The Bold Bad Bicycle. 225

Bicycle was thinking, ‘I shall see the world ; but,
oh, how can I wait till next week? That man said
I was beautiful,—well, he is quite right, ] am. I
heard him say, too, that the lighter the machine,
the greater the speed. Dear me, if that is so, how
awfully fast I could go if I had xo vider.’ Sud-
denly a magnificent thought came to him, a
thought that made his nickel-plated heart, cold
though it was, beat fast. He knew that at five
o’clock every morning the janitor opened the big
door, while he swept out the place.

Now, what do you suppose this audacious
bicycle planned to do? Simply this. When the
man went to the back part of the shop to get his
broom, he would slip off quietly, and see the
world, af alone. ‘No one shall pull my ears and
tell me to ‘go this way, and go that way.’ No, I
shall go whichever way pleases me.” You can
imagine, that once having made up his mind to do
this thing, he slept but little. He heard the big
clock at the corner strike ‘“‘¢hvee,” then ‘ four,”
then ‘“ five.” The hour had come, and soon foot-
steps were heard, the big door was unlocked, and

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