why did the woman hurry off so?" asked Belle, as if any one present
knew.

"Suppose she thought we might think she caused the fire," Ed answered. "It
looked strange for her to be in the barn at that time. But anyone could
see that it was a small explosion--too much gas somewhere."

"Well, all we know about Nancy is her name," observed Cora. "We will have
to trust to motor girls' luck for the rest. But I love a mystery."

"Of course," Eline declared, "if we could have the wonderful luck to find
that girl we might be able to clear the poor woman's name. It looked to
me as if the girl was in league with the robbers when she ran before they
entered the room."

"No use speculating," Cora commented. "Better finish our arrangements.
It's getting late."

CHAPTER IV

ON THE ROAD

There was more "finishing" to be done than even Cora had thought, and,
with her usual habit of looking after matters, she had counted on much.
But the thunder-shower, the fire, the finding of the strange woman, and
listening to her still more strange story all combined to make the affair
of getting ready for the trip in the morning no easy one.

But Cora was determined to carry out the plans as agreed on, so when
her friends showed a disposition to delay, and dwell in conversation on
the recent happenings, she "brought them up with a round turn," as Jack
expressed it.

"I just can't get over that queer woman," observed Belle, during a lull in
the talk, while Cora was jotting down in a pretty red leather notebook
some matters she did not want to forget. "She had such--such a patient
face."

"Maybe she was tired of waiting for a new one," suggested Norton, who
was usually flippant. "I've heard that ladies can get new faces at
these--er--beauty parlors."

"It's a pity there isn't some sort of a parlor where one can
get--manners!" murmured Eline. She seemed to have taken a distinct
dislike to the new young man.

Belle and Bess, who had overheard the remark, looked rather askance at
Cora's relative, but said nothing.

"Now then!" exclaimed the young hostess, "since you have all gotten rid
of as much of the effects of the fire as possible, we'll go over the main
points to be sure nothing will go wrong. Oh, that's something I almost
forgot. I must send mamma our address."

Mrs. Kimball had gone to Europe for a summer tour, leaving her daughter
and son at home. When they went to the Cove the house would be in charge
of a care-taker.