“All right, neighbor. Sorry to put you to all this trouble,” said the good-natured farmer.
“That’s all right. We must give and take in this world if we are going to get along,” said Mr. Martin pleasantly.
“Wait a minute!” exclaimed Mrs. Martin, as her husband was about to get back in the machine and back it up. “I want to get out before you try anything like that, Dick,” she added. “And the children had better get out also.”
“Maybe it would be better,” her husband agreed. “I’ll feel freer then to switch around.”
“Are you going to stay in, Lucy?” asked Janet.
“Good lan’ ob massy no, indeedy!” cried the black cook, and out she scrambled.
The Curlytops and the others stood in the road while Mr. Martin carefully backed his automobile off the bridge. Ted stood at the rear to tell his father which way to turn—whether to the right or the left—to avoid going off the road into the ditches which were on either side. The farmer had to remain on his hay wagon to keep his horses quiet, for they seemed a bit skittish at the sound of the throbbing automobile.
At last Mr. Martin had backed far enough off the bridge for the hay wagon to keep on across it and pull out to one side so the automobile could go ahead.
This was done after a while and the road cleared.
“You folks comin’ to live around here?” asked the farmer, as the Curlytops and others began to enter the automobile again.