"Oh, that's hard enough," declared Bess, trying to push her pretty fingers into the rubber.
"Yes," answered Cora, pressing on the tire, which sank with the pressure, "it's about as hard as rice pudding!"
"How many pounds?" insisted Bess.
Cora looked at the gauge. "Sixty. I have got to have a full ninety for this car."
"Then I don't see how we are going to get it!"
Cora did not heed the discouragement. She was pumping now, and the shoe was becoming rigid. "If I get it a little harder I'll call it done!" she panted, "though we may ditch the car next time."
CHAPTER XIII
A DELAY AND A SCARE
It was an hour later when the boys came back. They had discovered the loss of the girls when they had gone so far ahead that it took some time to return. The race was too much for them. They were obliged to admit that, in its interest, they had forgotten the girls.
"If Miss Robbins had been along, I fancy Walter would not have become so engrossed in the race," said Belle maliciously.