CHAPTER III


Harris's one fault--Harris and the Angel--A patent bicycle lamp--The
ideal saddle--The "Overhauler"--His eagle eye--His method--His cheery
confidence--His simple and inexpensive tastes--His appearance--How to get
rid of him--George as prophet--The gentle art of making oneself
disagreeable in a foreign tongue--George as a student of human nature--He
proposes an experiment--His Prudence--Harris's support secured, upon
conditions.

On Monday afternoon Harris came round; he had a cycling paper in his
hand.

I said: "If you take my advice, you will leave it alone."

Harris said: "Leave what alone?"

I said: "That brand-new, patent, revolution in cycling, record-breaking,
Tomfoolishness, whatever it may be, the advertisement of which you have
there in your hand."

He said: "Well, I don't know; there will be some steep hills for us to
negotiate; I guess we shall want a good brake."

I said: "We shall want a brake, I agree; what we shall not want is a
mechanical surprise that we don't understand, and that never acts when it
is wanted."