"Say," he gasped to that Scout, as they turned to follow the young man to a point where the road dipped into a broad gulley, "how did you figure it all out, anyhow? What did you see that made you know about the mired car?"
"Nothing," smiled Bonfire good-naturedly. "I didn't see a thing except the goggles; they connected the man with a car. But I did use my ears. Halfway down the hill, when everybody was pretty glum and not saying much, I heard a motor racing, then the clutch thrown in, then a sort of churning, with the motor slowing till it almost stalled. Once or twice it did. So I knew a car was stuck. It was off the road a ways, of course, because this is a state highway, with a rock bottom. And the only place a car would mire is in some low hollow, where the sun never has a chance to shine through the trees and dry the mud. That's all."
"But you said the car had chains on."
"Oh, yes, the chains. I did use my eyes there. It was the mud on the man's shirt sleeves, where he reached around the tires putting them on, that told me he had tried chains. Anything else you want to know?"
"What color are his grandmother's eyes?" Specs demanded fiercely. "Tell me that, you bunk detective. What's his sister's middle name? What make of car is it?"
"Saybrook touring," answered Bonfire, picking up the last question. When Specs, completely dazed by this new flash of information, looked up with awestruck eyes, the other Scout pointed a gleeful finger at the car beside the road. "All you have to do, my boy, is to keep your eyes and ears open. Come on; Bunny's calling."
Getting the car out of the mud was neither a long nor a difficult job. All it required was a little knowledge and common sense. The wheels had evidently sunk a few inches at the outset, and their useless whirling had furrowed a nasty rut, made deeper by the use of chains. But when the boys had helped jack up the rear end and filled the holes with branches, against which the chains could bite, and had made a path of the same material to the solid road, the car pulled itself clear without any trouble at all.
"Well," said the young man, wiping his forehead, "I might have done all that by myself. Just the same, I'm much obliged." He drew a purse from his pocket. "How much do I owe you?"
The "busted" patrol gasped. It was as if they feared their leader might falter before this temptation. But Bunny waved back the bill the young man was offering.