Explore "A Bicycle of Cathay" by Frank R. Stockton on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Before going to bed that night I did not throw myself into an easy-chair and gaze musingly out into the night. On the contrary, I stood up sturdily with my back to the mantel-piece, and with the forefinger of my right hand I tapped my left palm.
"Now, then," said I to myself, "as soon as my bicycle is put into working order I shall imitate travellers in hot countries -- I shall ride all night, and I shall rest all day. There are too many young women in Cathay. They turn up one after another with the regularity of a continuous performance. No sooner is the curtain rung down on one act than it is rung up on another. Perhaps after a while I may get out of Cathay, and then again I may ride by day."