ufficiently
stern.

"All wight--I won't. But I tan wun a tar, all'e same; tan't I?"

Paul was evidently proud of what he had done.

"Yes, you can, but you mustn't--you mustn't! Do you understand?"

"Yes. Dot any tandy?"

Will laughed.

"No," he said, "but maybe the girls have. Here they come."

Half hysterical, Mollie and her chums came running up. They were all
rather "limp," as they confessed later.

"Oh, Paul, you naughty boy!" cried his sister. "Mamma will punish you
for this."

His big eyes opened wide.

"I ikes to run tar," he said, and his lip quivered.

"Don't be too harsh with him," murmured Grace.

"I can't help it--he must know how dangerous it is," insisted Mollie.
"You won't ever do it again; will you, Paul?"

"Nope. Dot any tandy?"

Their laughter relieved their strained feelings.

"Oh, Will, I can't thank you enough!" declared Mollie. "I thought I
would die when I saw that racing car coming toward him."

"I just saw him in time," exclaimed Will. "I had to act quickly, for
there was no telling when he'd try to cross the street."

Paul was contentedly chewing a candy Grace had produced and the little
crowd that had gathered, on seeing Will's act, began to disperse,
understanding what had happened. Then Mollie, assuming the wheel,
directed the car back to her house, taking the girls and Paul in it.
Will went back to get his bicycle and the excitement was over. But it
took some time for the girls to quiet down.

To impress on him the danger of what he had done, Mrs. Billette sent
Paul to bed. He cried and protested, but it was necessary, for he was
too daring a little chap.

Three days passed. The girls were at Mollie's house, having assembled in
answer to her telephone message.

"Well, it's all settled!" she exclaimed, as the trio came in together.

"What?" asked Betty.

"Our auto tour. That's what I've been working on. I wanted to plan a
nice route--one that would take in a good stretch of country, enable us
to see new places, and be comfortable. Now I have it all mapped out.
You'll come; won't you--all of you?" and she looked appealingly at her
chums.

"But what's it all about?" asked Grace, wonderingly.

"Why, since I have a car, we must get the best use out of it we can. So
why can't we four--and a chaperone, if we think we need one--go for a
tour, the same as when we walked--only this time we'll ride? We can make
five hundred, or a thousand, miles, if we choose, stopping