"Overhaul Sercomb! Pass Sercomb!"
These were the first words Chub had spoken since the beginning of the race.
It was a startling feat he suggested, that of traveling clear around the circuit and overtaking Sercomb—an impossible feat, Matt thought, but the impossible is not always a thing to be scoffed at so much as to be striven for.
But troubles were in store for Matt. They began close to Le Loup when Matt found that his governor was not working. Every time he took the clutch out the engine raced, making everything terribly hot, and also making it necessary before changing speed to choke down the motor by the ignition.
A halt was necessary, and Chub let off a groan as Matt slowed down and they got busy repairing the machine. Two cars swept past, while they were tinkering. Both were Stark-Frisbie cars, one, of course, driven by Mings, and the other by Sercomb.
"Instead of our overtaking Sercomb, Chub," said Matt grimly, "it's the other way around. He's overcome the lead we had of him and has passed us."
"If the governor works now, pard," replied Chub, leaping into the car, "we'll make up for lost time. Push ahead!"
The governor worked as usual, and Matt began reaching out to regain what he had lost. He flew past Sercomb, and had another struggle with Mings on the track.
Those in the grand stand knew that some accident must have happened, or Matt would never have lost the lead he had gained in the previous round.
Trueman was beginning to feel disheartened. The No. 13 was beginning to "act up," and there was no telling what would happen, or where the disasters would stop.