ly frightened by the
frantic tooting of the horn, the bulb of which Mollie pressed
spasmodically.

"Oh my! What a scare!" panted Mollie, as she slipped in low gear, and
started up again, without coming to a full stop.

"Well, I don't want to seem mean, but he is getting just what he
deserves," said Grace, looking back, "and that is--a spanking. Toddlers
must be made to learn the danger of rushing blindly across auto roads."

"I suppose so," agreed Mollie. "I could just see little Paul then," she
went on. "If I had hit that child----"

She did not finish, but they all knew what she meant.

Deepdale was reached without further incident, and the girls agreed that
Mollie had piloted her car wonderfully well for a beginner.

"Of course I've got lots to learn," she said to her chums, "but that
will come gradually, the demonstrator said. One learns, after a while,
to steer instinctively, and to do everything almost automatically--like
slowing down, applying the brakes and so on. Now you girls must come
over to-night, and we'll----"

"Talk!" interrupted Amy. "We've got lots to talk about."

"We always have," said Grace, looking in vain for a chocolate. The car
had stopped in front of her house, and Mollie had said she would leave
the other girls at their residences.

"Oh, don't bother," Betty had protested. "You must be tired, and it's
only a step."

"No, we must do this in style!" decided Mollie. "What is the use of a
motor car if one can't bring one's friends home in the proper mode?" And
she had her way.

The auto was to be kept in a public garage until Mrs. Billette could
have one built on her own premises, and, leaving her machine with the
man in charge, Mollie walked home.

That night her three chums called, and the talk was almost entirely
devoted to the strange girl and her queer disappearance.

In the days that followed the four inseparables took many rides out into
the beautiful country around Deepdale. True to her determination, Mollie
insisted on Betty, Amy and Grace taking at least a few lessons. Betty
was quick to learn, but Grace was not quite strong enough to handle the
wheel properly, and Amy was too timid. Still, either of the latter could
manage the car on a straight, level road, but Betty was the only one
who persisted enough to be able to get a license, which she one day took
out on Mollie's suggestion.

"And what is the something you were going to tell us?" asked Betty of
Mollie one day,