E-text prepared by Al Haines THE MOTOR GIRLS THROUGH NEW ENGLAND Or Held by the Gypsies by MARGARET PENROSE The Goldsmith Publishing Co. New York, N.Y. Copyright, 1911, by Cupples & Leon Company CONTENTS CHAPTER I THE SHADOW II STRIKE OF THE LEADING LADY III A MISHAP IV TO THE RESCUE V FRIEND OR FOE VI A THIEF IN THE NIGHT VII THE SEARCH VIII THE BEGINNING OF THE END IX THE START X AN EXPLOSION XI THE RESULT OF A BLAZE XII QUEER COBBLERS XIII A DELAY AND A SCARE XIV THE MIDNIGHT TOW XV THE GIPSY'S WARNING XVI THE DISAPPEARANCE XVII MISSING XVIII KIDNAPPED XIX THE DEN OF THE GYPSY QUEEN XX CORA AND HELKA XXI MOTHER HULL XXII SADDENED HEARTS XXIII ANOTHER STORY XXIV THE COLLAPSE XXV THE AWAKENING XXVI SURPRISES XXVII THE CALL OF THE HEART XXVIII VICTORY XXIX A REAL LOVE FEAST THE MOTOR GIRLS THROUGH NEW ENGLAND CHAPTER I THE SHADOW "Look, girls! There's a man!" "Where?" "Just creeping under the dining-room window!" "What can he want--looks suspicious!" "Oh, I'm afraid to go in!" "Hush! We won't go in just now!" "If only the boys were here!" "Well, don't cry--they will be here soon." "See! He's getting under the fence! There he goes!" "Did you get a look at him?" "Yes, a good look. I'll know him next time." Bess, Belle and Cora were holding this whispered conversation. It was Belle, the timid, who wanted to cry, and it was Cora who had really seen the man--got the good look. Bess did say she wished the boys were around, but Bess had great confidence in those boys, and this remark, when a man was actually sneaking around Clover Cottage, was perfectly pardonable. The motor girls had just returned from a delightful afternoon ride along the shore road at Lookout Beach. Bess and Belle Robinson, otherwise Elizabeth and Isabel, the twins, were in their little car--the _Flyaway_--and Cora Kimball was driving her fine, four-cylinder touring affair, both machines having just pulled up in front of Clover Cottage, the summer home of the Robinsons. "Did the boys say they would come directly from the post-office?" asked Belle, as she eyed the back fence suspiciously. "Yes, they had to drop some mail in the box. We won't attempt to go in until they come. At any rate, I have a little something to do to the _Whirlwind_," and Cora pulled off her gloves, and started to get a wrench out of the tool box. "I'll get busy, too," declared Bess. "It will look better in case our friend happens to come around the corner." "No danger," and Cora glanced up from the tool box. "I fancy that gentleman is not of the type that runs into facts." "Do you think he is a burglar?" asked Belle. "Well, I wouldn't say just that. But he certainly is not straightforward. And that is a bad sign," replied Cora.