Sinclair Lewis

“ He also scratched his head, felt of the fuses under the cowl, scratched his cheek, poked a finger at the carburetor, rubbed his ear, said, "Well, uh-" look to see if there was water and gas, sighed, "Can't just seem to find out what's the trouble," shot at his own car, and escaped.
⁠Claire had been highly grateful and laudatory to both of them - but she remained here, ten miles from nowhere. It was a beautiful place. Down a hill the wheat swam toward a village whose elevator was a glistening tower. ”

“ I won't have young men serving me - graft on them - get amusement out of their struggles. Besides - suppose he became just a little more friendly, each time he came up, all the way from here to Seattle? . . . Fresh. . . . No, it won't do."
⁠She ran the car to the side of the road. ”

“ There was no discernible reason why the car should not go. She started the engine. It ran for half a minute and quit. All the plugs showed sparks. No wires were detached in the distributor. There was plenty of water, and the oil was not clogged. And that ended Claire's knowledge of the inside of a motor. ”

“ His foot was shaking on the clutch pedal.
⁠The dust behind his car concealed him. For twenty miles she was silent, save when she burst out to her father, "I do hope you're enjoying the trip. It's so easy to make people unhappy. ”

“ I've looked at it three times, so far," she said, just a little too smoothly.
⁠On the hill five miles eastward, a line of dust, then a small car. As it approached, the driver must have sighter her and increased speed. He came up at thirty-five miles an hour.
⁠"Now we'll get something done! Look! It's a bug - a flivver or a Teal or something. I believe it's the young man that got us out of the mud." ”