The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1913-07-16
WHY HE
SOLD 1T
BY RUTH GRAHAM

Il have"
Jones was surprised at the man Civ.
Ing up the auto sport. for he had been
Nh enthusiastic automobilist
Had an upset?'
NO"
Found 1t cost too much to keep the
machine in repair. l reckon"
Not that, either"
We'll. then" looking at handsome
collie that was evidently in Rogers
company, you've set up dog instead
of a car as less expensive and more
amusing"
Il sold my auto for 5000. and you
couldn't buy the dog for $6.00O."
did you pay that for him?
mo; didn't pay anything"
Come; what does 1t all mean?'
Rogers asked Jones into the house
and told the story:
MY friends always supposed from
the speed | put on while travelling
through the country on good straight
roads that was perfectly fearless. 1t
wasn't so at all. I realized the dan
ger of fast travelling, but ] enjoyed the
sport so we'll that l was willing to take
the risk. Fact is, danger always adds
to the zest of sport The very thought
that / might burst tire at any mo-
ment and swerve into telegraph pole
or a stone fence gave me pleasurable
thrill Besides these was the danger
of some drunken driver coming along
with wild yelp and knocking me into
the middle of next week"
Well" interrupted Jones, which
was it that cured you Of AUTOMOBILE
fng?"
WHO'S telling this story-you or IT.
"You. Go on"
Nothing broke In my machine and
nobody ran into me. My auto was as
good as ever except for several years
use, and / never had a spin while l
drove her. / don't know for certain.
but think IL | had been tossed
through the wind shield and shot a
dozen yards forward without getting
killed | would have been all the hotter
for autoing.
But I'm not getting on with my sto-
ry. / was driving along one day at
forty mile gait when, looking ahead.
saw a place where the road ran through
a narrow cut. 1t wasn't turnpike by
hut ~
roads in which, when teams meet, one
must pull up in the best place to let the
other pass. The narrow bit was tell
ing you about was just wide enough to
get through without scraping. On
either side the ground sloped at an an
gle quite capable of overturning car,
no matter how slow 1t was moving. l
craned my neck to see IL any one was
coming that l would meet In the cut.
didn't see an auto or wagon. but
did see something that sent cold
chill through me-a little child tod
ding about right in between the two
banks.
ut was near dark. and I didn't see
what was in the way till l was almost
on It I gave a warning toot, but 1t
didn't even attract the child's atten-
ton. 1t was so young that | couldn't
tell whether 1t was boy or girl. but
by its dress I concluded 1t was a girl
She was making a dirt heap In the
road AS to age, she must have been
between two or three years old.
$50 much went through my mind In
a few seconds that it seems there
wasn't time for 1t all. knew there
must be a house near by or the child
wouldn't have been there. | glanced
to the right and the left and on the
left saw a small cottage about 200 feet
from the road. How I did long for
some one to run from the house to get
the child out Of my way! But when l
saw her there wasn't time for any one
to go over half the distance. I looked
at the right bank to see II 1t would
be possible to run up over 1t without
my machine turning turtle. There was
no possibility Of climbing 1t without
going over on the child. II not on my
self. The left bank was worse than
the right.
"I'ye heard what an awful strain 1t
IL on a locomotive engineer to run
down a human being. but had no con-
ception of the horror of 1t till now.
l put on my emergency brake. or tried
to. but was so ratified that lost time
in getting my foot on it BY the time
/ was pretty near the child | was GO
ing slow enough. but-great Scottl-
what difference does 1t make how slow
you're going when you run over a soft
little bundle Of flesh like that?
~ had given up all hope when Of a
sudden | saw yellow streak making
from the house to the child It was
dog. and I've never seen train or an
auto that seemed to get over the
ground so quick. He made bee line
for the child. who was between the
middle and the side Of the road. fixed
his teeth In her dress and yanked her
toward the bank. getting her just on to
II as | went by at the rate of about
four miles an hour and stopped not
twenty feet away.
'sThe child's mother came out, and
when she learned how near death the
little thing had been she pretty near
tainted.
you'll never get me into an auto
again. It's one thing to get tossed
over a telegraph wire yourself. but
Ia e.