“He means skip the gutter,” Teddy explained, laughing, as the car proceeded. “Nick must have taught him that. ‘Jump the slidewalks!’ That’s a hot one! Trust the Chinks to get everything backwards.”
“Never mind; Sing Lung is one good Chink,” Roy declared. “This lunch will sure come in handy.”
“ ‘Jump the slidewalks’ means ‘skip the gutter,’ and ‘skip the gutter’ means—perhaps, ‘jump the slidewalks?’ Now, just what did Sing Lung mean, boys?”
But Belle’s brothers refused to be drawn into explanations or argument.
Seven miles out from their home ranch a report suddenly sounded from under the car, and it lurched crazily. Roy jammed on the brakes vigorously.
“Blowout,” he said shortly. “Might have known that ’ud happen! Just when we get rolling along nicely, the tire goes. Well,” he jumped from the car and bent down, “she’s done for, all right. And any one who pulls that old chestnut about ‘only flat on one side’ will have to fix it all alone! Come on Teddy—you posing for a statue?”
Teddy grinned, and alighted, as did Belle. Luckily, there were two good spares on the rear, so there was no danger of a long delay. The jack was soon out, and one of the tires taken from the rack.
When Roy had lifted the spare in position for tightening the lugs, he stood back for a moment and looked around him.
“This is a great place for a rattler,” he declared, wiping the sweat from his brow. “Pop said he saw a whole nest of ’em somewhere around here.”
“Thought you said Pop was full of crazy ideas?” Teddy retorted, thinking of the porcupine incident when he had told Roy about Pop’s believing the “shooting quill” theory.