But Alaric was not inclined to let the subject drop; and, with an idea of continuing their talk in so low a tone that it could not reach the Captain's ears, he too started to rise.
At that moment the sloop gave a quick lurch that caused him to plunge awkwardly forward. He was only saved from going overboard by striking squarely against Bonny, who was balancing himself easily in the very eyes of the vessel, with one foot on the rail. The force of the blow was too great for him to withstand. With a gasping cry he pitched headlong over the bows and disappeared from his comrade's horrified gaze.
[to be continued.]
[BICYCLE-TOURING DURING SUMMER VACATIONS.]
Wheeling has become such a universal matter now that it may prove of interest to give some practical hints to riders who have not yet realized what health and enjoyment, as well as experience, may be gained by taking something more than a day's ride in the vicinity of home and daily work. By far the greater number of those who own wheels are, or rather have been up to the present, satisfied to take afternoon runs of from ten to fifty miles in length, or, at most, to ride out of town to some friend's house, returning the next day. In those cities and towns of the United States which admit of it hundreds of men, young and old, ride every day to school or college or business, but until this year there has been comparatively little of the two weeks' or two months' touring—that is the best use to which a wheel can be put. Naturally one of the reasons for this has been that but few people have time to go off on fortnightly trips. The chief reason probably has been the difficulty of getting good accommodations, good roads, and good opportunity for repairs in case of accidents. It has become the custom to ride through England or France, and thus combine a sight-seeing tour with a long bicycle ride, rather than make similar runs at home, and why not here?
If a tour is possible in Europe, it certainly is possible in America, and to him who has eyes to see there is much to see and learn about his own country, if he goes on a wheel, that never can be seen in any other way. Now, too, the facilities for such a trip are greatly improved over anything in the past. There is not a village of any size, to say nothing of towns and cities, that has not one repair shop at least, and in New England and the Middle States, and all along the northern part of the United States, out beyond Chicago, a wheelman can get to one within an hour, except, perhaps, in some isolated instances where there are long stretches of woodland. A five or ten mile walk with a badly broken wheel is an unpleasant job; but if you are on any reasonably important thoroughfare you are sure to get a chance to ride on some passing wagon, and then, once the repair shop is reached, the wheel can either be repaired, or another one hired until your own is in good order again.
Hotels are now accustomed to bicyclists. There was a time when many a hotel had a regulation that no one in bicycle costume was permitted to enter the dining-room, but such inns are fast getting behind the times. All hostelries are in existence to make money, and the moment—which is now arrived—that a sufficiently large number of men and women ride to them on bicycles they will open dining-rooms and the whole hotel to them. Then, again, the League of American Wheelmen is doing a great deal for this touring of the bicyclist. The League is not a money-making affair in any way; most of its officials give their services free, and the endeavor is merely to pay expenses, while the object is to unite wheelmen and make them a sufficiently strong body to urge the different governments of the States, cities, etc., to build good roads and pass reasonable laws for the bicyclist. If you join this L.A.W. you secure for your initiation a ticket which in most large towns and cities admits you to at least one hotel for a somewhat reduced price. At any rate, on a two weeks' tour the wheelman will get his initiation fee back again half a dozen times over. Besides his ticket the member also is presented with a road-book of his State, which not only gives the best routes all over the State, but tells him also the hotels which give reduced rates, gives distances from one place to another, and other information of this kind. It also suggests good runs from 50 to 500 miles in length. With the improvement in the strength, durability, and lightness of the bicycle itself, the information of L.A.W. road-books, and the increase in repair shops, the great difficulties of touring have vanished. It turns out, therefore, that the facilities for touring are really better in the United States than in Europe, the one real disadvantage being that English and French roads are in better condition than those in America.
The difficulties to be overcome, then, are those of the bicyclist himself. How shall he fit out? Where shall he go, at what rate, and by what route? These questions, hard to answer as they may seem to any one who has not travelled much, are not difficult if they are taken up in detail. The real objects of such a trip should be amusement, comfort, sight-seeing, and out-door exercise. The speed at which you go should be comfortable to you, and you yourself must therefore settle that. Some men want to do seventy or eighty miles a day. Others are tired if they do more than ten. The distance, however, is or should be absolutely of no importance. If you feel like doing a good bit one day, it is possible. If you feel like staying abed the next day, or taking a walk, that is possible, too. In either case the idea of bicycle-touring does not or should not be concerned with distance at all. One man will have quite as good a time on a two weeks' tour covering a hundred miles as another will in covering a thousand.