"I'd say so!" groaned Grace, again reminded of her own state of starvation. "You get out your side Betty and I'll get out mine and we'll make a quick dash for it." [Illustration: GRACE AND BETTY MADE A QUICK DASH FOR SHELTER. _The Outdoor Girls at Bluff Point._ _Page 83._] So they lifted the curtains and slipped out, thankful for the gravel walk that, while it was wet and slippery, was still a delightful contrast to the muddy sea of road they had left. They ran head down against the blinding rain, and gained the bottom step of the porch at the same time. A moment more, and they had climbed to the shelter of the porch itself, out of breath but jubilant. "Thank goodness!" cried Grace. "And here come your mother and Mollie and Amy," chuckled Betty as the trio followed their example and raced for the porch. "I guess none of them ever knew she could run so fast in her life before. Hello, folks. Beautiful weather, isn't it?" she inquired gayly, as the three scrambled, panting, up on the porch. "You seem in a terrible hurry to get somewhere." "Speak for yourself, John," gasped Mollie, shaking out her wet skirts and trying to regain some of her dignity by putting her hat on straight. "If you could know what I've been through for the last hour, just coaxing the car along an inch at a time--" "Well," laughed Betty, as she turned to the front door and pushed the bell, "I've been through a little bit of everything, myself, for the last few hours, except a good square meal. And, judging from the delightful aroma that hovers about this place," she added sniffing hungrily, "I shouldn't wonder if that oversight wouldn't be swiftly remedied!" Then the door opened and a tall, gray-haired lady stood in the lighted doorway. CHAPTER X THE KNIGHT OF THE WAYSIDE The lady stared at the bedraggled party in amazed silence for a moment. Then Mrs. Ford stepped impulsively forward. "I don't wonder you look surprised," she said in her sweetly modulated voice, "for this is rather an unheard of calling hour. But you see we were caught in this awful downpour and had to seek your house for refuge." "Oh, I'm sorry!" exclaimed the lady, opening the door wider and motioning them into the cheerfully lighted living room. "I didn't mean," she added with a smile, as they most willingly accepted her invitation, "that I was sorry you came, but that you were forced to come by such conditions. Won't you take off your things? But you are wet!" she exclaimed, as the girls started to remove their dripping wraps. "And we got it all," said Mrs. Ford with a wry smile, "just running about twenty feet from our cars to your porch." "Your cars!" the hostess repeated. "Then you motored down. If I had known that I shouldn't have been so surprised at seeing you. Pedestrians are rather rare on a night like this." "Yes, and motorists, too, if they have any sense," said Mollie dryly, at which they all laughed and their hostess looked still more interested.