The San Francisco call. [volume], February 05, 1910, Page 8, Image 8

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

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8
What Happened on a Dull Day
GOLDEN GATE park was not at
tractive to Thomas Algernon
McCartney Jones this bright
Saturday morning, as he trotted
quietly along the bridle puth behind
Ills younger brother and little sister,,
who. gripping the" sides of their sturdy
ponies with all the strength of their
small knees, were valiantly endeavor- \u25a0
ing to keep the correct position for
the rising trot.
Genevleye w.rs n \u25a0 picture, Hitting
erect on her saddle, gazing straight.
between tho ears, of her mount and
occasionally stealing furtive glances
from the corner of her eye at the rid
ing master vat her right, apparently
wishing to ascertain whether or not
her. efforts were meeting with appro
vul. "Why didn't I. remember to put ,
a red ribbon on my. right wrist," she'
was snyitis -.to '.lierself; "and then 'when
he. says 'Itislit rein, miss,' I -would-,
know wliich" oi» lie means." , •
Charles Antoiti completely .ab
s^.rbed in the- lesson, and had -no eyes
pjeeem for ».•« "pony and-no ears ex
i-cpt tor' the woiMs 'of /tlie instructor.
; '•Turn your. t»)oa in now,', if you
pic use — ; 'i> i " r> iin toeil," rejijeinber. 'on
horseback) i/'-id youiu* jht. : Jfo6t is too
far in tlie '"^stirrup..- I.'can jpack more,.
m.\v, \u25a0/&'. \u2666'\u25a0 sitting- .trot; elbows tight fj
against tiio : - body, -and -'hands . close to
gether; 'left rein a Httie. shorter— 7 now! ;
a'aiiop!'; Tlie ponies were off like a
flush, '. iiu perfect, time, Genevieve'a -
Monde curls flouting in the wind.'
All this was a bore to Thomas Al
scrnon; he nad' learned It all long
Uffo.';'and no ,?, since. lie was. able to go_
out with his father on Sundays he
considered "it -'a good deal of.an impo
sition 'to be compelled to ride with .
tlie "kindergarten i-ln^s" every Satur
day -morning: and have to keep [ their
pace..... . . <y*\' v .^ .\u25a0.\u25a0.-''-\u25a0; \u25a0.;..'\u25a0'. .-V. \u25a0'{. .
"Genevieve' If' a baby," .he said to
himself scornfully, ilicking an imag
inary speck from ' . glossy -neck of.
his -little pony* and leaning far back \
iii his • English- saddle," his stirrups
hanging loose, it being one of the
rules -that he. should do sitting trot
without stir ups ,at 'frequent intervals
in'" order-to perfect his seat. -V
"Genevieve. is a ; baby, 1 -" lie kept re- .
peating to himself." '\u25a0 \"lt\ "It is a pity she '
did not get accustomed to the "motion
of the horse ;l]«* those small -swells
do over in Europe. -'\u25a0".;. having to ride" in
a basket strapped. to the back of a don
key," anil tie imiled when he remem
bered the' astonishment of his mother
Hnd'-father when they had first encoun- .
tered the royal family of Italy riding
in the Pinclun- gardens last summer
at Rome. There was the queen
mounted on a splendid thoroughbred,
rid.Jig sidesaddle; the' king, wearing a
soft felt hat, with a wide brim, astride
a magnificent ' specimen of horseflesh,
and tho three children, two of " them
mounted onsplendid little ponies, and
the third, little more than a baby, com
fortably seated in a wicker basket,;
perfectly at home on the back of a
long eared, patient donkey.
"Well," Baiu Tom's father, "if roy-
alty has to .begin, to ride as young as.
that- It's tlie tanbark for you when we
get back to San Francisco, and ho
matter how many lessons • you may
miss the riding lessons are the ones
that you shall not ml»s!"
' And father had kept his word. Every
I Saturday morning found the three
American children at the riding- school
promptly at 10 o'clock. Thomas Alger'
nou learned much faster than his
brother and sister and resented having,
to ride with them every Saturday. On
this particular Saturday he had wanted
to go ,wlth some boys who were to
olltnb up Twin Peaks for the view from
their summits. Suddenly he was seized
with the spirit of rebellion/ Up a little
hill to the left was a path which led
to the stadium. Quick as v flash, with
a slight movement of the left rein and
a quick touch of the whip on hta pony's
neck he flew. up tlie pathway, and dis
appeared from view among the. trees.
