Presently he went into his shop and brought out several pairs of tongs.

With these the men lifted the tire out of the fire, but the blacksmith said it was a little too hot, and he must let it cool a minute or two.
"Why, if it's very hot," said Marco, "it will grip the wheel all the harder." "It will grip it _too_ hard," said Forester.

"Sometimes a tire shrinks so much as to spring the spokes out of shape.

Didn't you ever see a wheel with the spokes bent out of shape ?" "I don't know," said Marco.

"I never noticed wheels much." "They do get bent, sometimes," said Forester.