Page:Outdoor Girls in a Motor Car.djvu/122

112 "Hairpins! Oh, dear" laughed Amy half hysterically. "A hairpin to mend a broken auto!"

"I have known one to be of service on a motor boat," spoke Betty. "I bent it in the shape of a spring, and used it on a valve in the Gem."

"I'm afraid there's more than that the matter here," spoke Mollie, as she raised the hood of her car. "That one cylinder must have affected the others, in some way."

"Gracious!" exclaimed Amy, "I didn't know auto diseases were catching in that way. We must be careful, girls."

"It's getting darker," observed Betty. "We must be quick Mollie, if we're to get to shelter before the storm breaks."

It was growing dark and gloomy, and though it was not yet seven o'clock the lowering clouds had added to the dusk of approaching night. Occasionally, in the distance, could be heard the low rumbling of thunder.

"Oh dear!" exclaimed Grace. "We are in for a drenching, that's sure."

"Not necessarily!" said Mollie, a bit sharply. "I'd remind you that my car has a top, and we can put it up."

"That's all right," spoke Betty, soothingly, for she noted that Mollie's temper might get the best