stituted an extreme danger
on the highroads, as much so for vehicles, as for pedestrians. This
rushing mass, coming like a thunder-bolt, preceded by a formidable
rumbling, caused a whirlwind, which tore the branches from the trees
along the road, terrified the animals browsing in adjoining fields,
and scattered and killed the birds, which could not resist the
suction of the tremendous air currents engendered by its passage.

And, a bizarre detail to which the newspapers drew particular
attention, the surface of the roads was scarcely even scratched by
the wheels of the apparition, which left behind it no such ruts as
are usually made by heavy vehicles. At most there was a light touch,
a mere brushing of the dust. It was only the tremendous speed which
raised behind the vehicle such whirlwinds of dust.

"It is probable," commented the New Fork Herald, "that the extreme
rapidity of motion destroys the weight."

Naturally there were protests from all sides. It was impossible to
permit the mad speed of this apparition which threatened to overthrow
and destroy everything in its passage, equipages and people. But how
could it be stopped? No one knew to whom the vehicle belonged, nor
whence it came, nor whither it went. It was seen but for an instant
as it darted forward like a bullet in its dizzy flight. How could one
seize a cannon-ball in the air, as it leaped from the mouth of the
gun?

I repeat, there was no evidence as to the character of the propelling
engine. It left behind it no smoke, no steam, no odor of gasoline, or
any other oil. It seemed probable, therefore, that the vehicle ran by
electricity, and that its accumulators were of an unknown model,
using some unknown fluid.

The public imagination, highly excited, readily accepted every sort
of rumor about this mysterious automobile. It was said to be a
supernatural car. It was driven by a specter, by one of the
chauffeurs of hell, a goblin from another world, a monster escaped
from some mythological menagerie, in short, the devil in person, who
could defy all human intervention, having at his command invisible
and infinite satanic powers.

But even Satan himself had no right to run at such speed over the
roads of the United States without a special permit, without a number
on his car, and without a regular license. And it was certain that
not a single municipality had given him permission to go two hundred
miles an hour. Public security demanded that some