You may be certain that Tom’s mother meanwhile viewed the progress of events with deep misgiving. Every day, as she said, she expected to hear that Tom had either killed himself outright or been maimed for life. Mrs. Benton was deeply suspicious of automobiles and nothing could induce her for a very long time to approach The Ark nearer than ten feet. At that distance she seemed to think that it could not reach out, seize her and trample her underfoot! Even Tom’s father, who was deeply interested in the car and the project, and who was frequently on hand in the evenings, had his doubts. In those days there were by actual count only nine automobiles in Audelsville, three of them being light trucks belonging to the express company, and the others large and expensive cars belonging to wealthy residents of The Hill. Consequently Mr. Benton viewed the contrivances with more or less doubt and suspicion. One evening, however, Tom and Willard combined their eloquence and persuaded Mr. and Mrs. Benton to take a ride. Of course Jimmy did the driving and, at the boys’ request, went at a snail’s pace until they were well out of town. Mrs. Benton sat stiff and fearful at first, but gradually her expression of nervous apprehension wore off and she relaxed against the cushions――the car was one with a high back to the tonneau after the obsolete but comfortable style of those of some half-dozen years ago――and really began to enjoy the smooth ride through the summer twilight. Mr. Benton’s uneasiness survived even a shorter time, and when Tom took Jimmy’s place at the wheel he only said: “That’s right, son; let’s see what you can do with it.” Tom soon convinced him that, if he was not as skillful a chauffeur as Jimmy Brennan, he was quite capable of handling the car, and Mr. Benton was highly pleased. They went all the way to Graywich, or, at least, to within sight of the town, and then sped back again with the searchlights flooding the darkening road with a broad radiance. “How did you like it, mother?” asked Tom as he helped her out at the house. Mrs. Benton smiled. “Very much, Tom,” she answered. “It made me feel so much easier to know that if anything happened we’d all get killed together!” Another evening Willard’s parents and sister had their first ride in the car. This time things did not run so smoothly, for a rear tire which had been on the verge of collapse ever since they had bought the car decided to give up. That necessitated a change by the side of the road, under the light of one of the kerosene lamps, and the interesting discovery was made that the jack had been left in the stable. Tom explained shamefacedly that he had jacked up one of the wheels that morning to study the working of the brake and had left the jack on the floor. “Then how are we going to raise that axle?” demanded Jimmy. Tom couldn’t tell him, nor could Willard. Mr. Morris was on the point of offering a solution of the problem when Jimmy winked at him and he subsided.