“I do, sir. Whatever is worth doing is worth doing well.”
“That’s a belief that will get you a long way in life, my boy,” said the big man. Ned hardly heard him, for the motor was once more roaring and pulsing. He tuned it up, listening to its explosions as a skilled musician might hearken critically to a piece of music.
As he listened, he tightened up a connection here or loosened a valve there till the big six-cylindered motor was humming with the even pulsations of a sleeping baby.
“You can shut her off,” said he, addressing the chauffeur, and then turning to the big man he added, “I think you’ll find no more trouble, sir.”
“What! You have adjusted it, my boy?”
“As well as I can, sir, and, without bragging, I guess you’ll find everything all right now.”
“How long will it remain so?” asked the sceptical Smithers.
“For several weeks, at any rate.”
“You may take the wheel again, Elmer, and hustle us along. Young man, that you’re a mechanic of no mean ability I could see by the way you went to work. What is your name?”