“Hurry up, Ruth! Get into your place!” cried Mary. “We ought to be off and see what sort of a surprise Gif and Spouter have for us.”
“Oh, I was thinking perhaps some one else would like to sit in front for a change,” declared Ruth.
“You’re welcome to sit here if you want to,” said Jack, but somehow the words did not sound very urgent. Jack still remembered that Ruth had not congratulated him on winning the race.
“Well, Jack, if you don’t want me——” murmured the girl in a low tone.
“What?” he stammered, and then, of a sudden, he caught her arm. “Get in, and hurry up. The first thing you know Gif and Spouter will be here and we’ll have no ride at all,” and the next moment Ruth was in her usual seat and Jack had run around the car and taken his place at the wheel. The other auto was already off, and the second auto speedily followed.
As Martha had said, it was a glorious day after the shower and soon all of the young people were in good spirits as the two automobiles rushed along over the smooth surface of the new highway. In a twinkling they had passed through Dexter’s Corners and beyond the railroad station and then began to climb the first of the long hills leading eastward.
“What do you suppose that surprise they have can be?” questioned Ruth, as they sped along.
“I’ve got my own idea,” answered Jack, in a little bit more friendly tone than he had used before. “But I don’t think I ought to tell you, Ruth.”
“Why not?” she pouted.
“It wouldn’t be fair to Gif and Spouter. But I’ll say this—I think it will interest Fred almost as much as it will you girls.”