AVhat then? Would Jiis. absence be
discovered? He stopped to listen, but
THIL SAN FRANCISCO CALF,, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1910.— TUT. JUNIOR CALL
the "riding master, intent; on the .two
younger children and knowing that
Thoams Algernon was quite safe and
able to take care of himself, noticed
nothing. Thomas drew a .long breath
as the musical thud of the departing
hoofs grew fainter lit the distance, like
Tarn o' Shanter. For the present s he
was safe.. lie knew the riding master',
would not leave the others to look for
him. Of course, he coujd ride quickly
and' overtake"" them; but f ? no — -he would
enjoy his liberty indulge his
thoughts; to his heart's content, and
await .the., return of : Oenevieve and
Charles. Antoine near the. entrance to
the park, for it would do to re
turn to the riding academy alone, one
of the moat stringent "rules being that,
they miist always come back together
in good style, elbow *to elbow, • four
abreast.
.Weil, he would have to put in his
tlmo as best he could. It would be at
least an hour before the riding master
could take his pupils to the. beach and
return with, them. lie rode quickly
around the stadium at the rising trot..
That was, fine! ' But, then, he did not
want to go around again; the stadium,
was deHerted at that early morning
hour, although in the afternoon there '
would be races and games in plenty.
Stow lake he found equally, unin
teresting. Only the swans were there,
.their sUteliness adding majesty to . th'o.
beauty of the morning. \u25a0 .-.* •.."\u25a0*''
He would try^he buffalo paddock.
Perhaps he might, catch, a glimpse of
the baby buffalo whloh had recently'
arrived < there, and which he was most .
anxious to see. But he was doomed to
disappointment. Only two of the mon-
Bter beasts were in sight, serenely
munching the grass, and on ih*. other
sldn of the paddock wus a solitary elk,'
hia antlers held proudly aloft.
Certainly things were pretty dull for,
the boy who hud played truant from his*
riding lesson, and riding alone was not
such, fun after all. The pony felt the '
loneliness also. Accustomed to going
out in company with other horses, he
was restless and ill at ea»e. He laid his
ears back disdainfully and lowering his
head in a stubborn fashion vainly tried
to nibble the grass, /With a quick up*
ward movement- of the reins and lean* '
ing well, back in the saddle, Thomas
brought the head of his .ateed back, to
Its proper position and looked übout
-* . . . . \u25a0• \u25a0 ' \u25a0
him, wondering wb.at--.he should do
next. \u25a0 \u25a0 .' ' : .-'.\u25a0\u25a0 . ''-\u25a0;: \u25a0\u25a0\u25a0\u25a0",
Even the statues in the park were
uninspiring. Their stillness rendered
them depressing. .
"Oh you Bobby Burns," said Thomas, '
"I'd like to get down off Trigger and.
lam you one.' \u25a0 If I. only had my. dogs
here I'd rehearse you a dialogue that
would make your 'Twa Dags' sit up
and take notice. ', There's nothingVdo-.
ing with the statuos, r sure."
; High.ln the distance loomed' Prayer
Book cross and instantly Thomas Al
gernon was seized with the determlna?
tion to ride up to it ut the quickest
possible moment. .He liad never -been
up there, though he had often;wanted
to go. lie. knew that Prayer Book
cross had been presented to the city
of San Francisco by George Washlng
tonChilds of Philadelphia, in commem
oration of [the , First English church
service held on the Pacific coast by the
crew of. Sir- Francis Drake's ship. And
he. also knew ' tl\at it had been -the
original intention of Mr, Childs to have
the cross located on Drakes bay, over
looking-.the same, but that, . having
be'en informed by. , a San Francisco
newspaperman that. Golden Gate .park
in San, Franoiseo was the ( proper place
for the; cross, since, few people visited
Drakes bay, and it- would seldom be
seen if located there, whereas. Golden
Gate park is frequented by thousands
of people, especially on Saturday and
Sunday, he had ut once changed his
mind 'ami, tho \u25a0 cross was given to
Golden Gate/ park. All that was 16
years ago, ,'before Thomas Algernon .
was born, and -now' -he I wus going to
ride right up to the foot of the cross
und get a good look at itat close
rang*. •,: \: \u25a0 ' • '
There was no bridle puth in sight,
it is true, but nelthen wuh there a
policeman, und Thomas Algernon In
his impatience to reach the summit of
\u25a0the hill as quickly as possible, did not
look for either.
Putting spurs .\o .his pony lie
plunged through the trees, which were
thicker than he had supposed. Tho
dead limb of. a projecting branch hit
him square across the forehead, in
flicting an ugly bruiae, his cup watt
swept from hia head and some nasty
dried leaves attached themselves to
his hair and worked- their- way down
hia neck under the collar of hi*
. sweater, but crouching down on the
neck of lilts pony he managed to avoid
the branches, which seemed bent on
impeding his progress, until finally the
'summit of the hill was reached, and
ho stopped exhausted at the foot of the
'cross.
