laughed Betty. "Come, Grace, you are
delaying the game, and if we are going for an auto ride with
Mollie--let--let's have it--over with."
"Well, I like the way you speak!" exclaimed Mollie, rather
sharply--Mollie had a failing in her quick temper. "If you girls are
afraid to come in my new car, just because I'm going to steer all alone,
why----"
"Oh, Mollie, I didn't mean it that way at all!" protested Betty. "I just
didn't want Grace to feel----"
"Where is tandy?" demanded Paul, as he approached his little sister,
evidently with the intention of again assuming the dispute over the
goggles in case no confectionery was forthcoming.
"Grace, have you any?" asked Mollie, beseechingly. "We _must_ get
started, and the day is so fine we don't want to miss any of it.
Paul--Dodo--don't you dare break my glasses!" She shook a warning finger
at them.
"I just _happen_ to have some chocolates," said Grace, with an air of
injured dignity. From the pocket of her sweater she produced a small
box, and held it out to Dodo. The child, with a glad cry, dropped the
goggles on the grass and sprang for Grace. Paul, too, joined in the
race, and while Mollie picked up her recovered property the twins, with
a new matter to contend about, gravely sat down on the lawn, and
proceeded to divide the candy.
"Now come on!" cried Mollie, "before something else happens. Be good
children!" she cautioned them, "and don't go away."
"No," they chorused, while Paul added:
"Bring us more tandy--not bery much here."
"Which speaks well for the appetite of Grace," murmured Amy.
"Oh, let me alone!" protested Grace, with as near a show of temper as
she ever indulged in. Mollie looked at her and remarked:
"You're getting my complaint, Grace dear."
"Well, I'm tired of always having candy thrown in my face--what if I do
like chocolate?"
"You should have thrown the candy in her mouth--not in her face,"
laughed Betty, and then Grace smiled instead of frowning, and the four
chums--the Outdoor Girls, as they had come to be called from living so
much in the open--walked across the lawn to the waiting car.
"It certainly is a beauty!" declared Grace, as her eyes, and those of
her friends, took in all the details of the auto. "Mollie, you are a
lucky girl, and so is Betty with her motor boat. Amy, I wonder what good
fortune is coming to us?"
"It will have to be an airship in your case, Grace," said Mollie. "One
boat and one car is enough. Yo
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