"Do you really tell your father everything?" Harriet asked, in a surprised tone.
"Why, yes; why not?" Ruth questioned.
Harriet shook her head. "Well, I do not tell my father all my affairs.
Oh, dear me, no!"
"I suppose I shall have to go back to Alexandria to-day, and appear at court," Ruth lamented. "I just dread it."
"Oh, no you won't," Bab explained. "Mr. Dillon said he would talk matters over with Mr. Hamlin, and that he had some influential friends over there. You will have to pay your fine, Ruth, but you probably will not have to appear at the trial. They will settle it privately."
"Girls," exclaimed Harriet, "I forgot to tell you something. There is a big reception at the White House to-morrow evening, and Father says he wishes to take the 'Automobile Girls' to present them to the President."
"How exciting!" exclaimed Grace Carter. "To think that the 'Automobile Girls' are going to meet the President, and yet you speak of it as calmly, Harriet Hamlin, as though it were an everyday affair."
"Oh, nonsense, Grace," Harriet begged. "It will be fun to go to the White House with you. You girls are so interested in everything. But a White House reception is an old story to me, and I am afraid there will be a frightful crowd. But which one of you will go shopping with me this morning?"
"I will," cried Mollie. "I'd dearly love to see the shops. We don't have any big stores in Kingsbridge."
"Is there anything I can get for you, girls?" Harriet asked.