ROMANCE OF THE RINK.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 847, 20 June 1910, Page 6

ROMANCE OF THE RINK.

A .TRUE FRIEND IN JENKINS. By SYLvrus. ' I had heard that roller-skating as a recreation for dull, cold afternoons was graceful, pleasant, healthy, grateful and comforting, arid not being conservative in my pleasures thought it only right to . give the sport a little aid by my patronage. Ice-skating was an old lovo of mine, but the rollers were'a new. and illumin- ' ating sensation. On entering the rink I was assailed by the sound of a great crash. The composer of the symphony lay on his back, one skate was travelling aimlessly in the direction of the fire escape as if its feelings, had been deeply wounded, and one : little wheel from tho other ran round in merry little circles, avoided by the lady skaters as if it were a mouse. When'the fallen had scrambled to the ■side .and had brushed back bis raven locks/ I discovered to my profound horror that it was Jenkins, our accountant, whom I had always held in the highest esteem. Could I over do so again—no, it was not to.be thought of. The vision of the poor,,battered, dusty, limping fellow clinging to tho rail would be always ■ dancing before me, and I knew that he— ' Jenkins—«ould only lie a prolonged joke .to me.' But I had this much respect.for him—in the moment of his misfortune I •avoided him, feeling rather heroic at my own magnanimity in -sparing him the odium of my glances. ' Jenkins was a .stiff, .reserved sort, of ■fellow in tho office, with a great idea'of •his own dignity and value to the firm. The knowledge that he rinked, and '■rinked so disastrously, was quite awakening. It-would bB my weapon when he ■ -next would get. at me for being 3d. out in about two miles of figures. I would :,noti skate that -night. ... I went I home gloating. I told no one.

Three evenings later I summoned up my courage, went to the rink, and after '..,-» youngster had clamped the skates to jny very soles, 1 smiled feebly, and made ~ ,'to; stand up, as' a preliminary to a ; .graceful glide I felt I was capable of .. .executing.' It is quite an easy thing to :. .stand up ordinarily, so easy that no' lone over thinks of it as a feat—merely a ■- lialf lunge forward and a straightening : . :of the kneo joints. (X never evon an- ■ ;alysed tho .act of standing up until I tried, to skate). - Anyhow, I mado to stand up, and in doing so left the , .friendly- aid of the side rail. Before the : , /eyes of a pretty girl who smiled at me ; I through a tangle-of maize-coloured hair, [I. stood erect.for 0.27 of a second, then, ■' iwithout warning, both feet acting in accord, made for the centre of '■'-..{the floor, but as I could not follow fast -enough, I took an aeronautic flight, and in the same instant the back of .my head tested the jarrah floor.'-. (Note.— . ■ Jarrah is a hardwood that grows in ■Western Australia, and is used largely ;' for street-blocking where traffic is heavy). There I lny not wholly oblivious to my plight, but caring little what happened. As the skaters whirled by me I had tho 'same sensation that one experiences when . viewing ■ near-by hedge-rows from . tho .window of an express train. Then becoming conscious that'l was not'.going to Trentliam, I detected the horrid grins of those who passed ma. One swerved as near as he could to my head "just for ifnn," other good, skaters merely raised a ■ skilful'leg in passing over my body, and one venturesome brute, repulsively clever the.rollers, took a running jump over - by .prostrate form. - ; Would my humiliation never cease? : JEach moment seemed an hour. . The maizy-haired girl was shrieking with laughter. ,' I was burning with shame, .-• and lost pride and dignity, and felt myself to be as cheap as a picture. show. '.'"'Painfully I sat up in a world of rollers : '; .rolling rapidly, while the band played , a melting waltz among the rafters. I -"; was contemplating how I could walk tho twelve feet Back to the rails, when who , »hould. I spy coming up tho straight, but Jenkins—starchy old Jenk—skating . a (.treat. Under, the genial influence of the ho smiled at'me, placed ono foot ■ .rat right angles to the other as a brake, jmlled me up, and led mo gently to the .side. . . . How-1 had misjudged old "'"Tents." I thought with my aching "head. ... What a trump he was— ' what a hero. Nor did he ever mention ;- my humiliation at the office—told mo f . quietly to persevere for threp or four nights' as he had done, and he would help me. Then I would drop into it, just like waltzing. ' And I never mentioned that I had seen lim spread out . . . . tact, I call it.