CHAPTER
3
STRANGER OF THE STORM
Penny swerved the steering wheel, missing the girl by inches. Somewhat shaken by the near-accident, she pulled up at the roadside.
“My, that was close!” exclaimed Louise. Lowering the side window of the coupe, she gazed curiously at the snowy figure, plodding through the drifts.
“Maybe we ought to offer her a lift to Riverview,” said Penny. “Whoever she is, she shouldn’t be walking alone at this time of night—and with a heavy suitcase too.”
“But should we pick up a hitchhiker, Penny? It might not be safe.”
“I don’t like to do it as a rule, but this is different. It’s storming hard and she looks about our age.”
Debating no longer, Penny thrust her head through the window opening and called: “Want a ride?”
The girl with the suitcase had moved into the glare of the headlights. She turned toward the car with a startled expression. Penny and Louise saw that she was thinly clad in a light weight coat, and wore no galoshes.
To their astonishment, the girl shook her head and kept on walking.
“Well, what do you know!” exclaimed Penny. “She’s more afraid to ride with us than we were to pick her up. She may not realize we’re just a couple of school girls.”