The San Francisco call., 1909-01-16

D0sN uT. DEcL LrJE, YT1r
sGS:SSlS.:.
a brand new bicycle under him. Think
of II. And then-to have his air castles
rudely crushed to ground and all his
fond hopes shattered.
No wonder that Hector, as he pedaled
a slight ascent. felt blue and gloomy.
And the frequent glances down at the
silent steed under him did not tend
10 brighten his thoughts. for. although
clean, strong and apparently in good
condition. it was by no means a hand
some bicycle. How he longed to pos
sess one Of those modern ones, with
their shining, nickel plated handle
bars and coaster brake, and with the
glossy coat Of paint, and-but why say
more, for bicycling to him was what
nectar was TO the gods of old?
As IN a dream he saw the four mile
sign by the roadside. and passed it, the
strong, cordlike muscles of his legs
working in perfect unison with the
pedals Of his wheel" The road home
was mostly slight ascent, mingled
freely with long stretches of straight
even road. So Hector pushed for
ward slowly, not wishing to tire him
self Still in a deep reverie- his eyes
swept the road. taking in the five mile
sign, and as he passed it he pedaled
ming of a little knoll.
Suddenly, as he was helf way up the
rise. sharp, shrill whistle cleaved the
air from straight ahead For the space
of moment Hector did not move an
inch. He had heard that selfsame
whistle time and again, and in a few
minutes the big express would flash
by him from the south. But, just as
suddenly as the locomotive whistled, he
sat upright in his saddle. From long
practice he had come to time himself
exactly in the place where the express
would overtake him, and surely it was
impossible that he could have delayed
so long as to be caught at this knoll,
when he should be near the bridge that
spanned the brook two miles above.
Almost Immediately on the heels of this
startling fact came the inspiration that
the whistle itself was unlike that of
the express.
1t took much less time to think these
statements out than it takes to tell
II, so that he was hardly to the top as
yet
I'll get good view of the tracks
up there" he unused, and then I'll see
what it means" With which he quick
ened his pace and soon gained the top
of the ascent.
For a moment Hector stood still, as
II rooted to the spot by what he saw,
with eyes and mouth wide open and
with the result that his bicycle prompt
ly turned over, carrying its rider with
It. But that was just the incident
that could have awakened the spell
bound boy, for with a leap he was on
his feet, turned his wheel up and gave
a neeting glance at the thing which
had shocked him, and we'll it might,
for coming on with serene tranquility
was No. g, the through passenger
from Cairo.
Then flashed through the boys mind
Bills failure to reply o. K. to his
fathers message. In some unaccount-
able manner No. Is had been let
through before its regulation time and
was rushing forward to meet the fly
ing express on the main track. These
thoughts and many others almost
froze Hector's blood, but the boy had
an old head on a pair OF young shoui-
ders end he Immediately formulated
a plan of action.
Had the passengers chaneed to look
up they might have seen mere boy
spring on the seat of bicycle and push
it forward with all the might of a
strong pair OF legs. Down the decline
went Hector gathering speed with
every push. He knew how much de-
pended on his efforts and he was dog
gedly determined that If he failed it
would be through no fault of his
On ne flew, his head directly over the
handle bars and his body bent almost
double. And then his heart sank, for
however hard he endeavored to push,
the locomotive slowly but surely crept
up to him, and as the three mile post
flashed past it drew up and alongside,
with Triumphant shrek of its ''talker"
Out of the corner Of his eye he saw
the engine slowly draw ahead; then the
first coach drew up to him, the second
and the third. The brakemen from their
lofty perch were wildly swinging their
arms and encouraging him to better ef-
forts, thinking he was trying to race
the train for the mere joy of it.
Hector knew that 1t was more than
useless TO try and stop that train under
the present circumstances. but he still
had card on which depended all Al
ready his breath was coming in painful
gasps and his eyes were assuming pc
culia- dancing motion.
He knew the surrounding country
like book, and he also knew of a mar
row byroad that branched off from the
main about two miles from the station
AS the two mile sign whizzed past he
was barely hanging on to the last coach.
Then he flashed out of sight OF the
train and into the smaller road.