162 WAYFARING NOTIONS 



should catastrophe arrive, and, Hke the pair in 

 ** Struwwelpeter," boy or man and doggie come 

 bump, thump, in a lump. I never knew the last- 

 named hurt himself; in fact, he was always ready 

 to render first aid, either by barking at his brother 

 in misfortune or by licking his face, both pro- 

 cesses irritating, I am told. That this eccentric 

 character died in his own bed, so to speak, 

 sufficiently explained that in his little games he 

 was able to discriminate between cycles and 

 motors. One application of these latter is too 

 apt to act like the celebrated soothing syrup 

 with trade mark, *' Baby never cries after one 

 dose." 



One beauty of our Christmas holiday weather 



at the time I am talking of, lay in its being not 



too wet nor yet too dry, only just beautifully 



middling for the roads. They were really perfect 



for walking, too dry for mud, too damp for dust, 



and neither sticky nor slippery. The big tyres 



ran well on the going, and the fancy varieties, 



capable of putting it into as gritty state as could a 



flock of sheep, by grinding out and lifting up the 



small particles of the macadam, left no trace of 



their handiwork. Not one motor did I see 



scorching ; cause why, I may be asked ; I know 



the ''because" very well, but am rather willing 



to believe in a better motive than fear of (police) 



consequences. As to those who only did not go 



faster because they did not dare, they and I 



differ in perception actual and moral. Leaving 



the latter out of the question as debatable matter 



leading possibly to unfriendly discussion and 



therefore unseasonable, I cannot see the pleasure 



of going at a high speed past or through country 



worth looking at. Perhaps, with better practice, 



