"No. They went on ahead," answered Sam, shortly; and his manner of speech showed that he was thoroughly out of sorts.
Having placed the touring cars in the care of the garage keeper, the Rovers joined the others on the piazza of the hotel. Then Dora slipped upstairs to see if her mother and Mrs. Laning were all right. She found both of them sleeping soundly, and did not disturb them.
Sam could not content himself with sitting down, and so lounged around in one place and another, and finally said he would go inside and write a letter to the folks at home. He was still writing when Tom came in to join him.
"Sam, did Chester Waltham say anything about where he was going to take Grace?" asked Tom, as he sat down beside his brother.
"No, he didn't say a word to me," was the short reply, and Sam went on writing.
"Did Grace say anything?"
"No."
Tom said nothing for a moment, drumming his fingers on the writing table. At last he heaved something of a sigh.
"Seems to me if they were going on a long ride they might have said something to us about it," he observed. "Nellie is rather worried."
"Oh, I guess they've got a right to take a ride if they want to," came rather crossly from Sam. He finished his letter with a flourish, folded it, and rammed it into an envelope which he quickly addressed.