12 DUTCH BULBS AND GARDENS 



himself generous in subscribing to the cost of 

 repairing the mysteriously caused damage. He 

 spent most of the evenings of one winter in this 

 way. It took him all that time to at all master 

 the machine. He was less apt than determined, 

 and, had he not been bent on proving his in- 

 dependence, he might have given up. But he 

 was bent, very seriously one knows the concentra- 

 tion with which he ground up and down the barn 

 aisle night after night, peering with short-sighted 

 eyes for unseen obstacles among the lantern 

 shadows, and colliding with the same corner at 

 the same time each turn. In the spring he bought 

 a second-hand bicycle. He was too good a man of 

 business to risk the price of a new one on his own 

 proficiency as a rider on the roads ; moreover, he 

 wanted a machine with solid tyres, he preferred 

 the substantiality. On his purchase he rode 

 proudly to his own door, and dismounted in time 

 to save himself from falling off at his wife's feet. 

 He is now occasionally to be seen on the roads, a 

 proud and perspiring man. It is true, he does not 

 ride his bicycle very much when his wife is not 

 about to protest and object, but he is always 

 (verbally at least) an enthusiast about it. It is 

 his opinion that the roads of Holland are the most 



