“I shouldn’t have come,” Mary whispered to herself once again. Had she but known it, she was to be thinking that very thought hours later, and with regrets.
Darkness had come. Switching on the lights, they went bumping over the sand ridges.
“Rides just like that big ship of yours, doesn’t it?” said the boy from Kentucky.
“Exactly,” said Mary, giggling like a kid. She was happy but some sprite seemed to whisper, “Not for long.”
After rattling along for a while with the lights on, they snapped the lights off, but rattled straight on.
A dark bulk loomed up before them. Shutting off the gas, they, all but the driver, piled out and began to push.
“Such crazy business,” Mary whispered.
“Wait and see,” came back to her.
At last they came to a halt. The dark bulk was closer now. Mary made out the forms of palm trees. One of the boys was dragging something. Strange sounds came from before them, low grunts, splashes, then a loud trumpet-like sound that made Mary jump.
“Say! What is this?” she whispered.