er put on the
brakes here a bit. It gets much steeper further down."

Instead of applying the brake, however, young Welland, in the exuberance
of his joy, threw his long legs over the handles, and went down the
slope at railway speed, ready, as he remarked, for a jump if anything
should go wrong.

Twitter was by no means as bold as his friend, but, being ashamed to
show the white feather, he quietly threw his shorter legs over the
handles, and thus the two, perched--from a fore-and-aft point of view--
upon nothing, went in triumph to the bottom of the hill.

A long stretch of smooth level road now lay before them. It required
the merest touch on the treadles to send them skimming along like
skaters on smooth ice, or swallows flying low. Like gentle ghosts they
fleeted along with little more than a muffled sound, for their axles
turned in ball-sockets and their warning bells were silent save when
touched.

Onward they went with untiring energy, mile after mile, passing
everything on the way--pedestrians, equestrians, carts and gigs; driving
over the level ground with easy force, taking the hills with a rush to
keep up the pace, and descending on the other sides at what Welland
styled a "lightning run."

Now they were skimming along a road which skirted the margin of a canal,
the one with hands in his coat-pockets, the other with his arms crossed,
and both steering with their feet; now passing under a railway-arch, and
giving a wild shout, partly to rouse the slumbering echoes that lodged
there, and partly to rouse the spirit of a small dog which chanced to be
passing under it--in both cases successfully! Anon they were gliding
over a piece of exposed ground on which the sun beat with intense light,
causing their shadows to race along with them. Again they were down in
a hollow, gliding under a row of trees, where they shut off a little of
the steam and removed their caps, the better to enjoy the grateful
shade. Soon they were out in the sunshine again, the spokes of their
wheels invisible as they topped a small eminence from the summit of
which they took in one comprehensive view of undulating lands, with
villages scattered all round, farm-houses here and there, green fields
and flowering meadows, traversed by rivulet or canal, with cattle,
sheep, and horses gazing at them in silent or startled wonder, and birds
twittering welcome from the trees and hedge-rows everywhere.

Now they were crossing a bridge and