But Willard wasn’t taking anyone’s word for that and so made slow progress. It wasn’t until he had been through at least a dozen road lessons that he got on what Tom called speaking terms with The Ark. But although his progress was slow it was also certain, and by the end of that summer Willard had become in some respects a better automobile driver than his partner. Tom’s style was a little bit slap-dash, a little bit breath-taking, in fact. Changing gears was a noisy operation with Tom and he had a way of swinging around corners without releasing his clutch or using his brake that was more spectacular than scientific. Willard, on the other hand, could go from low to second and through to high without the occupant of the back seat suspecting it, could keep the speed even without apparent effort and was a much saner chap at the corners. He never, however, quite got over his awe of the car and the engine remained to him a wonderful mystery to the end. If you wanted to take a nice, quiet ride, without any shock to your nerves, you would do well to engage Willard for chauffeur, but if you wanted to make, say, the 9:01 express and had only five minutes to do it in, you had best put your faith in Tom. In those days a speed limit for automobiles had not yet been thought of in Audelsville, which was a lucky thing for Thomas Benton! Down at the station the relations between Pat Herron and his assistant, Johnny Green, and the members of the Benton and Morris Transportation Company remained strained. There were, however, no overt acts on the part of the Connors’ interests during the first part of the week, and Willard, who had predicted that Connors would either try to have their platform privilege revoked or attempt to frighten them off in some way, was surprised. Pat Herron, aside from an occasional sneer, was strangely silent. Of course the competition for trade was as brisk as ever, and alighting passengers were literally fought over on the platform. As, however, Johnny Green had to remain and look after the horses, it left only Pat Herron to solicit passengers, and, as there was only one of Pat, the advantage lay with Tom and Willard. By the middle of that week The Ark was getting its full share of the business and Johnny Green usually departed with an empty surrey.