He did and she could!  They passed the school and the football field at a thirty-mile clip and, a little further out of town, hit it up still faster.  Clint and Amy bumped around in the tonneau like two dried peas in a pod.  The engine was by no means noiseless and from somewhere under their feet there came a protesting grind that nearly drowned their efforts at conversation.  Not that that mattered, though, for they were going too fast to talk, anyway.  At first they were a bit uneasy, but presently when they found that the car did not jump into a ditch or vault a fence, they got over their nervousness and thoroughly enjoyed the well-nigh breathless sensation.  The driver lolled back on his spine with a nonchalance that aroused Clint’s admiration and envy.  He wondered whether he would ever own a car and be able to go dashing through the scenery at forty miles an hour like this.  And he was still wondering when something happened.

It happened so quickly that it was all over before it had begun.  At least, so Amy declared afterwards.  The car, which fortunately had decreased its speed to negotiate an abrupt turn in the road, suddenly shot down a slope at the left, turned around once and stopped with a disconcerting abruptness, its radiator against a four-inch birch tree.  Clint and Amy picked themselves from the bottom of the tonneau and stared, more surprised than frightened.  Behind them, on the level road, a wheel—­present investigation showed that it was the forward left one—­was proceeding firmly, independently on its way!  As they looked, open-mouthed, it began to wobble, as though doubtful of the propriety of going off on its own hook like that, and finally, after turning around several times, like a dog making its bed, it subsided in the dust.

The driver of the car, still clutching the steering-wheel, turned a mildly surprised gaze on the boys.  “Now, what,” he asked slowly, “do you think of that?”

They both thought it decidedly strange, but they didn’t say so.  Clint laughed uncertainly and took a long breath and Amy viewed his surroundings interestedly.

“When,” asked Amy, “does the next car go, please?”

That flippant remark broke the tension and the driver climbed gingerly out and viewed the bare hub.  “It’s lucky,” he ruminated, “I had you fellows in back there.  If you hadn’t been there I guess she’d have turned turtle on me.  Well, say, I’ve known this old boiler to do a heap of tricks, but this is a new one on me, all right!” He stood off and sought inspiration by scratching his head.  The boys joined him on the ground.  “Just naturally slid off the hub and rolled away!” murmured the youth.  “What do you think of that?”

“I’d hate to tell you what I think of it,” responded Amy.  “Can you put it on again?”

“Yes, but it won’t stay, because the nut’s gone.”  He went off and rescued the wheel.  “I guess the nut and the hub-cap came off down the road somewhere.  Might look for ’em, but like as not they’re a mile or two back.”