Part 28 (1/2)

”And to-morrow,” said Adele, between mouthfuls of morsels, ”we shall have to decorate for the fete. I am going to do the Whirlwind all my own way, am I not, Cora?”

”You certainly may,” replied Cora vaguely. ”I am the poorest hand at decorating. I prefer driving.”

And they all wondered why she took so little interest in the preparations for the fete.

”I know,” whispered Bess. ”You are thinking of that little mahogany man. And so am I. I can't just wait to see the table.”

Bright and early, the next morning the girls were astir. They had need to be ”up with the lark,” for the gathering of stuffs with which to decorate cars is quite a task, and they planned to make the fete a memorable affair, as Belle put it.

”Wait till Cora comes down,” said Tillie. ”Won't she be surprised that I have already been over the meadow, and gotten so many beautiful, tall gra.s.ses!”

Mrs. Bennet appeared at that moment.

”My dears,” she began, ”I have a surprise for you. Cora has taken a run home--she really had to go, but she will be back by nightfall.

Now, there,” to Daisy, ”you must not pout. Cora has been a faithful little captain, and, from what I understand, there have been a great many things to demand her attention at home. Go right on with your plans, and make her car the very prettiest, and when she gets back she will have some reason to be proud of her allies. I have arranged to be at home all day, and to do whatever I can to a.s.sist you, in Cora's place.”

The girls were utterly surprised, but what could they say? Show displeasure to so affable a hostess? Never!

What they thought was, of course, a matter of their own personal business.

CHAPTER XXV

A WILD RUN'

”Speed her up, Tom,” ordered Dr. Duncan Bennet to his chauffeur, as he and Cora started out that bright, beautiful morning. ”We will have all we can do to cover the ground and make home by nightfall.”

”Without a single stop,” remarked Cora, ”I calculated we could do it.

Do you think there is any possibility of us failing to get back?”

”Tom knows no end of short cuts,” said Duncan, settling himself down comfortably. ”We take quite a different route to that which you girls came over.”

”Oh, yes, of course. We could never get to Chelton and back in one day over the roads which we came by,” replied Cora.

”The one controlling thought is,” said the young physician, ”that an automobile is not a camel. No telling when its thirst will demand impossible quenching. But this is a first-rate car,” he went on, ”and it has never gone back on me yet.”

”It rides beautifully,” agreed Cora, as the machine was speeding over the roads like the very wind. ”After all, I do believe that an experienced chauffeur is a positive luxury.”

”Now, now!” exclaimed Duncan. ”Don't go back on your const.i.tution.

You will have to report, I suppose. What do you imagine our little girls are thinking and doing about now?”

Cora laughed. Duncan seemed amused at the idea of ”stealing” the captain of the club--he liked nothing better than a ”row” with girls.

”Well, I suppose,” said Cora cautiously, ”that they are scouring Breakwater for things to decorate the machines with. I am glad that I entrusted the Whirlwind to Tillie--she is so artistically practical that she will be sure to avoid making holes in the car to stick bouquets in.”

”The fellows will be up to-night. They have taken rooms at the Beacon.

There'll be no end of a rumpus if they strike Breakwater, and I am not there to pilot them.”