E-text prepared by Al Haines
THE MOTOR GIRLS THROUGH NEW ENGLAND
Or
Held by the Gypsies
by
MARGARET PENROSE
The Goldsmith Publishing Co.
New York, N.Y.
Copyright, 1911, by
Cupples & Leon Company
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I THE SHADOW
II STRIKE OF THE LEADING LADY
III A MISHAP
IV TO THE RESCUE
V FRIEND OR FOE
VI A THIEF IN THE NIGHT
VII THE SEARCH
VIII THE BEGINNING OF THE END
IX THE START
X AN EXPLOSION
XI THE RESULT OF A BLAZE
XII QUEER COBBLERS
XIII A DELAY AND A SCARE
XIV THE MIDNIGHT TOW
XV THE GIPSY'S WARNING
XVI THE DISAPPEARANCE
XVII MISSING
XVIII KIDNAPPED
XIX THE DEN OF THE GYPSY QUEEN
XX CORA AND HELKA
XXI MOTHER HULL
XXII SADDENED HEARTS
XXIII ANOTHER STORY
XXIV THE COLLAPSE
XXV THE AWAKENING
XXVI SURPRISES
XXVII THE CALL OF THE HEART
XXVIII VICTORY
XXIX A REAL LOVE FEAST
THE MOTOR GIRLS THROUGH NEW ENGLAND
CHAPTER I
THE SHADOW
"Look, girls! There's a man!"
"Where?"
"Just creeping under the dining-room window!"
"What can he want--looks suspicious!"
"Oh, I'm afraid to go in!"
"Hush! We won't go in just now!"
"If only the boys were here!"
"Well, don't cry--they will be here soon."
"See! He's getting under the fence! There he goes!"
"Did you get a look at him?"
"Yes, a good look. I'll know him next time."
Bess, Belle and Cora were holding this whispered conversation. It was
Belle, the timid, who wanted to cry, and it was Cora who had really
seen the man--got the good look. Bess did say she wished the boys were
around, but Bess had great confidence in those boys, and this remark,
when a man was actually sneaking around Clover Cottage, was perfectly
pardonable.
The motor girls had just returned from a delightful afternoon ride
along the shore road at Lookout Beach. Bess and Belle Robinson,
otherwise Elizabeth and Isabel, the twins, were in their little
car--the _Flyaway_--and Cora Kimball was driving her fine,
four-cylinder touring affair, both machines having just pulled up in
front of Clover Cottage, the summer home of the Robinsons.
"Did the boys say they would come directly from the post-office?" asked
Belle, as she eyed the back fence suspiciously.
"Yes, they had to drop some mail in the box. We won't attempt to go in
until they come. At any rate, I have a little something to do to the
_Whirlwind_," and Cora pulled off her gloves, and started to get a
wrench out of the tool box.
"I'll get busy, too," declared Bess. "It will look better in case our
friend happens to come around the corner."
"No danger," and Cora glanced up from the tool box. "I fancy that
gentleman is not of the type that runs into facts."
"Do you think he is a burglar?" asked Belle.
"Well, I wouldn't say just that. But he certainly is not
straightforward. And that is a bad sign," replied Cora.
"And not a person in the house to help us," sighed Belle. "Oh, I don't
see why mamma----"
"Now, Belle Robinson!" interrupted her sister. "You know perfectly
well that mamma had to take Nellie and Rose over to Drifton. They have
to get ready for school."
"Mamma fusses a lot over those two girls," continued Belle. "It seems
to me a lucky thing they happened to run away--our way."
This remark was lost upon Bess and Cora. Bess was intent upon
something--nothing definite--about the _Flyaway_, while Cora was
working assiduously trying to adjust a leaky valve.
The prospect of dark coming on with no one but themselves about the
cottage, and the late appearance of the strange man, kept each one busy
thinking. Presently Belle exclaimed:
"Oh, here come the boys!" and without waiting for the young men to turn
the corner, which marked the end of the Clover Cottage grounds, she ran
along with the news.
Jack Kimball, Cora's brother, Walter Pennington, his chum, and Ed
Foster, the friend of both, sauntered along.
"I suppose Belle will say we had a bandit," remarked Cora, with a
laugh, "but to tell the truth, Bess, I did not like the fellow's
looks." She closed the engine bonnet and hurried to the sidewalk.
"Neither did I," replied Bess, "but it never does to let Belle know how
we feel. She is so nervous!"
