text: > Look around
  Your Driveway -- Near the House (in the Pratt Dynamo)
  The long driveway stretches east, towards adventure.
  
  The instruments are arranged neatly on the dashboard in front of you.
  
  In the Pratt Dynamo you can see Aloysius, an index card, some goggles, your favourite peaked riding cap and a scarf.
  
  > wear the cap
  (first taking the peaked riding cap)
  
  Aloysius watches incredulously. "At a time like this, you're worried about fashion?"
  You don your favourite riding cap. The cry, "Huzzah!" escapes your lips.
  
  > Wear scarf
  (first taking the scarf)
  
  Aloysius rolls his eyes. "Never mind the threat of darkness looming over your household; paying back your debt to the forces of light can wait until you complete your stylish ensemble!"
  You throw the scarf around your manly neck, grinning your winningest grin.
  
  > Wear the goggles
  (first taking the goggles)
  
  "Mr. Sterling, whenever you're finished...?" says Aloysius, miming a driving motion, and gesturing east.
  
  You snap the goggles jauntily over your head. A little too jauntily, as it turns out. But a headache and blurred vision are a small price to pay for such dramatic flair.
  
  > look at the index card
  (first taking the index card)
  Taken.
  Neatly printed on the index card are the following instructions:
  
  "To use the patented Pratt Electrical Ignition System, 'push the ignition button'.
  "To use the parking brake, 'set brake' or 'release brake'.
  "To drive, simply 'drive [direction]'."
  
  > Wait
  Aloysius points east. "To the other end of the driveway we go!" he shouts....
  
  Your Driveway -- Near the Mailbox (in the Pratt Dynamo)
  Your tree-lined driveway leads west. Greenwood Lane runs north into town, and south into the country.
  
  The instruments are arranged neatly on the dashboard in front of you.
  
  In the Pratt Dynamo you can see Aloysius.
  
  Aloysius spots something. "There it is!" he shouts, pointing at a horse-drawn van, which approaches from the north.
  
  > open the mailbox
  You open the mailbox.
  
  Aloysius starts to get out of the automobile, but hesitates.
  
  The horse-drawn van is some distance away, but approaching.
  
  Aloysius turns to face you. "You do it, Mr. Sterling," he says, holding out an envelope.
  
  > examine the envelope
  You'd have to be holding it first.
  
  Aloysius, looking over his shoulder at the van, waves the envelope at you.
  
  > get the envelope then X it
  Taken.
  
  "Good," says Aloysius. "You know what to do!"
  
  Indeed! You feel your muscles tingling as you contemplate this, your opportunity to send a message -- one that will pay back your debt, dispel the shadows of night, and restore the forces of light.
  
  The horse-drawn van is drawing closer to your driveway.
  It's stamped, and addressed to the Delinquent Accounts Office, Edison Electric Power & Light Co.
  
  The van is almost at your driveway.
  
  > put the envelope in the mailbox
  You put the envelope in the mailbox.
  
  The horse-drawn van pulls up to your mailbox and stops.
  
  The driver peers into the mailbox, takes out the envelope and puts a postcard inside.
  
  "I really wish you were more conscientious about paying your bills on time, Mr. Sterling," says Aloysius. "But I guess it's not my place to say."
  
  > wait
  Time passes.
  
  The horse-drawn van pulls up to your mailbox and stops.
  
  > wait for a while
  Time passes.
  
  The driver peers into the mailbox and puts a postcard inside.
  
  > Wait
  Time passes.
  
  "Good day to you!" says the mail driver, waving cheerfully.
  
  > wait
  Time passes.
  
  The driver waves at you again, apparently hoping for a response.
  
  > wait
  Time passes.
  
  "You're not exactly friendly when you're not in front of a paying audience," sniffs the driver.
  
  > Wave
  You wave to the driver. He is exceedingly pleased by your friendly gesture.
  The driver pulls away, smiling happily.
  
  > look at the envelope
  It's stamped, and addressed to the Delinquent Accounts Office, Edison Electric Power & Light Co.
  
  The postal van disappears around a bend to the south.
  
  > give the envelope to the man
  (Aloysius)
  "No, you keep it," he says.
  
  "Good day to you!" says the mail driver, waving cheerfully.
  
  > give the envelope to the driver
  The driver takes the envelope. "Right you are," he says.
  
  The driver waves at you again, apparently hoping for a response.
  
  "I really wish you were more conscientious about paying your bills on time, Mr. Sterling," says Aloysius. "But I guess it's not my place to say."
  
  > Wave
  You wave to the driver. He is exceedingly pleased by your friendly gesture.
  
  > open the mailbox
  That's already open.
  
  The driver pulls away, smiling happily.
  
  Aloysius sighs thoughtfully. "Well, we survived another brush with the Dark Riders of the Postal Service," he says.
  
  > get the postcard
  Taken.
  
  The postal van disappears around a bend to the south.
  
  Aloysius hops out of the car.
  
  "You know, Mr. Sterling, something about those motors just didn't sound right. Shut them off a minute, please."
  
  > look at postcard
  The postcard the mailman dropped off in your box seems to be another ominous legal statement from the Edison Electric Power & Light Co.
  
  Whew! You can rest easy now. Your debt has been paid, and your household will no longer be threatened with darkness. *If* the cheque doesn't bounce, that is.
  
  "Mr. Sterling, cut the motors, would you?" says Aloysius.
  
  > Whistle
  You take a deep breath. You belt out a few random notes.
  
  Aloysius tinkers with the motors, whistling happily to himself.
  
  > look at the motors
  The motors are currently switched off.
  
  To the south, a horse-drawn buggy rounds a bend and comes into view.
  
  > examine the buggy
  It's just a little horse-drawn buggy, the kind a well-to-do farmer might take out on a Saturday afternoon, to shop with his wife, or *for* his wife, or for *a* wife, as the case may be.
  
  The buggy slows down as it approaches your driveway.
  
  "Broken down again, I see," smirks the driver.
  
  "There's nothing wrong with this machine, MacDougal," growls Aloysius.
  
  MacDougal pretends to steer a wheel. "Look at me, I'm an autoist! I am an affront to the laws of man and nature! I catch bugs in my teeth! Haw, haw!"
  
  > Honk horn
  Nothing happens, since the motors aren't on.
  
  Aloysius climbs wearily back into the Dynamo. "Just what I needed today," he mutters.
  
  MacDougal pretends to steer a wheel. "I sit in a noisy, expensive automobile! When it works, I run people off roads! I make little babies cry! My personal hygiene is appalling! Haw, haw!"
  
  > Honk
  (the horn)
  The on-board calliope churns out an exhilarating percussion rendition of "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean."
  
  MacDougal's horse rears up again.
  
  Aloysius's expression changes from delight to shock, as one of the buggy's wheels slips into a drainage ditch, just east of the road. MacDougal -- cursing a blue streak -- struggles to regain control of the horse, as the buggy totters on the edge.
  
  > go to the east
  ...
  The buggy drops out of sight, taking the wild-eyed MacDougal along with it.
  
  The horse breaks free, and bolts into the woods.
  
  MacDougal must have landed hard in the ditch -- nothing seems to be moving down there.
  
  > Down
  When still seated in an automobile, horizontal travel is generally best.
  
  Aloysius clucks his tongue, looking down into the ditch. "I hope he's not hurt down there... not too much, anyway."
  
  > Exit
  You slip out from behind the wheel. The Dynamo starts to roll...
  
  Aloysius lunges for the instruments. "Parking brake!" he shouts. "Set the parking brake!"
  
  Aloysius stops the Dynamo from rolling away.