“Not very much, but then one doesn’t have to know very much to work in a place like that. I used to look wise and hammer a lot and then charge still more. I have made up my mind that if ever I have to work again I’m going to find a job in an automobile shop. The hardest thing you have to do is to make out your bills.”
“That may be so,” said John, smiling as he spoke, “though I hope it won’t prove to be the case this time. There are the boys in that car,” he added quickly, as he recognized his three friends approaching. The car was driven by a man in his shirt sleeves and the speed at which he was moving proclaimed the fact that either he was an expert driver or one of the most reckless of men.
A few minutes later the automobile was stopped in front of John, who now ran down into the road to greet the returning boys.
“Where’s the car, Jack?” inquired Grant quickly.
“I don’t know,” said John.
“You don’t know! Weren’t you here in charge of it?”
“I have been here all the time except about five minutes when I went up into the orchard yonder and got some apples. When I came back the car was gone. This man,” he added, pointing to the tramp as he spoke, “said he thought you had come from the garage and taken the car back with you.”
“Whew!” whistled Fred. “This is getting exciting. First you lose one car and then you lose another. I think we’ll have to go back to the old Meeker House and look for its ghost.”
“I don’t see anything funny in this,” said Grant in disgust. “Here we are at least four miles from the railroad. We know how hot and dusty the road is and we don’t want—”
“You fellows are a sympathetic crowd,” broke in George. “You’re thinking about your own comfort all the while and not a word about my losses. It’s bad enough to have one car stolen to say nothing of two.”