“Had we better stop at that house, and get some refreshment for you?” asked Walter. “Or would you rather go right on to the Wayside, where you can remove your wet clothing?”
This last suggestion was considered the more practical, and very soon the Whirlwind, the Comet, the Flyaway and the Get There were gliding as smoothly over the wet and muddy roads, as if the machines had never put their occupants into the panic of fear and terror that had furnished the motor girls such a very thrilling experience.
“There are the Wayside lights!” announced Jack.
“Thank goodness!” said Mrs. Robinson, fervently. “I, for one, have had enough of night auto rides!”
[CHAPTER XVI—THE SHADOW IN THE HEDGE]
One hour later the motor party had put up safely at the Wayside, a comfortable, home-like place.
Of course the girls were disappointed that they could not enjoy any of the inn attractions that night, for a hop was in progress, but Mrs. Robinson insisted, and the young men reluctantly agreed with her, that it was not only wisest, but actually imperative that each one of the girls go directly to her room, take a warm bath and then a hot drink, and “get right into bed.”
Cora and Jack, however, had a short talk over their tea cups, Cora insisting upon knowing just what was the matter with the ignition system of her car, for she declared, since it was so simple a matter for the young men to fix, it surely could not have been difficult for her to have understood and set it right. As the trouble was really nothing more than the short circuiting of a wire, along with weak batteries, it was easy enough for Jack to explain it to her and how to remedy it.
On her part Cora had to tell her brother of the accident to the Whirlwind, and the sudden precipitation into the “City of the Dead,” then the “escape” of the chauffeur, and the fright of all the party when “just girls and women” found themselves helpless and deserted in that lonely place.
Jack could not find words to express his indignation for the behavior of the man who was hired to take the party to the Wayside Inn. The ride from Chelton was one that might have been made safely under almost any road conditions, and from the Wayside to Lookout Beach the two ladies were to go by rail on the following morning.