"You don't mean it!" gasped Harry with a startled look.
"I do! When did we overhaul these motorcycles?"
"Yesterday. Each boy worked on his own machine, and I know I did a good job on mine. It runs like a scared rabbit!"
"All did good jobs! Mine, too, was in perfect shape. But look at that main crank bearing now! It's positively frozen!"
"Ho! Ho!" jeered Jimmie. "Frozen! Why, it's so hot you daren't even touch it! Just see it frying grease this minute!"
"That's the correct term for a bearing that gets so hot it won't let the shaft or axle turn. Maybe you didn't know that!"
"Well, Great Jumpin' Catfishes!" gasped Jimmie.
"It's a good thing Ned isn't here to listen to that slang!" declared Harry. "As leader of the Wolf Patrol, Ned objects to slang!"
"Well, if 'Catfishes' is any more slang than 'Frozen Hot Boxes,'" stoutly decided Jimmie, "I'll quit for keeps. Besides," he continued, "it's a good thing Ned isn't here or he'd laugh at us for a lot of amateurs who don't know how to run a motorcycle yet. I guess 'Yes'!"
"Look here!" cried Jack in an excited voice. Then instantly glancing about as if afraid of being overheard he continued in a lower tone: "This looks to me like a sure case of someone's having planned that we should have trouble. Feel the grit in that oil cup!"