“That may be the way it is,” said John, relieved by the suggestion. A moment later, however, the thought occurred to him that in the event of the return of the boys with a man from the garage, in all probability some of them would have remained and not all have gone back with him. In that case his companions must be near, but as he looked up and down the road he did not discover any trace of his friends.
“They will be back here by and by,” said the tramp encouragingly. “It won’t take very long to straighten that rim and put on a new shoe. The best thing for you to do is to stay right here until they come.”
“I don’t see much else to do,” said John, still far from being persuaded that an explanation of the missing car was to be found in the suggestion made by his strange companion. “I guess I’ll just have to wait.”
“If you do, then you might as well wait comfortably.” As he spoke the tramp again sought the shaded place on the bank above the road, and seated on the ground, with his back against a tree, he at once began to feast upon the apples he had brought from the orchard.
Following his example John speedily climbed the little knoll and quickly seated himself in a similar manner against a nearby tree.
“We can see up and down the road here,” said the tramp, “and if your friends come you’ll know it long before they are here.”
For some reason John lost his desire to talk to the strange man. He was continually looking up the road in the direction in which the boys had disappeared when they had departed in the friendly car. A half-hour passed and only two automobiles were seen on the dusty road. The heat seemed to increase as the noon-hour approached. There was no habitation within sight at which a luncheon might be obtained and John now began to feel hungry as well as anxious.
He was by no means satisfied that George’s car had been taken to the garage by the boys. Indeed, his fear that the second car had been stolen was steadily increasing and he was blaming himself, as not unnaturally he believed George would blame him if the car had indeed been taken.
When an hour had passed a car was seen approaching which the tramp quickly declared belonged to a garage in a neighboring village. “I know that car,” he said confidently, “for I have worked in that shop.”
“Do you know anything about automobiles?” demanded John quickly.