The boys knew that they would have to take the wrecked car to the Darringford shops to have it rebuilt and put in running order; but first they wished to assemble the parts as well as they could in their own workshop. Upside down as the car lay, Dan and Billy could see several bad breaks in the mechanism. The boys were not altogether sure that they would be able to put the wrecked car into good condition with the five hundred dollars that remained of their savings-bank hoard. But they said nothing to each other regarding these doubts.
CHAPTER XV
SECRET SERVICE
Mr. Speedwell possessed some little ingenuity in mechanics himself, and perhaps Dan had inherited his taste for the same study. The boys knew they had a hard task before them when, on getting the wrecked car out of the farm wagon, they turned it over and ran it in upon the shop floor. Their father’s opinion was anxiously awaited by the brothers.
He was not a man who grew enthusiastic without cause, and was slow in forming his judgment. It was not until he had been able to thoroughly go over the wrecked car that he told Dan and Billy what he thought of their bargain.
“If we had the tools here, we three could put that car in as good condition as she was when she came from the shop,” he finally said, wiping his hands on a bit of waste. “As she stands she is worth three times what you gave for her, I am sure. And after we have made all the repairs we can make, the expense of putting her in first-class shape and repainting her—if you are content with a plain warship drab color—ought not to be above seventy-five dollars.”
“Bully!” shouted Billy, flinging his cap into the air.
“And can you help us at once, Dad?” asked Dan, eagerly. “We want to enter for that thousand mile endurance test if we can. It will come in Thanksgiving week, and we sha’n’t have to miss school.”
“I will go to work on it this very day,” returned Mr. Speedwell, smiling at their enthusiasm.
But he pointed out again that there would be many things besides the repainting of the car that they could not do. And so, after school the next afternoon, Dan and Billy went over to the Darringford shops to see what kind of an arrangement they could make for the repair of the drab car.