"Allen, Grant - Miss Cayley's Adventures 03 - The Adenture of the Inquisitive American" - читать интересную книгу автора (Allen Grant)

I stepped up and had a 'go.' The machine bounded forward
like an agile greyhound. You had but to touch it, and it
ran of itself. Never had I ridden so vivacious, so animated
a cycle. I returned to him, sailing, with the gradient
reversed. The Manitou glided smoothly, as on a gentle
slope, without the need for back-pedalling.

'It soars!' he remarked with enthusiasm.

'Balloons are at discount beside it,' I answered.

'Now you want to know about this business, I guess,' he
went on. 'You want to know jest where the reciprocity comes
in, anyhow?'

'I am ready to hear you expound,' I admitted, smiling.

'Oh, it ain't all on one side,' he continued, eyeing his
machine at an angle with parental affection. 'I'm agoing to
make your fortune right here. You shall ride her for me on
the last day; and ef you pull this thing off, don't you be
scared that I won't treat you handsome.'

'If you were a little more succinct,' I said, gravely, 'we
should get forrader faster.'

'Perhaps you wonder,' he put in, 'that with money on it
like this, I should intrust the job into the hands of a
female.' I winced, but was silent. 'Well, it's like this
don't you see; ef a female wins, it makes success all the
more striking and con-spicuous. The world to-day is ruled
by advertizement.'

I could stand it no longer. 'Mr. Hitchcock,' I said, with
dignity, 'I haven't the remotest idea what on earth you are
talking about.'

He gazed at me with surprise. 'What?' he exclaimed at
last. 'And you kin cycle like that! Not know what all the
cycling world is mad about! Why, you don't mean to tell me
you're not a pro-fessional?'

I enlightened him at once as to my position in society,
which was respectable, if not lucrative. His face fell
somewhat. 'High-toned, eh? Still, you'd run all the same
wouldn't you?' he inquired.

'Run for what?' I asked, innocently. 'Parliament? The
Presidency? The Frankfort Town Council?'