“But he did find something!” cried Agnes.
“What did he find, I’d like to know?” asked her sister.
“He saw where the auto wheels had skidded on the path going up to the barn—didn’t you, Neale?”
“Yes,” the boy agreed. “But the car wasn’t there.”
“Pooh! you didn’t find it,” said the girl scornfully.
“My goodness, Aggie!” cried Ruth, “when you set out to be, you can be the most stubborn person!”
“Oh, well,” Mrs. Heard said soothingly, “what if we do go around by that barn and satisfy Agnes? It won’t be much out of our way.”
It was over a good bit of rough road, however, and that rough road brought calamity to the Corner House car. Neale O’Neil knew something was wrong before they had climbed the long hill to the level of the Higgins farm.
“What’s that thumping noise, Neale?” asked the sharp-eared Agnes, who had chosen to ride with the young chauffeur and Sammy and Tom Jonah in the front of the machine.
Neale was scowling. “Ask me an easier one,” he growled. “I’m no soothsayer.”