"We've got to dig out!" he told Ned.
There was no help for it. Once more they donned boots and raincoats and, hanging a portable electric light over the bogged side, they saw where the right front wheel had sunk into a deep hole. It took the two the best part of an hour to dig a slope in front and fill it with small stones to make a firm surface so the machine could climb out. This the auto did after several false starts, and once more they were on their way.
The road shortly broadened and the trees were cut back from the highway into a small clearing. This opening enabled the two to see better, and in the gleam of the powerful lamps Ned noticed, just ahead, on the right, a big house, from which, however, no lights showed. As the car approached, it could be seen that the place was an old, deserted mansion that had once been the stately home of some wealthy person, for there were extensive grounds.
"Look!" exclaimed Ned.
"I see it," answered Tom. "Nobody home from the looks of it, but we can pull up there and stop for the night. What say?"
"Suits me!"
Accordingly, Tom guided the big car into what seemed to have once been a drive and he and Ned both experienced a feeling of relief. But if they had known to what adventures the deserted house was a preface they might well have hesitated.
"What do you make it out to be?" joked Ned, as the House on Wheels was brought to a stop at one side of the old mansion. "Is it a hang-out of bootleggers or road agents?"
"Take your choice," Tom answered, in equally light vein. "Luckily, we don't have to depend on them for supper. We roll our own."
"And I'm going to roll mine right soon!" added Ned. "Boy, I'm hungry and I don't mean perhaps!"