AN ENGINEERING PROBLEM
After their exciting ride down hill--a ride that might have ended
disastrously but for Dick's good judgment and prompt action--the three
chums were content to sit still in the stalled auto for a few moments.
They were about in the middle of a small stream, that flowed under the
partly wrecked bridge, and the water came up nearly to the tops of the
big-tired wheels.
This did not represent its real depth, however, as the weight of the car
had caused it to sink down in the soft mud, which served to hold it
fast. Paul, Dick and Innis looked about them.
"Well, this is the limit!" grumbled the young millionaire.
"It sure is," assented Paul.
"What'd you want to come down hill so fast for?" asked the man with the
red flag.
"We didn't mean to," said Dick. "One of the brakes went out of
commission, and I couldn't hold the car with the other two, though
they're supposed to be able to. Must be something wrong with 'em. I'm
going to have 'em looked at when we get out of here."
"If we ever do," suggested Innis. "We sure are stuck fast."
"That's awful sticky mud," volunteered the flagman. "Didn't Bill Hockey,
at the top of the hill, warn you about this bridge?"
"Yes, but it was too late, then, to stop," answered Dick.
"Well, I'm here to let only light loads over the bridge," the man went
on. "It'll hold a horse and carriage, but not much else. Your auto would
sure have gone through it."
"Then I'm glad we didn't chance it," remarked Paul.
"The county is getting bids on having a new bridge built, but when it'll
be done nobody seems to know," said the man.
"I don't s'pose you mind, as long as you have a job here flagging,"
suggested Innis, with a smile.
"Well, 'tain't so much fun in wet weather. I'm thinkin' of havin' a
shelter made. But you sure are stuck fast. You'd better go over and see
if you can hire some horses. There's a farm just around the turn of the
road. Porter Hanson owns it, and he's got a couple of teams."
"I guess it will take more than two teams to get us out," said Dick.
"I'd rather trust to a block and fall. Could I get one around here, do
you imagine?"
"You might. Some of the farmers has 'em."
"It's going to be quite a problem even at that," said Paul, looking
across to the other shore with a critical eye. "We can't get a very good
hold for the block."
"Then we'll have to make one," decided Dick. "Fellows, we'll pretend
this is one of the engineering problems we used to get at Kentfield, and
we'll see how we can work it out.
"We've got a weight here to move of approximately four thousand pounds,
and the distance, up to the road, is about twenty-five feet. Innis, how
much moving force do we require?"
"Not prepared!" answered the cadet, giving one of the stock answers of
the class room, and his chums laughed.
"Where are you fellows from?" asked the man with the flag.
"New York," answered Dick, which was true enough, and he did not want to
go into details about himself and his chums. "We're students on our
vacation."
"Well, it looks as though you were goin' to get your feet wet," remarked
the bridge guardian with a chuckle. "If you want to wait I'll go down
the creek a ways, and borrow a boat. But you'll have to warn any teams,
heavier than a single carriage, not to go over the bridge."
"All right--we will," agreed Dick. "And we'll pay you for your trouble.
We'll probably need a boat anyhow when we start to haul the car up on
dry land again."
"Well, shall we go ashore?" asked Paul, as their new friend started off
down the bank of the stream.
"And get our feet wet doing it," added Innis. "I'm going to wade
barefoot, anyhow," and he prepared to take off his shoes.
"Let's sit here and eat first," suggested Dick. "It's about dinner time,
and we've got some hard work ahead of us. I do hope we can get a block
and fall."
Dick's plan met with instant favor, and then, in the big car the three
marooned travelers began to prepare a meal on the electric stove.
They were busily engaged at this when their new friend came rowing up
the stream. He saw the boys sitting comfortably about the table which
had been let down from the roof of the car, and his eyes grew big with
astonishment.
"Wa'al, I swan t' goodness!" he gasped. "There ain't nothin' slow about
you boys; be there?"
