tty.

"What an idea!" cried Grace. "Don't be so--shivery!"

"Well, she is as mysterious as ghosts are supposed to be," Betty went
on. "I wonder when we will meet her again?"

"When we do, we must take care that she does not escape without telling
us more about herself," said Amy. "Not that we can insist, but we ought
to know for our own satisfaction."

"I think so, too," added Mollie. "She is getting on my nerves."

"Besides, we might be able to help her," spoke Grace. "It is dreadful to
think of a nice girl like that going the country, friendless and alone.
She may need just the aid we could give her."

All the conclusion the girls could come to was that the girl, after
leaving the farm house, had somehow managed to find those who were able
to look after her. Then had come an interim, which was a blank as far as
the girls were concerned. Then came the hotel episode, and--another
blank.

"It's like one of those missing-piece puzzles," complained Grace. "We'll
never get it straightened out."

"We may," said Betty, more hopefully.

That evening, with Cousin Jane to accompany them, they went to a pretty
little play, enjoying it very much. Morning saw them on the road again,
and they stopped the next night at the house of a distant relative of
Betty's mother.

Then, for a time, the good luck the girls had had left them. There came
a spell of rain that lasted two days, and they remained in the house of
Mrs. Nelson's relative--rather miserable days they were, too, for there
was little to occupy them. But all things come to an end finally, and
the bad weather was no exception.

The sun came out, the roads dried up, and one pleasant morning saw the
outdoor girls again in the car, speeding onward. Their objective point
was Wendell City, and to reach this they had to make a detour that would
take them through a picturesque part of the country.

In fact it was so picturesque, and there were so many fine views, that
Mollie stopped the car oftener than she meant to, and in consequence
they were far behind their schedule when it began to grow dusk.

"Something is the matter with the car," said Mollie, after a climb of a
steep hill, which had to be taken on second gear.

"Oh, don't say that!" begged Grace. "We've got a good way to go, yet."

"Oh, it isn't anything serious, I think," said Mollie. "But one of the
cylinders seems to be 'missing.' There, hear it!" she exclaimed. The
girls were expert enough to detect the