ur's pumping
at the bicycle treadles. Lorania during the month had ridden through one
bottle of liniment and two of witch-hazel, and by the end of the second
bottle could ride a short distance alone. But Lorania could not yet
dismount unassisted, and several times she had felled poor Winslow to
the earth when he rashly adventured to stop her. Captain Carr had a
peculiar, graceful fling of the arm, catching the saddle-bar with one
hand while he steadied the handles with the other. He did not hesitate
in the least to grab Lorania's belt if necessary. But poor modest
Winslow, who fell upon the wheel and dared not touch the hem of a lady's
bicycle skirt, was as one in the path of a cyclone, and appeared daily
in a fresh pair of white trousers.

"Yous have now," Shuey remarked, impressively, one day--"yous have now
arrived at the most difficult and dangerous period in learning the
wheel. It's similar to a baby when it's first learned to walk but
'ain't yet got sense in walking. When it was little it would stay put
wherever ye put it, and it didn't know enough to go by itself, which is
similar to you. When I was holding ye you couldn't fall, but now you're
off alone depindent on yourself, object-struck by every tree, taking
most of the pasture to turn in, and not able to git off save by
falling--"

"Oh, couldn't you go with her somehow?" exclaimed Mrs. Winslow, appalled
at the picture. "Wouldn't a rope round her be some help? I used to put
it round Cyril when he was learning to walk."

"Well, no, ma'am," said Shuey, patiently. "Don't you be scared; the
riding will come; she's getting on grandly. And ye should see Mr.
Winslow. 'Tis a pleasure to teach him. He rode in one lesson. I ain't
learning him nothing but tricks now."

"But, Mr. Winslow, why don't you ride here--with us?" said Sibyl, with
her coquettish and flattering smile. "We're always hearing of your
beautiful riding. Are we never to see it?"

"I think Mr. Winslow is waiting for that swell English cycle suit that I
hear about," said the captain, grinning; and Winslow grew red to his
eyelids.

Lorania gave an indignant side glance at Sibyl. Why need the girl make
game of an honest man who loved her? Sibyl was biting her lips and
darting side glances at the captain. She called the pasture practice
slow, but she seemed, nevertheless, to enjoy herself sitting on the
bench, the captain on one side and Winslow on the other, rattling off
her girlish jokes, while her