The Dickinson press., 1909-01-16
REAL TEST

The sports were over. and three men
had still Z couple Of hours to wait b.
fore they could get . train back, The
station platform was not. inviting. and
the old fashioned village inn absorbed
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 q 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 man.
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-nQt that he, was the better man."
The first speaker laughed, but, an.
swered a little contemptuously: Scr
tainly. I didn't suppose that it showed
that Timson was morally better OF
that he was quicker owe the Sticks
Il see," said the. stranger, that you
think me pedantic. Really, 1t Is not
unnatural. But l 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 thres
years."
Three years7" asked another Of the
friends. 'f'f
Three long consecutive years." He
tilted up his tankard, wiped his mouth
and resumed. mot one word of it
ever got into the papers. Very. few
people knew anything about it. I got
to hear Of 1t because one of the COM
petitors, George shadwell, was my
cousin. My own name is shadwell
too. Besides, knew the lady who
was the cause Of it all. It was the
strangest thing l ever heard Of in my
life. My cousin, George Shadwell, and
Herbert Bracebridge were both fair
specimens of good all round men. In
looks. position. fortune, physique. abil-
tiles. any n would have said that
they were as near equal as they could
possibly be. yet; when it 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. It cams
about in this way: They were both ia
love with the same lady. This lads
made them both come to her one after
noon and told them frankly that she
would marry the better man, and to
find out which was the better man she
had made out q real test, consisting Of
lib different competitions. Both men
had to swear that they would 20
through all the &conpetitions; pthsts
wise. Of course, Herbert Bracebr1dge
would have given it up long before 1t
came to the end. Many of the tests
were quite ordinary The first was q
test for memory. They had to learn
the first book Of the !:Aeneid' by heart.
Both did 1t in exactly the same time.
but Bracebridge made two mistakes in
repeating IT, and my. cousin George
made only one. This was the more e1.
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
had never 1earnedsto swim. OF coursa
he would have taken lessons-and trains
ed for 1t, but no notice was ever given
them. of. what. the next3eyent: was ITO BIZ!
As soon as they were told it 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" - Il
"What sort Of time did your cousin
make In the athletic eventsT' +
"Weli. there was only one race put
down fol. 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 It was a. near thing.
Bracebridge almost overhauled him al
the end, and he won by only aboq1
twenty minutes" Il don't, know thl
time that it, took, nor; I am sorry u
say, have I got the exact measurement
Of the only jump, which they had II
try-a deep Jump. fancy it wal
from b second story window into /
street. There again Bracebridge had
bad luck. Both men did it. but Brace
bridge broke his leg. That, Of course.
meant that he had not done it quite