wind until
suddenly, at the turn at the foot of Claymore _Hill_, I rode
bang into a flock of _sheep_ and came down with a smash. You
never saw such a ruin. The _lamp_ and _bell_ were lost
completely, the _handle-bars_ were twisted into corkscrews,
the _tires_ were cut to ribbons, the _spokes_ looked like
part of a spider's web, my hands and my knees were cut, and
the worst of it was that the shepherd's _dog_ mistook me for
an enemy and I had to beat him off with the _monkey-wrench_,
until the farmer heard the noise and came to the rescue.
During this story all the players named would, in the ordinary way,
stand up for a moment when their adopted names were mentioned, except
at the point when the accident occurs, and then every player bearing
the name of a part of the bicycle--the handle-bars, spokes, tires,
chain, air-pump, lamp, wick, bell, monkey-wrench, pump, nuts--should
fall to the ground.
Drawing-Room Acrobatics
There are various feats which can be performed in a small room without
injury to furniture. To lie flat on the floor on one's back and be
lifted into an upright position by a pair of hands under the back of
the head, keeping stiff all the time, is a favorite accomplishment.
Another is to bend over and touch the floor with the tips of the
fingers without bending the knees. Another is, keeping your feet
behind a line, to see who, by stretching along the ground supported on
the left hand only, can place a penny with the right hand the farthest
distance and get back again to an upright position behind the line
without moving the feet or using the right hand for a support. This
done, the penny must be recovered in the same way.
Another feat is, keeping your feet together and one arm behind you, to
see how far back from the wall it is possible to place your feet
(remembering that you have to get into an upright position again)
while you lean forward supported by the other hand laid flat against
the wall.
Another is to keep the toes to a line, and kneel down and get up again
without using the hands.
Another is to make a bridge of your body from chair to chair, resting
the back of your neck on one and your heels on the other. This is done
by beginning with three chairs, one under the back, and then when you
are rigid enough having the third one removed.
Acrobatic Impossibilities
If you hold your hands across your chest in a straight line with the
tips of
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