"I'm glad the boys are here," finished Cora.
"Oh, I'm always glad when they are here," confessed Bess, stepping up
beside Cora, as the two waited for Belle and the young men to come up
the gravel walk.
"Hello, there!" saluted Jack. "More haunted house?"
"No, only more haunts," replied Cora. "Guess he didn't like the style
of the house."
"Oh, you girls are too fussy," said Ed. "Seems to me if I were a young
lady, and saw a young chap hanging under my window, I'd be sort of
flattered."
"We prefer the hanging done in the open," exclaimed Bess. "Besides, he
didn't hang--he sneaked."
"He crawled," declared Belle.
"No, I distinctly saw him creep," corrected Cora.
"Mere baby, evidently," hazarded Walter.
"Well, I suppose he was after----"
"Grub," interrupted Jack. "The creeping, crawling, sneaking kind
invariably want grub. It was a shame to let him go off hungry."
They all took seats upon the broad piazza, after the boys, by a casual
look, were satisfied that no intruder was about the grounds. Belle
kept close to Ed--he was the largest of the young men--but Cora and
Bess showed no signs of fear.
"Let's tell you about it," began Bess.
"Let's," agreed Walter.
"Then listen," ordered the young lady with the very rosy cheeks.
"Listen while they let's," teased Jack.
"I won't say one word," declared Bess; "not if the fellow comes down
the chimney----"
Every one laughed. Bess had such a ridiculous way of getting angry.
"No joking," went on Cora, "when we came up the road we did see a
fellow sneaking around the cottage. I'm not exactly afraid, ahem! but
I may as well admit that I am glad you boys appeared just now, and I
hope the interloper caught a glimpse, ahem! of your manly forms."
The three boys jumped up as if some one had touched a spring. Ed was
taller, Walter was stouter and Jack was--well, he was quicker. Bess
noticed that, and did not hesitate to say so in making her special
report of the trio.
"At any rate," ventured Ed, "we are much obliged, Cora. It's awfully
nice of you to notice us."
"Suppose we take a look through the house," suggested Cora. "Not that
I think anything is wrong. You know, girls are never really afraid----"
"Oh, no! they are only afraid of being afraid," interrupted Walter.
"Well, come along. And, since Ed is the biggest, let him lead!"
The incident merely furnished sport for the boys. A burglar hunt was
no uncommon thing at Clover Cottage, and this one was no more promising
that had been a dozen others. Belle did not venture in with the
searching party. She had her fears, as usual. Cora by reputation was
not timid, and she had that reputation to maintain just now. As a
matter of fact, she knew perfectly well that the man who took the
trouble to crawl around the house had some sinister motive in doing so.
Bess had not really seen him do it, so when she went in, along with the
boys, she had scarcely any fear of running down either a sneak thief or
a tramp, both varieties of undesirable citizens being common enough at
the watering place.
It did not strike Cora Kimball just then that she had a particular part
to play in the impending drama which was to involve herself and her
friends. In the first volume of the series, entitled "The Motor
Girls," Cora found it her duty to unravel the mystery of the road, when
a wallet, empty, but which should have contained a small fortune in
bonds, was actually found in the tool box of her own car. Then in the
next volume, "The Motor Girls on a Tour," Cora again had the lines of
the leading lady, for it fell to her lot to "keep the promise" that
restored little Wren, the cripple, to her own, both in money and in
health. In the third book of the series, "The Motor Girls at Lookout
Beach," it was Cora again who had to unearth the mystery, and now----
She smiled as she followed Ed into the big pantry.
"You girls and boys seem to count me a star," she said pleasantly.
"Ever since we were organized you have been keeping me in----"
"The spotlight," finished Ed, with an unmistakable smile. "Well, Cora,
we will try to let you down easy this time. Here, Bess, you poke your
nose in the cubby hole and see if you see anything."
"Oh!" screamed Bess, "I'll do nothing of the sort. Let Cora."
"Why?" asked Cora.
"Because--you're never the least bit afraid," stammered Bess.
"Thanks," said Cora, without hesitation thrusting her head into the
aperture through which dishes were passed. "Ouch!" she exclaimed,
hastily withdrawing with her hand on her nose.
"What's the matter?" asked Ed. "Did you bump into something?"
"Yes," replied Cora, looking straight into the eyes of Bess. "I just
bumped into--a fact."
Then she and her brother walked into another room, leaving their
friends to discuss the happening and follow at their leisure.