“Oh, we just sit here,” said Patty, returning to her seat in the runabout. “It isn’t a question of doing anything, because we can’t do anything. We can sit here, or we can walk home. Or, rather, you can walk home, if you want to. I sha’n’t leave my car, if I sit here all night.”
“And I sha’n’t leave you, if we sit here all night! But if I can walk anywhere, and get assistance for you, I’ll gladly do so.”
“Mona, you’re a good deal of a trump,” said Patty, looking into the girl’s earnest face; “but I don’t know of any place you could get assistance nearer than home, and that’s ten miles away. You see, Mona, when motor cars do break down, they invariably choose a place far away from any garage or repair shop. The farther away it is, the better the car likes it. Can’t you hear Camilla chuckling at our discomfiture?”
“How can you joke, Patty? I think it’s awful! What can we do?”
“We can’t do anything, but, if we’re patient, some one may come along who can help us. You know, there’s a certain courtesy of the road among motorists that makes them help each other whenever they can. At least, this courtesy is said to exist, but I’ve never seen much of it, myself. However, I’ve had very few occasions to desire it. Now we’ll sit and wait for courtesy.”
Nor did they wait long. Very soon a good-sized motor came by, and the polite driver of it stopped and asked the girls if he could be of any assistance.
Patty liked his quiet, courteous manner, and she explained her difficulty.
But the man, though willing, was unable to help her, for his tires were not the same size as those on Patty’s ear. He would have been glad, he said, to tow her car, but he was going in the other direction. So Patty thanked him for his interest in the matter, and he went on his way.
“Now, you see,” observed Patty, “that there is a courtesy of the road. I’ve no doubt some more courtesy will come along soon, and we’ll get fixed up somehow.”
But courtesy seemed to be scant that afternoon, for half a dozen cars, both large and small, whizzed past them apparently without noticing their plight.