He showed them also how the wheel worked, and declared that he could steer that ripper all around a house. That was what made Jim Delany ask,
"Could ye stheer it round a wood-sleigh, wid three yoke of oxen, av ye met 'em in the sthrate yonder?"
"I'll show you. Now, boys, who's going with me? Hurrah! The more the merrier."
"I'm wid ye," shouted Jim Delany. "It'll be bad luck for any horned baste we run into."
One after another the larger boys followed Jim, and Court never stopped to count.
"Keep your feet on the foot-rests," he shouted. "Hold on hard. Hold steady as rocks. We'll be off in a minute. Ready, all? Go, then."
And go it was, with nearly a mile of sloping road before them, and beyond that the long glittering reach of the level.
There was time for a cheer or two, and they gave one, and nearly half of another; but that second cheer seemed to be cut in two by something.
Court Hoffman grasped his wheel tiller with all the strength he had in him, and looked straight ahead. He had ridden on that sort of machine before, and he knew what was coming the moment she got her speed on.
But the other boys?