The Outdoor Girls in a Motor Car; Or, The Haunted Mansion of Shadow Valley Read online

  Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, J.P.W. Fraser, Emmyand the Online Distributed Proofreading Team athttps://www.pgdp.net

  The Outdoor Girls In A Motor Car

  OR

  THE HAUNTED MANSION OF SHADOW VALLEY

  BY LAURA LEE HOPE

  AUTHOR OF "THE OUTDOOR GIRLS OF DEEPDALE," "THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT RAINBOW LAKE," "THE BOBBSEY TWINS," "THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE COUNTRY," ETC.

  _ILLUSTRATED_

  NEW YORK GROSSET & DUNLAP PUBLISHERS

  Made in the United States of America

  BOOKS FOR GIRLS

  BY LAURA LEE HOPE

  * * * * *

  12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume, 50 cents, postpaid.

  * * * * *

  =THE OUTDOOR GIRLS SERIES=

  THE OUTDOOR GIRLS OF DEEPDALE THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT RAINBOW LAKE THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A MOTOR CAR THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A WINTER CAMP THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN FLORIDA

  =THE BOBBSEY TWINS BOOKS=

  For Little Men and Women

  THE BOBBSEY TWINS THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE COUNTRY THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE SEASHORE THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SCHOOL THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE

  * * * * *

  GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK

  COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY GROSSET & DUNLAP.

  * * * * *

  THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A MOTOR CAR.

  "TOPPLED FROM THE TREE, ALMOST IN FRONT OF THE CAR."

  _The Outdoor Girls in a Motor Car_ _Frontispiece_ (_Page 13_)]

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER PAGE

  I OUT OF A TREE 1

  II A STRANGE GIRL 14

  III STRANGELY MISSING 24

  IV THE QUEER PEDDLER 31

  V PAUL AT THE WHEEL 41

  VI A TOUR PROPOSED 48

  VII MR. LAGG'S OFFER 56

  VIII IN THE MUD 68

  IX IN SHADOW VALLEY 77

  X OFF ON THE TOUR 84

  XI A TRACE OF THE GIRL 93

  XII A DISABLED CAR 104

  XIII THE STORM 110

  XIV AT THE HAUNTED HOUSE 121

  XV QUEER MANIFESTATIONS 129

  XVI "SO YOU HAVE COME BACK!" 138

  XVII CONSTERNATION 147

  XVIII THE PRISONER 153

  XIX MYSTIFIED 160

  XX SEEKING THE GHOST 168

  XXI THE MISSING GIRL 177

  XXII A SWINDLED FARMER 184

  XXIII "THAT'S THE MAN!" 195

  XXIV THE FAKER CAUGHT 199

  XXV EXPLANATIONS 204

  THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A MOTOR CAR

  CHAPTER I

  OUT OF A TREE

  "Come on, girls, the car is here, and this time I'm going to run itmyself!"

  "You never are, Mollie Billette!" exclaimed Grace Ford, as, with threecompanions, she hurried to the window of the library of the Billettehome, and looked out toward the street, up which was coming a luxurioustouring car of the latest model.

  "Aren't you afraid?" asked Amy Stonington, as she looked admiringly atMollie, whose cheeks were flushed with excitement.

  "Oh, it simply gives me the creeps to think about it!" added Grace.

  "I don't see why," spoke Mollie, as the car, in charge of ademonstrator, came to a stop in front of her house. "I've taken enoughlessons, the garage man says; I have my license, and why shouldn't I runmy car? Are you afraid to come with me?"

  "No--no, it isn't exactly that," said Amy, slowly as she fastened thestrings of her new motoring hood--all the girls had them, and verybecoming they were. "It isn't exactly that, Mollie, but you know----"

  "If you weren't afraid to go with Betty in her motor boat, I don't seewhy you should be afraid to come with me in the car," went on Mollie."Oh, what did I do with my goggles?" she asked as she hurriedly lookedabout the room, lifting up a pile of books and papers on a table. "Iknow I had them, and----"

  "Look!" exclaimed Betty Nelson with a laugh. "Dodo and Paul are tryingto pull them apart. I suppose they think the goggles are big enough fortwo," and she pointed to where the twins, Mollie's little brother andsister, were seated on the velvety lawn, both having hold of a new pairof auto goggles, and gravely trying to separate the two eye pieces.

  "The little rascals!" cried Mollie, though she, too had to join in thelaughter of her chums. "Paul!" she called. "Dodo! Come here this instantwith my goggles!"

  The children looked up, their dispute forgotten.

  "Us hasn't any doddles--us got tecticals!" exclaimed Paul.

  "Well, those are sister's spectacles--to wear in the auto so the dustwon't get in her eyes," explained Mollie, as she approached the twins,"Give them to sister."

  "Oo et us wide in tar us dive um to oo," stipulated Dodo, holding thegoggles behind her back.

  "Not to-day, pet," said Mollie, sweetly--compromisingly.

