the block at first," said Shuey, in the soothing tones of
a jockey to a nervous horse; "it's easy by the block. And I'll be
steadying it, of course."

"Don't they have any with larger saddles? It is a _very_ small saddle."

"They're all of a size. It wouldn't look sporty larger; it would look
like a special make. Yous wouldn't want a special make."

Lorania thought that she would be thankful for a special make, but she
suppressed the unsportsmanlike thought. "The pedals are very small, too,
Cardigan. Are you _sure_ they can hold me?"

"They could hold two of ye, Miss Hopkins. Now sit aisy and graceful as
ye would on your chair at home, hold the shoulders back, and toe in a
bit on the pedals--ye won't be skinning your ankles so much then--and
hold your foot up ready to get the other pedal. Hold light on the
steering-bar. Push off hard. _Now!_"

"Will you hold me? I'm going--Oh, it's like riding an earthquake!"

Here Shuey made a run, letting the wheel have its own wild way--to teach
the balance. "Keep the front wheel under you!" he cried cheerfully.
"Niver mind _where_ you go. Keep a-pedalling; whatever you do, keep
a-pedalling!"

"But I haven't got but one pedal!" gasped the rider.

"Ye lost it?"

"No; I _never had_ but one! Oh, don't let me fall!"

"Oh, ye lost it in the beginning; now, then, I'll hold it steady, and
you get both feet right. Here we go!"

Swaying frightfully from side to side, and wrenched from capsizing the
wheel by the full exercise of Shuey's great muscles, Miss Hopkins reeled
over the track. At short intervals she lost her pedals, and her feet,
for some strange reason, instead of seeking the lost, simply curled up
as if afraid of being hit. She gripped the steering-handles with an iron
grasp, and her turns were such as an engine makes. Nevertheless Shuey
got her up the track for some hundred feet, and then by a herculean
sweep turned her round and rolled her back to the block. It was at this
painful moment, when her whole being was concentrated on the effort to
keep from toppling against Shuey, and even more to keep from toppling
away from him, that Lorania's strained gaze suddenly fell on the
frightened and sympathetic face of Mrs. Winslow. The good woman saw no
fun in the spectacle, but rather an awful risk to life and limb. Their
eyes met. Not a change passed over Miss Hopkins' features; but she
looked up as soon as she was safe on the ground, and smiled. In a
moment, before Mrs. W