“So we’d have to walk back,” concluded Marjorie. “Well, girls, we’ll see to it that we don’t lose this car. Now—to go back to my first suggestion, what do you say to a little ride after supper?”
To her joy she found all the others heartily in favor of the proposition; so after a good substantial meal, they set off again in the early twilight.
“How long shall we drive?” asked Alice, who was taking her turn at the wheel.
“Till about nine o’clock I should suggest,” said Mrs. Remington. “The first good-looking hotel after that—”
“With a garage!” put in Lily.
“Yes, with a garage. At least if we find that we can secure rooms. And if we can’t, we’ll drive on.”
“Just as long as we don’t have to drive all night,” remarked Marjorie. “Like that night we met the woman and the sick child.”
“The child that wasn’t sick, you mean,” corrected Alice.
The girls drove along merrily; indeed, it seemed almost as if the theft of the smaller car had not been a misfortune, so enjoyable it was never to be separated. They watched the sun set beneath the horizon; then, in a few minutes, the cars which they passed began to show lights, and they realized that evening was coming on. A little after dark they came to a broken piece of the road where a detour was necessary. Alice stopped short in time to let the girls make a decision.
“Shall we go on?” she asked.