Page:Rover Boys Down East.djvu/106

96 somewhere. I want her to go in secret, so that Sobber and Mr. Crabtree can't follow her."

"That might be a good thing, Dora," answered Dick, and then he had to turn his attention to run ning the touring car. Although the automobile was built for but seven, all had crowded in, Sam sitting in front on Tom's lap, and the ladies and girls occupying the tonneau.

The run to the farm took but a few minutes, Dick "letting the machine out" in a manner that made the ladies gasp.

"Never rode so fast in my life, on a country road!" declared Mrs. Laning, on alighting. "It was like a train!"

"Oh, that was nothing," answered Tom. "We can go twice as fast if we want to."

"Not with me in the car!" declared the lady, firmly.

"It's a splendid automobile," said Mrs. Stanhope. "But I shouldn't care to travel at racing speed in one."

The visitors were warmly welcomed by Mrs. Rover and her husband and by the boys' father, and soon all were made to feel at home. The best rooms in the farmhouse were given over to the guests, and Mrs. Rover had placed a beautiful bunch of June roses in each apartment.

"What lovely roses!" cried Mrs. Stanhope.