“Then how’d they run it off?”
“They just took off the brake and let her coast down hill,” was the answer. “There’s a hill leading up into the shed. I noticed it when I went in last night. All they had to do was to let the car roll down hill—it would coast all the way to the road, I think. And that was far enough off so that when they turned on the ignition, as the car was still moving, she started without the racket she usually makes. Come and I’ll show you.”
He indicated to the boys the marks of the tires in the soft ground—marks that showed where Mr. Campbell had driven in, and then where the car had been pushed out, steered down to the road under gravity and finally driven off.
“Hard luck, but there’s no use worrying,” said Mr. Campbell, who was a sort of optimistic philosopher. “We’ll just have to take after ’em—that’s all.”
“Maybe we can trace the car by the tire tracks,” said Rick. “There aren’t many cars out this way, Mr. Campbell.”
“Yes, perhaps we can, Rick. Well, let’s get started.”
They headed away from the shed, aiming to pass around the cabin and take to the road. But, as they filed along the path, with Ruddy running ahead, Chot suddenly called:
“I hear a car coming!”
“Maybe they are coming back,” suggested Rick.
They pressed forward eagerly.