The boys started a discussion about the hill-climbing feat of the “Red Scout,” and while all agreed that it had been a splendid performance, Bob seemed to be inclined to sneer at Bert’s handling of the car. He firmly believed that he knew more about automobiles than Bert, and was sometimes a little jealous of the praise given him by the other boys.
“Oh, I don’t know,” he finally remarked, when Tom remarked that some people seemed able to coax more out of a car than others, “I don’t see that that makes much difference. I’ll bet that if I had been running the ‘Red Scout’ this morning it would have gone up that hill just the same. Why, when I used to run my uncle’s car——” but here he was interrupted by cries of derision, and Tom remarked:
“I suppose that if Bob had been running the ‘Red Scout’ he would have run it up the hill backwards so that it would think it was going downhill, and so got to the top without any trouble.”
This sally caused a general laugh at Bob’s expense and he subsided, but was heard to mutter about “getting the right mixture,” and “easing her down to second speed,” which nobody but Bert understood, but which seemed to make him feel much better.
In justice to Bob, it must be said, however, that he did know quite a little about automobiles, but usually lacked nerve when it came to putting his knowledge into practice.
By this time the boys were all hungry, and as there seemed to be a small chance of the rain letting up for a while, Bert proposed that they have lunch. There was plenty of food in the automobile, and Bert started the boys to fishing out crackers and jam.
Suddenly a thought struck him. “Say, fellows,” he called, “how about making some cornbread and having a real bang-up meal? We’ve got bacon and all the fixings here, and we all know how to cook, thanks to our experience as campers. I’ll make the corn bread, and Tom here will fry the bacon.”
There was such a joyous and noisy consent to this plan that Bert could not help laughing. “All right,” he cried, “some of you fellows dive into the car and bring out the new frying pan and the Dutch oven we bought to-day. We’ll build a fire on that slab of stone over there, and have something to eat in next to no time.”
This was no sooner said than done, and as the odor of frying bacon and hot “corn pone” filled the old barn, the boys thanked their lucky stars for the thousandth time that they had come on this camping trip.
In a short time everything was ready, and they seated themselves near the fire. Tom dished out the sizzling bacon and steaming “corn pone.”