actical, though slangy,
emphasis. "We're apt to get drowned while we stand here talking."

It was easy to see by the way they went to work that the girls agreed
with her. Even Mrs. Ford gave willing, though inexperienced, aid, and in
a very short time they had lifted the tops, adjusted the side curtains
and made all snug for the expected downpour.

Nor did they have very much time to spare. While they had been working,
the thunder had grown louder and more insistent and now the rain began
to fall in earnest.

"Duck!" cried Betty inelegantly, and they ran for shelter.

"Well," said Betty, as she pressed the self-starter and the engine
purred evenly, "it's bad, but it might be a good deal worse. We can't
get wet unless it's an unusually heavy downpour."

"Oh, it isn't getting wet that bothers me so much," said Grace, and
Betty looked at her in surprise. "It's the roads," she added by way of
explanation. "I've heard Aunt Mary say that they have terribly heavy
storms in this part of the country, and sometimes in half an hour the
roads get almost impassable. Many a machine has been known to sink three
or four inches in mud, and sometimes they get in so deep they have to be
hauled out."

"What a cheerful prospect!" cried Betty, dismayed, adding, as the rain
beat against the windshield in steady, driving sheets: "Especially as
this storm bids fair to be a record breaker. Look how muddy the roads
are already."

"And we haven't passed more than two or three wagons all the way out,"
wailed Grace. "And they didn't look strong enough to pull a toy machine
out. Oh, Betty, look out!"

The admonition was occasioned by a seemingly sudden wild desire on the
part of the car to stand on two wheels while it waved the other two
spinningly in the air.

Betty, though undeniably frightened, succeeded in persuading the erring
wheels to the muddy road again. Then she slackened her speed and began
to laugh hysterically.

"I don't see anything to laugh about," protested Grace, still breathless
with apprehension.

"Neither do I," admitted Betty, adding whimsically. "But I had either to
laugh or cry, so I decided to laugh. After all, you must admit, it was a
wonderful skid."

"The best of its kind," admitted Grace dryly. "But please don't try it
again, Honey, it has a wearing effect on my nerves!"

They were silent for a while after that, while Betty regarded the
increasingly muddy road ahead of her with anxious eyes. She had been