“Well, there’s no help for it. It’s up to us to put a new shoe and tube on,” spoke Ned, who had quickly brought the car to a stop. Then the three lads, having donned rubber coats, which fortunately they carried with them, got out of the car, and stood in the mud, with the rain pelting them, while they made ready to repair the damaged tire.
[CHAPTER VII]
A SURPRISED INTRUDER
“Going to stand here looking at it all night?” demanded Jerry after a pause, during which his two chums had vainly sought to prevent the rain from trickling down inside the collars of their coats. “Do you think the tire is going to mend itself, Bob?”
“I only wish it would!” devoutly exclaimed Chunky. “Wow! This is fierce!”
“No help for it,” mumbled Ned, as he wiped the dashing rain drops from his eyes. “Hand me the jack, Jerry, I’ll get the car up, you can take off the tire and we’ll make Bob put on the new shoe and tube. That’s a fair division of labor.”
“I’ll be gum-swizzled if I can see it, as Mr. Sackett would say,” exclaimed the fat lad. “You give me the hardest part to do.”
“Good for reducing flesh,” remarked Jerry as he reached under the seat and got out the jack and a new inner tube. “Fetch around one of the oil headlights, Bob, so we can see what we are doing, and unstrap a shoe.”
Bob started for the lantern, splashed into a deep mud hole, and uttered an exclamation of disgust.