Bert Wilson's Twin Cylinder Racer

oast t

red hours instead of twenty-four. The term examinations were on, and he buckled down to them manfully. He had never neglected his class work in fa

ent was devoted to the coming race. He put into his preparation all his heart an

he college. He had formerly been a crack second baseman in a major league, but an injured ankle had forced his withdrawal from the active playing ranks. He had a shrewd, though uneducated, mind, and his knowledge

n to develop into a winner. He had so often been called upon to "make bricks without straw," that he exulted in this splendid material ready to hi

ainer's absence as in his presence. Reddy had never had to put detectives on his track or search him out in the poolrooms and saloons of

personally superintended the bath and rubdown, after the test was over. He knew the exact weight at which his charge was most effective, and he took off the superfluous flesh just

t want ye to get the swelled head. But, my word for it, ye're on edge, and I don't want ye to touch that machine again until ye face the starter. Ye're down fine enough and I don't want ye to go stale before the race

u're my 'one best bet' when it comes to getting into form. I wouldn't have had

ssed this li

ident and hard luck. This time I'm hoping that luck will be on yer side. And to make sure," he grinned, "I'm going to give yer a sprig of fou

ll slip it in the tool box and

d. It was to carry not only his fortune but perhaps his life, and he did not rest until he was convinced that nothing could add to its perfection. It had become almost a par

m and Dick at the foot of the steps leading to their dormito

gives the route and final instructions. Come

ause they were so constantly together. They had first met at a summer camp, some years before, and a strong similarity of c

supreme confidence in themselves often led them to take chances from which older and wiser heads would have shrunk. And the various exploits in which they had indulged had taught each h

ing chase, had rescued him from the bandit's clutches. During a trip to the Adirondacks, Tom had been bitten by a rattler and would have perished, had it not been for Bert's quickness of mind and swiftness

pinch the others would stick at nothing in the effort to back him up. And this conviction, growing

y and wireless telegraphy. Their keen intelligence had won them high honors in scholarship, and their brawn and muscle had achieved an enviable distinction in athletics. On the pennant winning team of the year before, Bert's brilliant pitching had been ably supported by the star work of Tom at third, while Dick,

floor below. Now, as it was nearer, they all piled into Tom's si

ossed it over to the others. "Yo

ghest of the lot. You'll fairly mel

are something fierce. The northern or centr

n't have dreamed of going that way. Still, it's all a matter of lot, and I've got no kick co

But it makes me sore at fate. You'll need somethi

f my winning," jested Bert. "But, seriously, fellows, I'm not going to let that rattle me a little bit. It may be harder, but if I do come in fi

tted Tom, grudgingly. "At any rate, we'll see a

t. "What do you

wered Tom, looking a l

ing to his feet. "Are you

ss the continent and win that ten thousand dollars? Not on your life. We were going to surprise you, but since this dub has let th

ee a friend's face from the start to the finish. Talk about shamrocks and rabbit's feet! This news has got them skinned to death. It won't be any trick at all to

k his own deep feeling. "We want to see the San Francisco

study the route and figure out the schedule. Then you gay deceivers can get through

thing goes wrong-if a tire bursts or a fork breaks or you have engine trouble-you can wire ahead and we'll have everything ready for you to make a lightning change the minute you heave in sight.

ecision possible as in the case of a railroad schedule. A hundred things might happen to cause a change here, a delay there, but, between certain elastic limits, the route a

til noon, so that a half day was all that would be left the riders. And that half day would be slower than the average, because they would have to thread the streets of the greater city with all its hindrances and speed regulations, and would have bridges and ferries to

he extreme southern point of the journey. After that, he would be going almost directly west, with a slight trend to the north. He would cut through Oklahoma on a direct horizontal, and then for a short time traverse the upper part of Texas.

that such an assumption was absurd. He gave himself three days for accidents and delays. This, added to the fifteen of actual running time, would still give him a comfortable margin of forty-eight hours. But, on the average, despite accident or breakdown, wind or rain, sickness or health, mistaken roads or dangerous spi

cles in use, had early turned their attention to the value and necessity of the best kind of roads that money could buy and science invent. After he left Louisville, the going would be harder. While, at places, there would be magnificent turnpikes along the main arteries of travel, these would be more than counterbalanced by roads where clay and sand

it up, as they rose from the maps and papers spread out before them; "I may get

happen before the race is over. But I have a hunch that

're as good a prophet as you