第45章

THE POWER GONE

"Bless my overshoes!" cried Mr.Damon."Stuck in the mud, eh?" "Hard and fast," added Tom, in disgust.

"What's to be done?" inquired Mr.Sharp.

"I should say we'll have to stay here until daylight, and wait for some other auto to come along and pull us out," was Mr.Damon's opinion."It's might unpleasant, too, for there doesn't seem to be any place around here where we can spend the night in any kind of comfort.If we had the submarine or the airship, now, it wouldn't so much matter.""No, and this won't matter a great deal," remarked the young inventor quickly."We'll soon be out of this, but it will be hard work.""What do you mean?" asked Mr.Sharp.

"I mean that we've got to pull ourselves out of this mud hole," explained the lad, as he prepared to descend."I was afraid something like this would happen, so I came prepared for it.I've got ropes and pulleys with me, in the car.We'll fasten the rope to the machine, attach one pulley to the bridge, another to the car, and I guess we can get out of the mud.We'll try, anyhow.""Well, I must say you looked pretty far ahead," complimented Mr.Damon.

From a box under the tonneau Tom took out a thin but strong rope and two compound pulleys, which would enable considerable force to be applied.Mr.Sharp detached one of the powerful oil lamps, and the three travelers took a look at the auto.It was indeed deep in the mud and it seemed like a hopeless task to try to get it out unaided.But Tom insisted that they could do it, and the rope was soon attached, the hook of one pulley being slipped around one of the braces of the bridge.

"Now, all together!" cried the lad, as he and his friends grasped the long rope.They gave a great heave.At first it seemed like pulling on a stone wall.The rope strained and the pulleys creaked.

"I--guess--we--will--pull--the--bridge--over!" gasped Mr.Sharp.

"Something's got to give way!" puffed Tom."Now, once more! All together!"Suddenly they felt the rope moving.The pulleys creaked still more and, by the light of the lamp, they could see that the auto was slowly being pulled backward, out of the mud, and onto the hard road.In a few minutes it was ready to proceed again.

The rope and pulleys were put away, and, after Tom had made an examination of the car to see that it had sustained no damage, they were off again, making good time to the hotel in Burgfield, where they spent the night.They had an early breakfast, and, as Tom went out to the barn to look at his car, he saw it surrounded by a curious throng of men and boys.One of the boys was turning some of the handles and levers.

"Here! Quit that!" yelled Tom, and the meddlesome lad leaped down in fright."Do you want to start the car and have it smash into something?" demanded the young inventor.

"Aw, nothin' happened," retorted the lad."I pulled every handle on it, an' it didn't move.'~"Good reason," murmured Tom, for he had taken the precaution to remove a connecting plug, without which the machine could not be started.