  Dodo arose, and backed away, limping slightly, for she was not quiterecovered from a recent operation as the result of a peculiar accident.She held the goggles out of reach, and, walking with her eyes fixed onher sister, she was in danger of stumbling.

  "She'll fall and break them," cried Grace.

  "That's what I'm afraid of," said Mollie. "Come, Dodo, give the glassesto sister."

  "Her dive um for tandy!" cried the crafty Paul, seeing a chance to makecapital out of his little sister's strategic move. "Us dive oo glassesfor tandy; won't us, Dodo?"

  "Us will," assented Dora--or Dodo, as she was almost universally called."Us dive for tandy--lots of tandy."

  "The little rascals," laughed Mollie. "I wish I dared rush at her andtake them away. But she might fall----" and with the recollection ofwhat little Dodo had suffered, Mollie gave up her plan of action. Thechauffeur tooted on the auto horn, as much as to say:

  "Come, I'm waiting for you."

  "Oh, dear!" exclaimed Mollie. "Have any of you----"

  "Grace, will you kindly oblige?" asked Betty, with a laugh. "Surely youare not without chocolates on this momentous occasion."

  "I don't see why you assume that I always have candy," remarked thetall, slender girl, whose willowy figure added to the charm of her face,framed in a wealth of light hair.

  "Oh, we know your failing," laughed Betty. "Come, Grace, you aredelaying the game, and if we are going for an auto ride withMollie--let--let's have it--over with."

  "Well, I like the way you speak!" exclaimed Mollie, rathersharply--Mollie had a failing in her quick temper. "If you girls areafraid 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 justdidn't want Grace to feel----"

  "Wher
e is tandy?" demanded Paul, as he approached his little sister,evidently with the intention of again assuming the dispute over thegoggles in case no confectionery was forthcoming.

  "Grace, have you any?" asked Mollie, beseechingly. "We _must_ getstarted, 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 fingerat them.

  "I just _happen_ to have some chocolates," said Grace, with an air ofinjured dignity. From the pocket of her sweater she produced a smallbox, and held it out to Dodo. The child, with a glad cry, dropped thegoggles on the grass and sprang for Grace. Paul, too, joined in therace, and while Mollie picked up her recovered property the twins, witha new matter to contend about, gravely sat down on the lawn, andproceeded to divide the candy.

  "Now come on!" cried Mollie, "before something else happens. Be goodchildren!" 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 asshe 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 dolike 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 fourchums--the Outdoor Girls, as they had come to be called from living somuch in the open--walked across the lawn to the waiting car.

  "It certainly is a beauty!" declared Grace, as her eyes, and those ofher friends, took in all the details of the auto. "Mollie, you are alucky girl, and so is Betty with her motor boat. Amy, I wonder what goodfortune is coming to us?"

  "It will have to be an airship in your case, Grace," said Mollie. "Oneboat and one car is enough. You had better pray for an aeroplane."

  "Never!" assented Grace. "The land and water are enough for me."

  "And as for Amy," said Betty, "she wants a balloon, perhaps."

  Amy shook her head, and a strange look came over her face. Her chumsknew what it meant--that above everything else she would have preferredhaving the mystery of her identity solved.

  "Well, if we're going to mote--let's mote!" exclaimed Mollie, perhapswith a desire to change the subject. "I'm going to take you for a nicelong spin."

  "Aren't you nervous--to think of being at the wheel without some onebeside to help you in case of emergency?" asked Betty.

  "Were you, in the _Gem_?" retorted Mollie.

  "A little, but then, you know, a motor boat doesn't go as fast as acar--somehow you seem to have a better chance in case of collisions, oraccidents."

  "There aren't going to be any collisions or accidents," declared Mollie,with conviction. "I'm going to be careful until I get a little moreaccustomed to it, and then----"

  "You'll scorch, like all the others, I suppose," put in Amy.

  "Never! Now who's going to ride with me on the front seat?"

  For a moment no one answered--Betty, Grace and Amy looked at oneanother, and then they burst into laughter.

  "Well, do you want to draw lots for it?" inquired Mollie, with a traceof sarcasm. "I thought you'd feel honored."

  "I will!" exclaimed Betty. "But you will be careful; won't you, Molliedear?"

  "Of course. I'm no more anxious to get into trouble than you are. Oh,what did I do with my handkerchief?"

  "It's up your sleeve," said Grace, indicating a bulge in Mollie'ssweater.

  "Well, come on!" exclaimed the owner of the new car.

  "She says it as though she were--going to--jail!" laughed Grace.

  The demonstrator had alighted from the car, and was looking it over,testing the tires with his hand.

  "Is it all right, Mr. Ransom?" asked Mollie, a bit anxiously. "Isanything the matter?"

  "Not a thing, Miss Billette," he replied. "It is in perfect order. AndI'm sure you can run it alone very easily. You have had a number oflessons, and you learned very quickly."

