red, who was getting hungry, suggested they stop somewhere for
something to eat, but the girls demurred.

"Wait until the ride is ended," said Dora. "Then we can take our time
over supper."

As night came on they saw fireworks displayed here and there and
enjoyed the sights greatly.

"I've got some fireworks on the yacht," said Tom. "I reckon I'll be
rather late setting them off."

While they were yet three miles from the river they stopped at a drug
store and there Dick telephoned to the owner of the machines,
explaining matters, and asking the man to send down to the dock for
the cars.

"He's pretty angry," said Dick, as he leaped into the automobile
again. "He says we had no right to run off with the cars."

"Well, he had no right to send us off with those awful chauffeurs,"
answered Dora.

"Oh, I'm not afraid of anything he'll do," answered Dick.

Nevertheless, he was a bit anxious as he reached the dock, and he lost
no time in sending the girls to the yacht with Songbird, and he asked
his chum to send Mr. Rover ashore.

A minute later a light runabout spun up and a tall, thin man, with a
sour face, leaped out and strode up to the two machines.

"Who hired these machines, I want to know?" he demanded. "I did,"
answered Dick boldly. "Are you the manager of the garage?"

"I am, and I want to know by what right you've been running the cars
without the regular drivers?"

"We wanted to get back to the city and the chauffeurs were in no
condition to bring us back," put in Tom.

"What have you to do with it, young man?"

"I drove one car and my brother here drove the other. We didn't hurt
the machines and you ought to be glad we brought them back in good
condition."

"Humph! You hadn't any license to run them."

"We took the liberty of doing so," said Dick. "If you want to get
angry about it, I'll get angry myself. You had no right to place those
cars in the hands of unreliable men. You risked our lives by so
doing."

"Those men are reliable enough. One of them telephoned to me you had
run away with the autos."

"The folks at the Dardell Hotel will tell you how reliable they were.
I warned them not to drink, but they did, and they were in no
condition to run any automobile."

"I don't allow just anybody to run my machines," stormed the man.
"They are expensive pieces of property."

"Well, they are not worth as much as our necks, not by a good deal,"
said Tom.

"Don't you get impudent, young fe