The Motor Girls Through New England | Page 3

you--bumped into. Did you hurt your nose?"
"Not the least bit, my dear brother. And the real bump--the fact, you know--was that I just discovered how much these two little girls depend upon me. Bess said I was never the least bit afraid----"
"And are you?"
"Perhaps. At any rate, I didn't like the looks of that man, Jack. I don't intend the girls shall know it, but I was just the least bit afraid to come in the house. Who do you suppose he might be?"
"Why, Cora!" and Jack looked his surprise. "What's up? Are you going to strike?"
"Don't you believe me, Jack, that I was afraid?"
"It is not like you. But I suppose there was something----"
"Well, Jack, even a leading lady may get tired. I am going to try to do a little less of the leading."
"Angry with the girls?"
"Why, bless you, no. Why should I be? Aren't they the dearest--babies. But you boys----"
"Oh, mad at us! Cora Kimball!" and her brother threatened to injure his beauty on the matting rug. "If I had only the least idea that you didn't like us, I would have packed the whole crowd off to the bungalow."
"Still you insist upon misunderstanding me. Well, I may as well give up, Jack. Let us talk about something else."
"I might make another mistake. But I would like to tell you what some of the boys said about the dance last night. They were just raving about you. Did you like Porter?"
"The boy with a smile? Yes, I did. I don't know when I saw a young man so real. You know, Jack, with all due respect to boys hovering around twenty, they usually display too much--hover."
"Chumpy, you mean."
"If the word were a little less--aspirated. Girls might say--crude."
"Real nice of the girls. But Porter asked me if I'd bring him around."
"Why not? Bess had a splendid time with him."
"But he spoke of you, Cora. And he's a great fellow at college."
"By all means cultivate the great," replied Cora. "But here come the others. Ask them."
"Striking again, Cora. All right. If Porter wants to take Bess to the games----"
"He's welcome. I have already promised Ed."
It was an hour after the strange-man scare, and the Robinson girls had finally been convinced that there were no miscreants lurking anywhere about the place. The excitement had made Bess prettier in the deep, red flush that overspread her face, and Belle, the pale, dainty blonde, had actually taken on a tint herself. Cora had the color that comes and stays, and only her deep brown eyes seemed brighter after the hunt had been declared "off."
"If mother were only home," sighed Belle.
"Thank goodness, she is not," put in Bess. "Bad enough to hunt burglars without consoling mamma."
"Are you girls going to stay alone to-night?" asked Ed suddenly.
"Oh, no, indeed! We expect Nettie back from the city. Never was there a girl like Nettie for scaring away scares," replied Bess.
"But suppose she does not come?" spoke Jack. "Don't you think it might be well----"
"To hire a special officer? No, thank you," answered Cora. "We are not the least bit afraid. Besides, we have a gun."
"The dearest little revolver," went on Bess. "Father got it specially for mamma, and she won't even look at it, so it's mine."
"Yes, and you most scared Nettie to death with it," interrupted the twin sister. "What do you think, boys? Nettie wouldn't touch the thing, and actually took a dustpan and a brush and scooped the weapon up from under Bess's pillow. Wasn't that dangerous?"
"And dumped it in the bureau drawer," added Cora, with a laugh. "Better let me take charge of that, Bess. I won't take chances with Nettie scooping it up while I'm here."
"Very well, Cora. You may take charge of it. Father suggested it was not a bad thing to have along when we take lonely runs. But, of course, I should never dare to fire it even to scare a tramp."
"Say, are you girls going to stay here all summer?" asked Walter. "I thought you had planned for a tour somewhere."
"We have. We are going to tour in our cars through New England," answered Cora. "First, we are going to the Berkshires, then we may go to the White Mountains. Of course, we are not going to let our cars get rusty around here."
"No, indeed," put in Bess. "We are only waiting to arrange about our chaperon. Isn't it dreadful to be a girl, and have to be toted around under some maternal wing?"
"Well, no. I shouldn't exactly think it dreadful to be a girl," and Jack made a funny face; "that is, a real nice twin girl, with rosy eyes and blue cheeks----"
"Jack!"
"But I was just going to say," went on that young man, "that the toting around might be inconvenient--at times."
"Couldn't a fellow or