  "If only I remember to let out my clutch before I change gears," Molliemurmured.

  "Oh, you'll remember that," returned the chauffeur, to give her theconfidence he saw she needed.

  "I'll remind you of it," volunteered Betty.

  The girls got into the car, and the man, impressing a few importantfacts on the pretty girl driver, lifted his cap as Mollie pressed thebutton of the self-starter.

  "Here we go!" cried Grace, as the motor throbbed and hummed.

  Carefully Mollie threw out the clutch, and slipped in first speed. Thenreleasing the clutch pedal gradually she felt the car move slowlyforward. A flush of pleasure came to her face; for, though she hadseveral times performed this feat of late, the demonstrator had alwayssat beside her. Now she was doing it alone.

  "Fine!" cried Betty, as the car gathered speed.

  "You're all right!" Mr. Ransom called after the girls.

  From first to second gear, and then in another moment to high, wasperformed by Mollie without a hitch. Then she advanced the spark and gaslevers.

  "Well, so far--so good!" spoke Amy, with a sigh of relief.

  "I knew Mollie could do it," declared Betty. "Look out for that wagon,my dear," she cried, a second later.

  "I see it," and Mollie gave it such a wide berth that she sent her carneedlessly to the grassy part of the country highway that led out ofDeepdale.

  "I don't want more than my half of the road," good-naturedly called thefarmer who was driving the horse-drawn vehicle. "If all motorists wereas generous as you there'd be no complaints," and he smiled and liftedhis cap.

  "It's better to be sure than sorry," said Mollie. "Well, girls, how doyou like it?" and she ventured to turn around for an instant to speak toGrace and Amy in the tonneau.

  "It's scrumptious!" declared Grace, between bites at a chocolate.

  "Lovely," chimed in Amy.

  "However did you prevail on your mother to get you the car?" askedBelly.

  "Well, you see, when poor papa died," explained Mollie, as she put on alittle more speed, "he provided in his will that on my seventeenthbirthday I should have a certain sum of money to use just as Ipleased--within reason, of course.

  "He didn't say what it was for, but he had suggested that I take a tripto Europe. But I want to do that later, when I can better appreciatewhat I see, so I asked mamma if I couldn't use the money for a car, andshe allowed me to. The result--you now behold," and she patted thesteering wheel.

  "We do more than merely behold it," said Grace. "It was sweet of you toask us for a spin."

  "Why wouldn't I, when Betty has been having us off on a cruise in hermotor boat?" replied Mollie. Then she cried: "Oh, dear! There's a dog!"for one was in the road ahead.

  "He can't bite us--up here," said Betty. "Unless you are afraid of yourtires."

  "No, it isn't that, but I'm afraid I may run over him!"

  However, the dog leaped away from the road, darted into an open gateway,and from behind the safe vantage of the fence barked at the passingauto.

  "I don't mind you there," said Mollie, with a sigh of relief. "Oh, butisn't this lovely!" and she inhaled deeply of the flower-scented air.There had been a shower the night before, and the roads were inexcellent condition. Mollie had had the car about two weeks, and hadtaken several lessons in driving. As the chauffeur had said, she hadproved an apt pupil, and now, being fully qualified, as her licensestated, to run it alone, she had, on this first occasion, invited herfriends for a run.

  For several miles the girls rode along, enjoying to the utmost theswift, silent and easy motion, and drinking in the sweet air. Theyadmired the views, too, for though they had been out with Mollie whenshe was taking her lessons, they had been so much occupied withwatching her attempts to steer, and listening to the man's instructions,that they had not fully appreciated the beauty of the country throughwhich they passed. And the countr
y about Deepdale was beautiful.

  "Are you going out Shadow Valley way?" asked Betty, as Molliesuccessfully made a turn into another highway, off the main one.

  "No, not this time, though we must go there some day. I thought we'dmotor to Farmington, and go home by way of Skillman."

  "That's a nice way," said Grace. "Here, Mollie, open your mouth," and,as her chum did so, Grace inserted a chocolate, for Mollie had not yetenough confidence to take her hands from the steering wheel, except toshift gears, with the right.

  They were going along a well-shaded road now, the big maples on eitherside meeting in an arch of green overhead. Some of the branches were solow that care had to be taken in passing under them, as Mollie had thetop of the car up for protection.

  As they approached one immense and ancient tree they saw a flutter ofwhite amid the branches near the ground.

  "What's that?" cried Betty.

  "Look out!" exclaimed Grace.

  The white object--large and fluttering--toppled from the tree, almost infront of the car, and with a little scream of fear Mollie gave thesteering wheel such a sudden twist that the auto swerved and nearlyupset. Across the road it shot on two wheels, and crashed into thebushes and briars that lined the highway.

  Instinctively Mollie jammed on the brake, and threw out the clutch, thenext instant shutting off the power, but so suddenly did she stop in theexcess of her zeal that Grace and Amy were thrown from their seats, andBetty had to put out her hands to avoid hitting the wind shield.