"Don't be too sure of that. This carriage is none too good. I said so when Abner Filbury brought it around for me."
"The wheels do appear to be somewhat shaky," remarked Sam.
"We miss the biplane, for making quick trips," returned Tom, with a sigh. "We ought to get a runabout—an auto runabout, I mean."
"That's the talk!" cried his younger brother. "If we had one of those we could run over to Hope whenever we pleased."
The main road was being repaired, so, at a certain place, the boys had to turn off on a side road for a distance of nearly a mile. Here the going was anything but good, and they went down in more than one rut or hollow.
"Be careful, Sam!" warned Dick. "Don't drive so fast."
"Oh, go ahead," put in Tom, impatiently. "We are losing a lot of time on this side road."
Just then came a narrow turn, with a down grade, very uneven and full of rocks. Over the latter bumped the carriage. Then came a sudden jounce, followed by a crash.
"Whoa!" yelled Sam to the team, and brought them to a standstill at the foot of the hill.
"What broke?" asked Dick, anxiously.