ckoned Chief Sutton he must be alookin' everywhere
for me. I'll go home, and thank you, fellers; you jest better b'lieve I
will!"

That settled one thing; Fred knew he could not expect to finish that run.
Indeed, the roads were not in the best of condition after the storm for
anything like comfort, and perhaps it might be just as well for them all
to give up trying to foot it along the rest of the course.

Having hastily considered this matter, he broached the subject to the
others.

"Let's look at the thing, boys," he began, as they gathered around him,
knowing that a plan of campaign was being considered. "What we wanted
most of all was to get familiar with this cut-off up here."

"No trouble about the rest of the route," ventured Colon, "because it's
going to be along the open roads, and every fellow can get it down pat
from studying the map they've posted. But this cut-off is left blank."

"Meaning that you can go all the way around, making three miles, or else
take your chance in cutting across country," Bristles added.

"Well, my plan is something like this," continued Fred. "Let's pick out
the first good afternoon next week, get a car from somewhere, if we can
borrow one, and run up here. Then we can cross over to the toll-gate,
and back again. That ought to fix things so we'll never miss the way
when the big date comes along."

"Hear! hear!" cried Bristles.

"We like your plan, Fred," replied Sid, "and for one I'm ready to call
this run off. The weather is against us, and we'd have a high old time
splattering through the mud for about thirteen miles."

"Besides," added Colon, "we think we ought to be along when you take Tom
Flanders home to his folks. I happen to know how bad they've felt about
his being gone!"

That seemed to settle the matter in so far as continuing the trial spin
went. Fred was not sorry, because he felt that he would enjoy having his
cheery chums along with him.

"Then the next question is, how we're going to get home?" and he turned
to the injured boy, to say; "You haven't told us just how you came to
break your leg, Tom, and why you didn't manage to crawl to the house so
as to get help?"

"I knowed the old man an' his wife they was all away to-day, that's why,"
was the reply Tom made; "an' as for my accident, it happened so quick I
couldn't hardly tell about it. Reckon I ketched my foot in some loose
board up in that leetle loft, where I was adoin' somethin'. Fust