Thereupon followed a good scout talk by Mrs. Vernon, the country girl listening with all her wits alert.
"How'd you know we were scouts?" asked Julie, curiously.
"By that pennant flyin' in front, of course!" retorted the girl.
As the scouts drove away, Mrs. Vernon said, "She'll make a first-class scout, because she uses her eyes and other faculties."
After leaving the town of Gravesville, the scouts took a short cut to Prospect, but the roads were steep and rough, and it was all the engines could do to mount the grades. Then the opposite down slopes were so steep and sudden that it was necessary to put on all brakes and shut off the engines.
One of these down grades had a sharp turn at the bottom, with a purling stream running under a rustic bridge immediately at the base of the mountain. On the other side of the bridge, the road rose abruptly up the side of another mountain. The descent was made nicely and the Captain's car crossed the bridge, but Jim's car stopped unexpectedly just as it reached the bridge at the foot of the mountain.
"Another case of push!" laughed Julie.
"All out!" ordered Jim.
"What now?" called Mrs. Vernon, as she also stopped her car to ask what was wrong.
"If only your car was behind, you could shove us across the bridge, but there isn't enough room in this trap to do anything."