“Warm enough back there?” asked Gerald over his shoulder.
“Warm as toast,” answered Ned. “Let her go.”
The road was almost straight and nearly deserted at this time of night and the big car ate it up at forty miles an hour. Dan forgot his troubles and his nerves. The moist air smoothed away the furrows from his forehead and he half closed his eyes and leaned back against the soft cushions contentedly.
On and on they went. Now and then the Sound became visible across the flats. Then there was a rumble as a bridge swept underneath them and they slowed down and hummed quietly through a small village. A turn to the right and the air was warmer and the smell of salt water and seaweed gave place to the odor of autumn woods. It was quite dark save for the light from the car. A long hill sprang up before them and the car took it with a fine rush, and then purred gently down the other side. Dan thought that Gerald was getting pretty far from home and that they would all be late for dinner at Sound View, but he didn’t care and he said nothing. Occasionally Gerald spoke of the engine or the speed, but for the most part it was a very silent quartette. The clock on the dash pointed its hands to twenty minutes past six as Gerald slowed down at the junction of four roads.
“I wonder which way we go,” he muttered. “Is there a sign post there, Dan?”
“I don’t see any,” replied Dan sleepily.
“Neither do I. I think this road to the right is the one we want. Tooker, put your hand in the flap on the door next to you and see if the blue book is there, will you?”
Ned found it and passed it over and Gerald held it under the dash light and found the map he wanted. “That’s right,” he said at last. “Just as I thought. Here you are, Tooker.”
Ned took the book back and the car slid around the corner and began its busy song again. Ten minutes more went by and they came to another four-corners. Gerald stopped and looked about him in the darkness.
“This doesn’t seem right,” he said perplexedly. “Where the dickens are we? Ever seen this place, Tooker?”