“All ready now?” asked Jerry, with his hand on the gear lever.
“All ready—unless I see something else,” answered Uriah Snodgrass, and the auto rolled slowly forward. Noddy had been given enough start so that there was no danger of catching up to him unless he halted, and he was not likely to do that, Jerry thought. At the first farmhouse they stopped to inquire their way on some less frequented road, and, learning it, they took another highway, which, while not so good to travel on, made it less likely that they would meet or pass the bully.
For three days they traveled on, having fine weather on all but one—the day after their “arrest.” Then it rained from morning until night, and they progressed through water and mud, which cut down their speed.
They were dry and fairly comfortable, however, for the closed car was as snug as a bungalow, and they could cook and sleep inside. Then the weather cleared, and, save for muddy roads, there was no discomfort.
“And we seem to have given Noddy the slip,” remarked Jerry, one day, for they had neither seen nor heard anything of their enemy or his companions. “We’re having fine luck.”
They had been traveling by auto over a week, and were getting close to Denver, whence they would make the rest of the trip by airship, when there came a turn in the good fortune that had, so far, accompanied them.
They were going down a hill, one evening into a little town when the foot brake unexpectedly broke, and they started off at a rapid pace. Jerry, however, quickly threw in the emergency, and brought the car up before any harm had resulted.
“Hum! This is a nice pickle!” exclaimed the tall lad. “Now we’ve got to lay over until this is fixed.”
“Maybe we can have it fixed over night,” suggested Ned. “There’s a combined blacksmith shop and garage just ahead,” and he pointed to it. “If we pay extra we can have the man work all night on the brake, and have it ready for us in the morning. There must be some sort of a hotel here, where we can put up.”
“Fine!” cried Bob. “Then I won’t have to cook supper.”