“Don’t all talk at once,” exclaimed Nancy. “I’ll tell you this much. It’s animal and it’s superfine. And”—she wrinkled her brows—“and it’s mineral, too, I suppose.”
“Superfine? At least it’s a woman, then?” cried all the girls in a chorus.
“Yes,” laughed Nancy, who loved nothing better than to excite the curiosity of her friends to the utmost and then launch a genuine sensation into their midst.
“Does the superfine animal wear the mineral?” demanded Elinor.
“No, she doesn’t wear it. She’s in it.”
“In it? How strange,” exclaimed another girl. “Perhaps it’s a lady oyster in her shell.”
“There’s no surprise in an oyster unless there’s a pearl in it, goosey,” teased Nancy. “But here it comes! Here it comes!” she cried, clapping her hands joyfully, while six pairs of eyes peered curiously down the street, which, by gentle degrees, became a country road. The trim sidewalks of the little seaport town of West Haven became grassy paths and the pretty lawns broadened into flat green meadows.
Far down the road a brilliant red object could be seen approaching. It was enveloped in a cloud of dust and it moved with great rapidity.
“Why, it’s nothing but a red automobile,” cried Elinor, in disappointment.
“Yes,” admitted Nancy, “it’s an automobile, but there’s something unusual about it besides its color.”