er case before the justice of the peace.

"I say, man, do be reasonable," Hugh urged. He would not give up. "You
can hold me in jail all night if you will just let the others go."

"Please don't argue with the policeman, Hugh," Ruth begged. "He is only
doing his duty. I am so sorry, Mollie darling, for you and Grace. But I
know you won't leave me."

"Oh, we don't mind," the two girls protested. "I suppose we can pay the
fine and they will let us go at once."

Hugh said nothing, for he knew that he had only a few dollars in
his pocket.

When Ruth's car finally reached the station house it was almost
eleven o'clock.

The policeman took the automobile party inside the station. It was bitter
cold in the room, for the winter chill had fallen with the close of the
December day. The fire had died out in the air-tight iron stove in the
room, and Mollie, Ruth and Grace could hardly keep from shivering.

"Well, where is the justice of the peace or whatever man we ought to see
about this wretched business?" Hugh demanded.

At last the policeman looked a little apologetic. "I'll get some one to
make up a fire for you," he answered. "I have got to go out and wake up
the justice to look after your case. It's bed-time and he's home asleep."

"Do you expect us to sit here in this freezing dirty old room half the
night while you go around looking up a magistrate?" Hugh demanded,
wrathfully.

"I told you I would have the fire built up," the policeman answered
sullenly. "But it ain't my fault you got into this trouble. You ought
not to have broken the law. We have had about as much trouble with
automobilists in this here town as we are willing to stand for. And I
might as well tell you, right now, the court will make it pretty hot for
you. It may be I can't get the justice to hear your case until to-morrow,
and you'll have to stay here all night."

"Stay here all night!" cried the five young people, as they sank down
into five hard wooden chairs in utter despair.

"Harriet, have you seen Ruth's automobile?" Bab asked, as Charlie Meyers'
car got safely out of Alexandria and started on the road toward
Washington.

Harriet and Peter both looked around and strained their eyes in the
darkness. But there was no sign of Ruth or her party.

"Don't you think we had better go back a little, Charlie?" Harriet now
suggested. "I am afraid you have gotten too far ahead of Ruth for her to
follow you."

"What has Miss Stuart got Hugh P