5:45 before
The sun was blistering hot and I worked like a Trojan , but again was it my fate to disappoint her . The working parts were clogged with sand and mud , and I had underestimated the magnitude of my task . I know now that our best course would have been to abandon the machine and to walk to Pine Top , but perhaps what happened was just as well . It was 5:45 before the machine gave its first sure signs of returning consciousness . Miss Harding gave a glad cry and a quarter of an hour later when the red monster stood coughing in the muddy roadway those dry shoes were where they belonged . With light hearts we waved farewell to the kindly old culvert and set our pace toward Woodvale . It was our plan to take the first crossroad leading from the path of the tornado , and if possible make our way to Oak Cliff .