the weather conditions being delightful. On inquiry they found that by taking an infrequently used highway, they could save several miles. It was over an unoccupied part of country, rather wild and desolate, but they did not mind that.
They were whizzing along, talking of Tom's chances for winning the race when, after climbing a slight grade, the auto came to a sudden stop on the summit.
"What's the matter?" asked Mr. Sharp. "Why are you stopping here, Tom?"
"I didn't stop," was the surprising answer, and the lad shoved the starting lever back and forth.
But there was no response. There was no hum from the motor. The machine was "dead."
"That's queer," murmured the young inventor.
"Maybe a fuse blew out," suggested Mr. Damon, that seeming to be his favorite form of trouble.
"If it had you'd have known it," remarked Mr. Sharp.
"There's plenty of current in the battery, according to the registering gauge," murmured the lad. "I can't understand it." He reversed the current, thinking the wires might have be-
