"
The auto was purchased, and the
colonel took instructions in its manage
ment. For a fortnight he went about
with his heart in his mouth and ever
on the watch for accident. Then he
began to feel contempt for the warn
ing, determination to defy and drive
and take the upper hand. 1t was
childs play. A turn of the wheel this
way-that way-more speed-less speed
go ahead-stop Why, the most docile
horse he ever owned was not so servile
and obedient. His bicycle had never
been under such command. Ten miles
an hour had satisfied him, but one day
when the warnings required to him he
became indignant and put the speed up
to twenty. No calamity followed He
was as safe as he had been half the
speed He returned home feeling that
he was master.
The autoist who confines his pace to
fifteen miles an hour this week will be
making twenty next week. He must
do 1t. He Is driven to do it. His fellow
towards will laugh and grin if he does
not do it, and he can't stand that.
When Colonel Whiteside knew that he
had made twenty miles an hour he
was pleased and proud. Every minute
of that hour he had expected accident.
After that he got a chauffeur. That's
the usual course of the ninety-eight
They leave the driving to somebody
else and lean back and try to look
placid and nonchalant. Now came
twenty-five, thirty, forty-five miles an
hour. The colonel gasped and felt a
pain in his heart. He did not speak to
the chauffeur because he was afraid
his voice would betray him. He had
weakness of the knees, and things
blurred to his vision. But for pride
and fear of ridicule he would have
said that never again would he ride at
such pace. Let him show the white
feather and the man beside him would
grin in his face and then tell the news
to a hundred others. Let it be whis- |
pered that man is afraid of his auto
and he is done for. The other ninety |
seven are also afraid, but they will |
make common cause against the nine
ty-eighth to conceal their fear.
This machine can make a mile a
minute" said the chauffeur in the ga
rage one day as the colonel was ready |
for his spin.
"YeSw
"And We'll let her out today"
Every we'll"
There were a dozen men about, but |
had there been only the chauffeur to
listen the colonel would not have
dared to protest. He must acquiesce |
or be thought timid. He nodded his
head and smiled, but at that moment |
the auto said:
Eyes, will make a mile a minute,
but look out for me. I have given
you several warnings, but you have
not needed them. Today you shall
feel the sensation of flying, but will
you sleep in your bed tonight?"
The start was made. More obedient
than any horse that ever wore har-
ness, the machine rolled over the as
phalt streets, guided by the slightest
touch. There was time for the colonel
to suggest that the pace be limited TO
thirty-tive or forty miles an hour when
the long, straight stretch of country
road should be reached but he feared
to do so. The chauffeur is the real
boss of the auto. He makes or I'M
makes the reputation of the owner for
nerve"
The colonel turned his face away
md closed his eyes. The pace grew
faster and faster. 1t went from thirty
o forty, from forty to fifty, from fifty
o sixty miles an hour. The machine
lad the road to itself. 1t chugged,
t gasped, 1t flew. 1t was like q man
icing shot from a cannon. 1t was
earful speed, but it was as safe as.
OF a sudden the wheels skidded, the
Machine turned, and the farmer who
anne driving along found a broken
telegraph pole, an upset and battered
uto gasping out its life and two dead
men in the highway ditch. The terror
lad said it would be so, and it was so.
NJ. QUAD.