Bert Wilson on the Gridiron

Recoll

any recreation to break the monotony. Reddy, it is true, prohibited theaters and kindred amusements, because they neces

ovided they were well up in their studies, and sometimes even contributed to the genera

other amusements were suspended, and they would listen attentively to

r evening he had not uttered a word, however, and had sat listening to the conversation of his charges with a faraway look in his tw

he conversatio

n two wheels give me the old bicycling days. Why, we had more fun then at o

as a general movement toward him while he was taking the first few puffs. Feet and chairs scraped, and b

n now, ye good-for-naughts, don't ye?" he inqui

etting us worked up this way, we'll all swear to thr

e," said Reddy, his assumed ferocity of demeanor melting down

the price together owned one. A bicycle race in them days meant somethin', let m

nough, me and a friend bought a tandem machine. It cost a pretty penny all right, but i

any a time had sprints with other 'speed boys' out on the road. We got so we could hit

go see it. We started out bright an' early and took it easy along the road enjoyin' the scenery and the fresh, mornin' ai

our bike in a safe place we meandered around, seein' if we could locate anybody we knew. We hadn't gone far when I heard someone callin' my name, and when I turned I saw a feller named Robertson, a man I'd worked for once. I in

him and he located us in fine seats not far from the judges box.

ened to be a tandem race. There was a big purse offered for the winner, and there were several entrants. But for some reason ther

us, and leans o

e conditions of the race no less than six entrants can start. We've only got five, and if the race isn't ridden the crowd will go wild.

, an' then we turned down the proposition cold

ou should win, think of the coin you'd pull down. Wh

it around and got our machine. By the time we got on the track the crowd was

o don't put all your steam into it at once. Let one of t

bout that 'coming up at the end' business. But it was too late to back out then, so we lined

it was all we could do to hold our own, no matter how hard we pedaled. Pretty soon I began to feel mighty tired I can tell you, and I guess Barney must have, too, because we began dropping behind. But we kept on pushing like mad, and pretty soon we began to get our second

it, and I suppose Barney must have felt the same way. But neither of us was exactly what you might call a quitter, so we kept on. And by the end of the ninth mile they hadn't more than the length of one wheel's lead over us! As we started the last lap I could feel the old bike shove forward, and I knew that Barney had some

he track, and it was only by makin' a mighty quick sneak that we managed to get away from them. W

hed; "it must have been a real race for fair. I should think that after t

to do as well again, and after a few attempts we gave it up in disgust. But

e kept you up too late as it