2!)4 



'I HE A Ml: HI I 'AN BEK-KEEPER. 



I October 



cess lo seict-f, tlie spot od wiiicn to laii. 

 I did unt l.ke the idea of truudliug the 

 ruacliiue all the way aloug the luue 

 when 1 ought to be able to do so much 

 better time ou its back, so I rose slowly, 

 placed the machine upright again, aud 

 relit the lamp. The lamp hung on a 

 couple of vacillating flanges which ap- 

 parently were actuated by springs aud 

 gave the lamp a wabbly motion when 

 you joggled unexpectedly over a stone. I 

 got once more upon the machine, this 

 time with better success, and we went 

 along nicely for some distance. Then I 

 got off again. Coming along that road 

 in the daylight the lane seemed perfect- 

 ly smooth and unobstructed. Yet I sud- 

 denly came against some unseen obstacle 

 that appeared to me as I alighted to be 

 a bowlder lying on the road. It was in 

 reality a stone about the size of my fist. 

 The lamp had gone out of course simul- 

 taneously with ni\"fall. This one I have 

 goes out whenever I joggle over any- 

 thing. I have been told that it was ou 

 account of the bad oil I was using, but 

 I have since secured the most expensive 

 oil in the market, an oil with a beauti- 

 ful name, but the lamp joggles out just 

 the same. 



After going over the stone I saw that 

 I had to do something definite with the 

 lamp. I took out my handkerchief aud 

 tied down the springs, so that the disk 

 of light touched the front wheel. This 

 wasn't so bad, as it showed me plainly 

 the stones in the load, but hardly in 

 time for me to avoid them, although I 

 did dodge some by performing acrobatiic 

 feats that usually led to the ditch. In 

 my evolutions aud anxiety about the 

 lamp r ha(i forgotten the esisteTice oE 

 that d tch, but it was there ]ust the 

 same, ly ng low and saying nothing. I 

 found it without the least trouble. The 

 ?amp went out again, of course, and I 

 began to fear that I would not have 

 matches enough to last until I got into 

 the radius of street lamps. I crawled 

 out of the ditch, righted the machine 

 aud once more applied a match to the 

 wick. I had lost the handkerchief, but I 

 tied the lamp down with the oiling 

 cloth. I was bowling along at a rapid 

 aud satisfactory puce through the bright 

 circle of light in front of me, when all 

 at once, within an incredibly short dis- 

 tance, there appeared before me a young 

 man aud a young woman, strolling 



along together with their arms about 

 each other's waists. Their backs were 

 toward me, and the lamp did not shine 

 far enough ahead to let them know I 

 was coming. Of course, if I had had 

 presence of mind, I could have steered 

 around them and passed on, but they 

 had become so suddenly silhouetted 

 against the darkness, just as a magic 

 lantern picture is thrown upon a screen, 

 that the unexpected sight drove what 

 little sense I had clear away from me, 

 and I gave one terrific yell fit to rouse 

 any recently dead man and flung myself 

 from the machine. The girl complicated 

 matters by wildly throwing her arms 

 around the young man's neck and call- 

 ing upon him to protect her, which he 

 had no chance to do, because the next 

 instant the machine climbed his back. 

 We three were in a heap in that silent 

 lane before any of us knew what had 

 happened, and of course the lamp went 

 out. By way of excusing myself and 

 saying something conciliatory I shouted 

 out: 



"What in the name of the prince of 

 darkness are you two dawdling along 

 this lane in the middle of the night for?" 



The young man intimated to me in 

 rather har.sh language that if I would be 

 good enough to wait there until he found 

 his stick he would show me what he 

 was doing. However, I found my ma- 

 chine first, and being in an utterly reck- 

 less mood 1 sprang upon it without ex- 

 amining it to see if anything were bro 

 ken or not, though I knew that no or- 

 dinary fall would injure that machine, 

 and away I went aud left them there. I 

 did not see that any explanation on my 

 part would help matters, so I thought it 

 best to leave well enough alone, which 

 I did. Little use as the lamp was I 

 found it had its advantages, because the 

 lane turned a short distance ahead. In 

 fact, it was always turning, even in the 

 daylight, although I had never noticed 

 that particularly before, and this time I 

 ran square into the hedge on the side 

 opposite the ditch. I extricated the ma- 

 chine aud once more lit the lamp. I 

 thought perhaps it was safer not to at- 

 tempt to ride any more, and so walked 

 along, trundling the wheel, for I knew 

 there was a bridge some distance ahead 

 that had no parapets and I did not want 

 to enter into an encounter with it. As 

 I walked along beside the bicycle I saw 



