“He must have had the valves ground,” said Noddy. “Come on now, Jack, get those chains on. I’m going to smoke a cigarette.” And, leaving to his toady the no very pleasant task of adjusting the chains, Noddy got out to walk on the barn floor and indulge in the dangerous practice of smoking where there was much hay and straw.
It was while Noddy was walking about that he noted the other car. No sooner did he recognize it than the bully cried:
“Here they are! Here’s their car!”
“Are they—are they there?” asked Jack, rather weakly. He was a coward, as was Noddy—more of a coward, in fact, and he shrank from a physical encounter with the Motor Boys.
“No, they aren’t here,” announced Noddy, after a look around the barn. “Guess they went to the farmhouse to get something to eat. That fathead Bob Baker is always eating!”
“Oh, let me get at him!” whispered Chunky, hidden in the hay beside Jerry.
“Sure, Chunky is always on hand when grub’s ready,” chuckled Jack. “So they’re up in the farmhouse, are they?”
“Must be,” asserted Noddy. “They aren’t around, but this is Jerry’s car all right. I’d know it in a thousand. How you coming on with those chains, Jack?”