The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1908-08-14
REAL TEST

SAS OA0 AOSAAVACA NAA0SS AaA
them. There was but one man seated
before the huge open fireplace when
they entered. he was a middle aged
man, dressed in black, and had dark.
poetical eyes. He moved courteously
to make way for the three friends.
He had a bright pint tankard by his
side for purposes of reference. and
he smoked a new churchwarden clay,
The three men regarded him with some
curiosity as they ordered refreshment
and lit cigars. Then they discussed
the sports and the time for the quar-.
ter. which had been good. 1t showed,
one of them observed. that Timson
was undoubtedly the better
Pardon me-" the stranger observed,
removing the churchwarden from his
lips, "but surely it only showed that be
was the superior in running the quar-.
ter-not that he was the better man.
The first speaker laughed, but IAN.
swered a little contemptuously: Ger.
tainly. l didn't suppose that it showed
that Timson was morally better OF
that he was quicker over the sticks"
II see" said the stranger, that you
think me pedantic. Really, it is not
unnatural. But | was thinking of an
extraordinary test which has just come
to an end and was intended to show
which of two men really was in all re.
spects the better. 1t lasted for three
years."
"Three years?' asked another of the
friends.
Three long consecutive years." he
tilted up his tankard, wiped his mouth
and resumed. Not one word of It
ever got into the papers. Very few
people knew anything about it. 1 got
to hear Of it because one of the COM
petitors. George Shadwell, was my
cousin. My own name is Shadwell
too. Besides. I knew the lady who
was the cause Of 1t all. 1t was the
strangest thing ever heard Of in my
life. My cousin, George Shadwell, and
Herbert .Bracebridge were both fair
specimens Of good all round men. In
fo0zs, position, fortune. physlQue, abll-
tiles, any n would have said that
they were as near equal as they could
possibly be, yet when 1t came to the
test OF which l have spoken my cousin
George won 112 out Of 113 items out of
Which the test was composed. 1t came
about in this way: They were both in
love with the same lady. This lady
made them both come to her one after
noon and told them frankly that she
would marry the better man, and to
IND out which was the better man she
had made out a real test, consisting of
lib different competitions. Both men
had to swear that they would go
through all the competitions; other
wise.s of course, Herbert B%racebridge
would have given it up long before 1t
came to the end. Many Of the tests
were quite ordinary. The first was a
test for memory. They had to learn
the first book Of the 'Aeneid' by heart.
Both did it in exactly the same time.
out Bracebridge made two mistakes in
repeating it. and my cousin George
made only one. This was the more ex.
~traordinary because my cousin George
didn't know a word Of Latin. In an
other OF the events he was handicap.
ped in exactly the same way. This
was a swimming race, and George
nad e learned to swim. OF. course
ne would have taken lessons and train
edtfor 1t, but no notice was ever give.,
them Of what the next. event was to be.
AS soon as they were told 1t they had
to begin it. He got a shilling manual
on swimming, studied the theory of II
as he was going down to the swim.
ming baths, mastered 1t completely and
won by a head"
What sort Of time did your cousin
make in the athletic events?"
Well. there was only one a put
down for them. That was from the
marble arch to the top Of the Matter
horn. George got the quicker Of the
two hansoms and maintained his lead
throughout. 1t was a near thing.
~bracebridge almost overhauled him at
the end. and he won by only about
twenty minutes. don't know the
time that it took, nor. l am sorry to
say, have got the exact measurement
OF the only jump which they had to
try-a deep jump. 1 fancy it was
from a second story window into a
street. There again Bracebridge had
bad luck. Both men did 1t. but Brace
bridge broke his leg. That, Of course,
meant that he had not done it quite
80 well as George. There was a drink.
Ing competition, but that was a very
hollow affair. A gift in that direction
has always been in our family. George
was a bottle ahead and perfectly So
Der at the finish. The starvation COM
petition was interesting too. They had
to fast for a week, and the one who
lost weight won. George won by an
ounce"
George seems to have had all the
luck?"
Not at all-not absolutely all. He
won 112, but he lost one-the last
one"
cat any rate, he had all the luck be
wanted. If the score ended 112 to 1
he was proved to be the better man,
--I