FRED HUMPHREYS was a boy of an original mind; that is to say, he was very fond of thinking for himself and doing things of which he had never either heard or read. This may or may not be a good disposition in a boy. It depends altogether upon what kind of a boy he is. If he mixes a great deal of reason with his original thinking, if he is able to see when he has made a mistake, and is willing to acknowledge it, and if he is of a prudent turn of mind, and is not willing to dive into a new enterprise until he knows how deep it is and whether or not the current is too strong for him, it may be very well for him to do his own thinking. But if he does not possess these requisites, it would be better, until he is older, to let some one else attend to this matter for him.

Fred was an only son, and his father was desirous that he should find out as much as possible for himself during his boyhood. He was to be a business man, and would probably have a great many ups and downs in the course of his life; and Mr. Humphreys had an idea that if his son could get through with some of the " downs " during his minority, the experience he would thereby gain would prevent his having just as many of them in after life, when they would be much more important.

When the bicycle came into use in this country, Fred Humphreys was one of the first boys who had one. When an improved form of the machine was invented, Fred sold his old one, and his father added money enough to what he received to buy

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one of the new kind. This change from good to better occurred several times; and when the tricycle came before the public, Fred gave up his last bicycle, and bought one of the three-wheeled machines, and, after using this for some months, he disposed of it, and became the possessor of a first-class double tricycle, that would carry two persons. Sometimes with his sister, and sometimes with a boy friend, Fred made excursions in this tricycle through the country round about the town in which he lived.

This town was situated in the interior of one

of our Northern States. It was much frequented in the summer-time as a watering-place, and some of the roads leading to hotels and places of popular resort in the neighborhood were unusually smooth and well made, and, therefore, admirably adapted to bicycles and tricycles. On these fine roads Fred and his machine soon became almost as well known as were the famous "tally-hos," with four or six horses, which in the season made regular trips between the town and various pleasant spots in the surrounding country.

But, much as Fred enjoyed his tricycle, he became convinced in time that there might be something better; and as nothing better had, as yet, been invented by any one else, he determined, if possible, to invent it himself. The idea which gradually developed itself in his mind was this: If a boy can pull a vehicle, say a tricycle, at the rate of a certain number of miles per hour, and with an amount of exertion which he can keep up for a