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

'Beautifully,' I answered. 'One could ride such a machine
up Mont Blanc, I should fancy.'

He stroked his chin with nervous fingers. 'It ought to
knock 'em,' he said, in an eager voice. 'It's geared to run
up most anything in creation.'

'How steep?'

'One foot in three.'

'That's good.'

'Yes. It'll climb Mount Washington.'

'What do you call it?' I asked.

He looked me over with close scrutiny.

'In Amurrica,' he said slowly, 'we call it the Great
Manitou, because it kin do pretty well what it chooses; but
in Europe, I am thinking of calling it the Martin Conway or
the Whymper, or something like that.'

'Why so?'

'Well, because it's a famous mountain climber.'

'I see,' I said. 'With such a machine you'll put a notice
on the Matterhorn, "This hill is dangerous to cyclists."'

He laughed low to himself, and rubbed his hands again.
'You'll do, miss,' he said. 'You're the right sort, you
are. The moment I seen you, I thought we two could do a
trade together. Benefits me; benefits you. A mutual
advantage. Reciprocity is the soul of business. You hev
some go in you, you hev. There's money in your feet.
You'll give these Meinherrs fits. You'll take the
clear-starch out of them.'

'I fail to catch on,' I answered, speaking his own dialect
to humour him.

'Oh, you'll get there all the same,' he replied, stroking
his machine meanwhile. 'It was a squirrel, it was!' (He
pronounced it squirl.) 'It 'ud run up a tree ef it wanted,
wouldn't it?' He was talking to it now as if it were a dog
or a baby. 'There, there, it mustn't kick; it was a frisky
little thing! Jest you step up on it, miss, and have a go
at that there mountain.'