Then something went wrong. The motor began to miss fire, the speed slackened, and the motor died with a gasping splutter.
"Oh, hang the luck!" growled Black, getting down.
While Matt kept hands off, Black tried out the primary circuit, then the secondary, then the buzzer. After that he cranked and cranked, but nothing happened except a distressing cough when the engine tried to start.
"Wouldn't that knock you slabsided?" growled Black. "I guess I'll have to take the carburetor to pieces, run pins through the spray nozzle and sandpaper the float guides. If that don't work, I'll go under the car and take off the fuel pipe, and——"
"It's a gravity feed, isn't it?" asked Matt.
"Yes."
"Well, don't lose any time on the carburetor, just yet."
Matt got at the gasoline tank. What he did Black couldn't see, but he wasn't more than a minute doing it.
"Now turn over your engine," said Matt, as he climbed back into his seat.
Black gave the crank a pull, and the pleasant chug in the explosion chamber came to his ears.