"No, but I have a plan. We can run the car down to the foot of the slope. It's more sheltered there—bigger trees, you know—and we'll be that much nearer where we want to go."
"But how can you make the car go—when it won't?" asked Mollie.
"The self-starter! It's guaranteed to run the car under electric power for nearly a mile, without the motor being operated. All we'll have to do will be to set the starter going—that turns the fly wheel, you know. Then we can put in low gear, slip in the clutch, just as if the motor was in operation, and get the car to the top of the hill. We're really at the top now, for it's level here. But we can get it to the edge of the downward slope, and let it coast. Then, on the next level, we can do the same thing again. In that way I am almost sure we can make over a mile."
"Good!" cried Mollie. "You should have a car instead of me, Bet, my dear!"
"Oh, I don't take any credit for that think! I just recalled an advertisement I had read about self-starters. Nearly all of them say the starters alone will propel the car for some distance. Let's try it, anyhow."
They all felt better on hearing this, and Amy even laughed. She started to get into the car, when Betty said:
"Perhaps it will be just as well to wait about getting in until the car is at the beginning of the slope. The less weight in the auto the easier it will move. Mollie, do you want to try the scheme?"
"No, you do it—you thought of it. We'll walk along with you if you get it to go."
Betty soon demonstrated that she could get the auto to move, and slowly but surely it rolled along until it had started down a long, gentle slope. Then Betty shut off the electric motor, which was run by a storage battery, and applied the brakes.
"Get in now," she directed, and a little later the party was coasting down hill, the foot brake serving to prevent too great speed.