"So do I. And it was nice of you to say it."

"But I don't see anything wrong in sayin' what's so," he argued. "I seen
you kind of raise your eyebrows, and I thought mebby I was bein' took as
a joke."

"Oh, no, indeed!"

Lorry disappeared again. As he worked he wondered just how long it would
be before Buck Hardy would look for him. Lorry knew that some one must
have taken food and water to the prisoner by this time, or to where the
prisoner was supposed to be. But he did not know that Hardy and his
deputy had questioned Anita, and that she had told the sheriff the folks
had all gone on a picnic to the hills. The car, at the back of the
hotel, was not visible from the street.

With some pieces of timber Lorry jacked up the front of the machine and
removed the damaged wheel and axle.

He took the bent axle to the blacksmith, and returned to the hotel.
Nothing further offered just then, so he suggested that he clean the
car. Mrs. Weston consented, deciding that she would not pay him until
her daughter returned.

He attached the hose to a faucet, and suggested that Mrs. Weston take a
chair, which he brought from the veranda. He hosed the car, and as he
polished it, Mrs. Weston asked him about Waring.

"Why, he's a friend of ours," replied Lorry.