FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60  
61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   >>   >|  
actical, though slangy, emphasis. "We're apt to get drowned while we stand here talking." It was easy to see by the way they went to work that the girls agreed with her. Even Mrs. Ford gave willing, though inexperienced, aid, and in a very short time they had lifted the tops, adjusted the side curtains and made all snug for the expected downpour. Nor did they have very much time to spare. While they had been working, the thunder had grown louder and more insistent and now the rain began to fall in earnest. "Duck!" cried Betty inelegantly, and they ran for shelter. "Well," said Betty, as she pressed the self-starter and the engine purred evenly, "it's bad, but it might be a good deal worse. We can't get wet unless it's an unusually heavy downpour." "Oh, it isn't getting wet that bothers me so much," said Grace, and Betty looked at her in surprise. "It's the roads," she added by way of explanation. "I've heard Aunt Mary say that they have terribly heavy storms in this part of the country, and sometimes in half an hour the roads get almost impassable. Many a machine has been known to sink three or four inches in mud, and sometimes they get in so deep they have to be hauled out." "What a cheerful prospect!" cried Betty, dismayed, adding, as the rain beat against the windshield in steady, driving sheets: "Especially as this storm bids fair to be a record breaker. Look how muddy the roads are already." "And we haven't passed more than two or three wagons all the way out," wailed Grace. "And they didn't look strong enough to pull a toy machine out. Oh, Betty, look out!" The admonition was occasioned by a seemingly sudden wild desire on the part of the car to stand on two wheels while it waved the other two spinningly in the air. Betty, though undeniably frightened, succeeded in persuading the erring wheels to the muddy road again. Then she slackened her speed and began to laugh hysterically. "I don't see anything to laugh about," protested Grace, still breathless with apprehension. "Neither do I," admitted Betty, adding whimsically. "But I had either to laugh or cry, so I decided to laugh. After all, you must admit, it was a wonderful skid." "The best of its kind," admitted Grace dryly. "But please don't try it again, Honey, it has a wearing effect on my nerves!" They were silent for a while after that, while Betty regarded the increasingly muddy road ahead of her with anxious eyes. She had been
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60  
61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

admitted

 

machine

 

wheels

 

adding

 
downpour
 

strong

 

regarded

 
nerves
 

wagons

 
wailed

steady

 

admonition

 
occasioned
 

wearing

 

effect

 
breaker
 

record

 
Especially
 

silent

 

sheets


passed

 

driving

 

slackened

 
decided
 

hysterically

 

increasingly

 

windshield

 

breathless

 

apprehension

 

Neither


protested

 

erring

 

anxious

 

sudden

 

whimsically

 

desire

 
wonderful
 
succeeded
 
persuading
 

frightened


undeniably
 

spinningly

 

seemingly

 

working

 

thunder

 

expected

 

curtains

 

louder

 

shelter

 

pressed