Ginger fetched it, and with his companions tried to jack the wheel up; but the tool sank into the earth.
"Let's unload and then see," suggested Kenneth.
It took them half an hour to unload the car, working so hard that they were all bathed in perspiration. Again they plied the jack, but in vain.
"The only chance is to get something solid to put under it," said Ginger. "There's nothing handy hereabouts. Any houses about here?" he asked the driver.
"Hanged if I know. It was too misty to see when I came along. The parson lives somewhere, I suppose."
"I'll run up the hill and take a look round," said Harry.
"Take your rifle, man," Kenneth called, as Harry was starting without it.
"All right; but we're miles away from the German front. You might have a look at the engine while I'm gone."
All this time there had been sounds of firing in the distance eastward, with reports of British guns at intervals nearer at hand. But they were now so familiar with such sounds that they scarcely heeded them. Guns and gunners were alike out of sight. There were few signs of war immediately around them; but for the absence of human activity on the fields the country might have been at peace.
Harry went up the hill and for some distance along the road before he discovered anything that promised assistance. A slight breeze was dispersing the mist; but the sun was already far down in the western sky; in an hour or two it would be dark. At length, on his right he noticed a rough cart track leading to a small farm building half hidden in a hollow about half a mile away. He hurried towards it across the fields, soon regretting that he had not gone by the beaten track, for the soil was soft and heavy.