Dropping the four reins across tjifl
pony's neck Thomas Algernon lingered
for several moments, entranced by the
wonderful expanse of sea and woods
• and sky sproad out before him, ' He
had not known before that there was
anything so beautiful in Golden Gate
park. In traveling abroad with hfs
parents he was familiar with many
of the world's famous parks and the
l>eauties of great ; harbors. He- had
flriven through Central park in New
jjTork, through Lincoln park in 1 Chicago
»nd been delighted with the beauty of
tts gardens. lie knew Kew gardens
and Hyde park in London and was ac
quainted with gardens of thp Luxem
bourg and the ' Bols d<v Boulogne 'In
Paris and also the wonderful gardens
-' af Versailles. He had climbed 1 to the
top of Liberty statue at New, York and
\u25a0 looked out over the' harbor at the "flags
vwavlng frpm the forts, Wadsworth anii
Hamilton,' on- opposite sldea of the ! bay.
He had walked the deck of 1 the" ship \
Jwlth his father when they were enter
. ing the ' harbor- of Southampton ; and
\u25a0.stood on the" quay at Naples, absorbing
"las well as he could in his 'child's way
'all the azu?e 'loveliness of the : Italian
> city, VbehindX which towered Vesuvius.
: dark and sinister.' But this was. home.
.•Sitting 'on v"his- pony at the* foot of .
> Prayer -Bookf cross in San; Francisco
-he gazed upon : what ' seemed; to him
'then the most beautiful' view 'he had
\u25a0\u25a0' ever seen, in his short life, 'and he felt.*
aridr strangely soothed, until
I he remembered all at once :hls brother
and sister and the riding master,' ami .
he was seized 'with a sudden' remorse •
for his unwarranted desertion of them.
Looking at his watch he saw that he
could ju9t about reach-the riding acad
emy by the time they returned! . He|
rode slowly around the cross." reading
the inscription thereon.'and- then began
| the descent, of .the hi 11.*".,,, Reaching .the
bottom he speedily gained the bridle
..path, .which : - he scanned eagerly :in
'^search of the returning; ' party, ijwhic.li,
however, was" nowhere in sight. ,
Fearing that they might* have pre
ceded him Thomas cantered" quickly
toward home, : the pony eagerly antici
pating his dinner, needing no urging,
, so that in a very few minutes they
" had reached the Sixth 'avenue exib.
. Suddenly Thomas straightened in 1 his
saddle and' his heart gave' a great
bound. Corning swiftly up Sixth,ave
nue was what was unmistakably a
.runaway. In the buggy behind the
runaway horse were; two' women," an
elderly lady whose whtte/hair shone
bright in the sunlight and a younger
woman, who .was pulling. with all her
strength on the reins, leaning as far
back as 1 possible. ' . The cause of \ the
runaway was also, apparent to Thomas
in that first - glance. The ; rubber tire
of the- left hind wheel had' become
I loosened, and with each revolution of
the wheel it swept round-like a "ter
rible whip in the hands of an angry
man, increasing "with each turn the
terror and fright of the maddened ani r
mal. , . . \u25a0 • •. -
' Far tlie worst phase of the situation
was that. two streetcars were approach
ing from opposite directions and would
undoubtedly : pass each other at .the
time the runaway mare would dash
across the trackp. . .
- Before Thomas' eyes was a vivid pier
ture of the inevitable collision and; the
enßuing horror. For a moment he; sat
stock still, as though turned to stone.
The street was. deserted. * He.looked
wildly around for^the mounted police,
then called with all the, strength of
his young lungs, thinking ho might at
tract the attention of the park gard
ener. "«In vain.' Then his mind cleared, *
«and-he' felt* imbued with a wonderful
'strength of -^purpose. "It's up to me,"
'-was the one well denned thought lir his
• •mind, and digging his spurs into": tho
pony's Hank he dashed ahead at full
'speed, taking his feet from the stirrups
to be ready for the spring. A moment
more and he was Alongside the frenzied
• mare, and throwing himself at her
head lie grasped her bridle rein with
'both hands and hung there, being'
dragged several yards before she came
'to a standstill, hia pony in^the mean
time freed from his rider, .galloping
• quickly away. .* -. ''/"'
When the mare stopped with Thomas
still hanging to her head they were
' only two or three feet from ther car
tracks. The cars had stopped and one
of the passengers brought a physician
from the neighboring, drug store to at
tend to the elderly lady, who hud faint
ed. When she Haw' that h^r mother was
•' "recovering • consciousness, • the younger
lady looked about for their rescuer, who
was nowhere to be seen,
Some one had caught the pony and
brought him back, und Thomas Alger
non, mounting quickly, had galloped off
to join his brother and slater and the
riding master who were Just emerging
from the park, and shoulder to shoul
der, four abreast, they returned to the
school.