But it was at least progress, and once more he started.
The engine clanked less now, the air seemed a bit warmer with the down grade, and Barry, in spite of his fatigue, in spite of the disappointment of a disabled car, felt at least the joy of having conquered the thing which had sought to hold him back, the happiness of having fought against obstacles, of having beaten them, and of knowing that he now was on the down trail.

The grade lessened for a few hundred feet, and the machine slowed.

Houston pressed on the clutch pedal, allowing the car to coast slowly until the hill became steeper again.

Then he sought once more to shift into gear,--and stopped short! Those few moments of coasting had been enough.

Overheated, distended, the bearings had cooled too suddenly about the crank shaft and frozen there with a tightness that neither the grinding pull of the starter nor the heavy tug of the down grade could loosen.