206
XXI. Eunice and Mr. Winthrop Latham 215
XXII. The Automobile Wins 230
XXIII. The Recognition 240
XXIV. What to Do with Eunice 251

The Automobile Girls in the
Berkshires

CHAPTER I

THE REUNION

"Mollie Thurston, we are lost!" cried Barbara dramatically.

The two sisters were in the depth of a New Jersey woods one afternoon in
early September.

"Well, what if we are!" laughed Mollie, leaning over to add a cluster of
wild asters to her great bunch of golden rod. "We have two hours ahead of
us. Surely such clever woodsmen as we are can find our way out of woods
which are but a few miles from home. Suppose we should explore a real
forest some day. Wouldn't it be too heavenly! Come on, lazy Barbara! We
shall reach a clearing in a few moments."

"You lack sympathy, Miss Mollie Thurston; that's your trouble."

Barbara was laughing, yet she anxiously scanned the marshy ground as she
picked her way along.

"I wouldn't mind being lost in these woods a bit more than you do, if I
were not so horribly afraid of snakes. Oh, my! this place looks full of
'em."

"They are not poisonous, Bab, or I might be more sympathetic," said
Mollie reassuringly. "The snakes in these woods are harmless. How can a
girl as brave as you are be such a goose about a poor, wriggly little
'sarpint,' that couldn't harm you if it tried."

"O-o-o!" shivered Bab. "One's own pet fear has nothing to do with sense
or nonsense. Kindly remember your own feelings toward the timid mouse!
Just the same, I should like to play 'Maid Marian' for a while and dwell
in the heart of a woodland glen. If ever I have a chance to go on a
camping trip, I shall get rid of my fear of snakes, somehow."

"Bab," said Mollie, after a moment's pause, "hasn't it been dreadfully
dull since Ruth and her father went away? Do you think they will ever
come back? I can hardly believe it has been only three weeks since they
left Kingsbridge, and only six weeks since we came back from Newport.
Anyhow I am glad Grace Carter is home again from her visit to her
brother."

"Cheer up, Mollie, do!" encouraged Bab. "Ruth has promised to pay us a
visit before she goes home to Chicago, and she is a girl of her word, as
you and I well know. I am expecting a letter from her every day."

"Well," Mollie ejaculated in heart-felt tones, "I know I am nearly dead
to see her. Grace and I were talking of it only y