Cab and Caboose | Page 6

placed under its
handle bars, and he was gazing curiously at the big wheel, which he
was slowly spinning with one hand.
"Hello, 'Cider'!" cried the first of the new-comers, "what's up?
Anything the matter with your wheel?"

"I believe there is," answered the ex-captain, in such a peculiar tone of
voice that it at once arrested attention. "I don't know what is wrong, and
I wouldn't make an examination until some of you fellows came in. In a
case like this I believe in having plenty of witnesses and doing
everything openly."
"What do you mean?" asked one of the group, whose noisy entrance
was now succeeded by a startled silence.
"Turn that wheel and you'll see what I mean," replied Snyder.
"Why, it turns as hard as though it were running on plain bearing that
had never been oiled!" exclaimed the member who had undertaken to
turn the wheel as requested.
"That's just it, and I don't think it's very surprising that I failed to win
the race with a wheel in that condition, do you?"
"Indeed I do not. The only surprising thing is that you held the lead so
long as you did, and managed to come in third. I know I couldn't have
run a single lap if I'd been on that wheel. What's the matter with it?
Wasn't it all right when you started?"
"I thought it was," replied Snyder, "but I soon found that something
was wrong, and before I left the track it was all I could do to move it.
Now, I want you fellows to find out what the matter is."
A few moments of animated discussion followed, while several of the
fellows made a careful examination of the bicycle.
"Great Scott!" exclaimed one; "what's in this oil cup? It looks as though
it were choked with black sand."
"It's emery powder!" cried another, extracting a few grains of the black,
oil-soaked stuff on the point of a knife blade. "No wonder your wheel
won't turn. How on earth did it get there?"
"That is what I would like to find out," answered the owner of the

machine. "It certainly was not there when I left the club house; for I
had just gone over every part and assured myself that it was in perfect
order. Since then but two persons have touched it, and I am one of them.
I don't think it likely that anybody will charge me with having done this
thing, seeing that my sole interest was to win the race, and that if I so
nearly succeeded with my wheel in this condition, I could easily have
done so had it been all right. Nothing could be more painful to me than
to bring a charge against one who lives under the same roof that I do;
but you all know who had the greatest interest in having me lose this
race. I think you all know, too, that he is the only person besides myself
who handled my wheel immediately before it. The one whom I trusted
to bring it here in safety was sent off by this person on some frivolous
errand at the last moment. Then, neglecting other and important duties,
he volunteered to get the machine himself. He was gone before I had a
chance to decline his offer. That is all I have to say upon this most
unpleasant subject, and I should not have said so much had not my own
reputation, both as a racing man and a gentleman, been at stake. Now I
place the whole affair in the hands of the club, satisfied that they will
do me justice."
Rod Blake, seated on a camp-stool, with a heavy "sweater" thrown over
his shoulders, and slowly recovering from the exhaustion of the race,
had observed and listened to all this with a pained curiosity. He could
not believe any member of the club guilty of such a cowardly act.
When Snyder began to charge him with having committed it, his face
became deadly pale, and he gazed at his adopted cousin with an
expression akin to terror. As the latter finished, the young captain
sprang to his feet, exclaiming:
"Snyder Appleby, how dare you bring such an accusation against me?
You know I am incapable of doing such a thing! Your wheel was in
perfect condition when I delivered it to you, and you know it was."
"I can easily believe that the fellow who would perform the act would
be equally ready to lie out of it," replied Snyder.
"Do you mean that I lie?"

"That is about the size of it."
This was more than the hot-tempered young athlete could bear; and
almost before the words were out of Snyder's mouth, a blow delivered
with all the nervous