“Of course, if he doesn’t come pretty soon now,” admitted Mary Louise, “we must postpone the trip to another day, but we’ll have all that fun added to this, some day when the car is running properly,” promised the owner, and they ate every bit of Aunt Sally’s delicious luncheon and had a really “good time” in spite of their disappointment. Fortunately most of their girl friends, learning of this intended trip, did not come near them the whole day, so they were left alone to their own devices.
As evening approached, nevertheless, Mary Louise began to be uneasy. Gran’pa Jim came home from town and found the two girls playing “muggins” on the porch.
“What! Back already!” he exclaimed.
“Why, we didn’t go,” answered Mary Louise.
“Dressmaker wasn’t ready for you?”
“No. We—we’ve lost the car—and Danny.”
The old gentleman sat down on a chair and whistled slightly.
“Tell me all about it,” he suggested.
Mary Louise complied. Really, there wasn’t much to tell. Danny Dexter had been ordered to be ready with the car at seven o’clock, for a trip to Sherman and had agreed to the proposition. He hadn’t appeared all day; in fact, he and the car were both missing.
“I’ve telephoned the garage and the gasoline station,” concluded the girl, “but he hasn’t been seen at either place to-day. Seems sort of funny, doesn’t it, Gran’pa Jim?”