noon
I used to hear that the six miles had been done in fifteen minutes . Then there came a struggle with the English and the Britannulists , as to which would get the nearest to fourteen minutes ; till it seemed that bicycle-racing and not cricket had been the purpose for which the English had sent out the 4000-ton steam-yacht at the expense of all the cricketers of the nation . It was on this occasion that the track was first divided for comers and goers , and that volunteers were set to prevent stragglers from crossing except by the regular bridges . I found that I , the President of the Republic , was actually forbidden to go down in my tricycle to my old friend 's house , unless I would do so before noon . `` You 'd be run over and made mince-meat of , '' said Jack , speaking of such a catastrophe with less horror than I thought it ought to have engendered in his youthful mind . Poor Sir Lords was run down by our Jack , -- collided as Jack called it . `` He had n't quite impetus enough on to make the turning sharp as he ought , '' said Jack , without the slightest apparent regret at what had occurred .