"Not so as you could notice it," assented Dick, with a laugh. "Will you
have a fried egg sandwich?"
"What? Be you cookin' in there?" cried the man in astonishment.
"Sure!" laughed Paul. "Wait, I'll put an egg on for you in a jiffy!" and
he broke one in the aluminum frying pan, while the man was tying the
boat to the stranded auto.
"Wa'al, I swan t' goodness!" exclaimed the man, who had said his name
was Peter Kinsey.
"This beats th' Dutch! Why, you've got a regular sleepin' an' dinin'
car here; ain't you?"
"Somewhat," admitted Dick, while Paul passed out the egg sandwich on a
wooden plate.
"Gosh all sizers!" exclaimed Mr. Kinsey, as he bit into it. "It's hot,
all right! But it's mighty good jest th' same!" he added quickly.
He ate it with such evident relish that Paul at once fried him another.
Then, as the three chums had eaten enough, they put away their cooking
apparatus, tossed the wooden plates into the stream, and prepared to get
their auto out of the mud.
"The first thing to do," decided Dick, when they had gone ashore in the
boat Mr. Kinsey had borrowed for them, "is to see if we can get that
tackle. There's no use bothering with horses until we have something
rigged up so we can use their strength to the best advantage. Where
would we be likely to get a rope and pulleys?" he asked the flagman.
"Wa'al, Josiah McIntyre might have some," was the answer. "He moved his
barn last week, and I don't believe they took the rigging away."
"Where does he live?"
"Down the road a piece. Second house on the right. It's painted red and
sets back a ways from the road. You can tell him what you want, and say
I sent you."
"All right," agreed Dick. "Paul, I'll delegate you to get the rope and
pulleys. Push 'em here in a wheelbarrow, and see if we can hire a team
when we need it."
"All right, my hearty!"
"Innis, you and I'll look about for a place where we can hitch the
pulley. We may have to set a post. I suppose we could borrow a shovel?"
he asked Mr. Kinsey.
"Yes, I've got one here myself. I was digging worms for fish bait. Had
to do something settin' here all day. What do you want a shovel for?"
"To dig a hole to set a post in."
"I see. Well, I'll get the shovel, and I reckon you can take one of the
busted beams from this bridge. There's a lot of 'em over on the other
side."
With the post and shovel provided, Dick and his chums began to see a way
out of their difficulty. Paul started down the road after the tackle,
and Dick decided to wait and see how long the rope was before setting
the post that was to support the pull of the falls against the weight of
the auto.
Meanwhile he and Innis awaited the return of their chum, who had gone
down the road whistling. The fine big car remained in the middle of the
stream, the water swirling between the spokes of the wheels.
"It'll do it good to soak up a bit," said Dick, "It's been so dry lately
that the wood was shrinking."
"Yes, it has been terrible dry," agreed Mr. Kinsey. "The farmers have
begun prayin' for rain. An' it looks as if we'd get some soon."
Several boys, who had, in some mysterious way, heard of the accident,
came running down the road to stand along the bank of the creek and
stare at the odd sight. Dick's big car was something new and strange to
them, and they made the most of the exhibition.
"Here comes Paul!" exclaimed Innis, as he saw a figure make the turn of
the road. "And he's got some one to push the wheelbarrow for him," he
added, as he saw a man walking beside the youth.
"Oh, you can trust Paul to get out of the hardest part of the work,"
laughed Dick. "Never mind, we'll need a man's help anyhow, and I was
going to suggest that he hire some one."
"He's evidently done it," remarked Innis.
"Looks as though he had plenty of tackle," commented Mr. Kinsey. "I
guess it's what Josiah used for his barn, all right."
"What luck?" called Dick, as his chum came within hearing distance.
"Good!" was the answer. "I've got a long tackle, and we can get two
teams if we need 'em. I hired a man to help us rig it up, too."
"Fine!" exclaimed the young millionaire. "Now, Innis, we'll get busy on
a practical engineering problem instead of figuring it out on paper."