64 The N.S. Bicycle.

seem at all ashamed, but held its bright nickel-
plated head up proudly, as if it were a very remark-
able machine, and truly I think it was, don’t you?

When they got to the shop and told their story
to the man, he said: “Why I supposed the boy
wanted one of the N. S. machines.”

«And what does ‘N.S.’ mean?” said Gordon.

“Mean?” said the man. ‘“‘N. S.’ means
Never Stop. They never stop, you see, till you
jump off.”

“Indeed they don’t,” said Gordon, ‘you are
quite right, and I think ‘Never Stop’ is a very
good name for them.”

“Well,” said Mrs. Randall, “I think that both
my son and I would prefer the ordinary bicycle.”

So the man exchanged the remarkable “N.S.”
bicycle for a common one, which is perfectly willing
to stop whenever its little master tells it to.

And do you know, the manufacturers found that
no one would buy the N. S. machines, so they gave
up making them some time ago, and now, no mat-
ter where you try, you will find it impossible to buy
an N. S. bicycle.