“Sure,” Marshall agreed. “He said he stopped at the house. Say, if that bird sold me a stolen car! Just wait till I get hold of him!”
“He’s probably skipped town by this time,” one of the officers said. “Your story sounds straight enough, so I guess you were just taken in.”
“Then we won’t have to go to jail?” Kitty demanded.
“No, not unless we catch this fellow Dunn and need you to identify him.”
“What about my car?” Marshmallow asked miserably.
“I’m afraid you’re out of luck there. We’ll have to return it to its rightful owner. Next time be more wary of a slick salesman!”
Kitty and Doris reluctantly stepped out of the sedan and watched as one of the officers drove it away. Marshmallow leaned dejectedly on the gate.
“Oh, Marsh, it was all my fault,” Doris murmured contritely. “I didn’t mean—”
“It wasn’t your fault, Dory. The police would have been after me sooner or later. I might have known that car was too good a bargain!”
There was little that the others could say to comfort him, for they, too, were discouraged by the turn events had taken. The loss of the sedan undoubtedly meant that the boys would be unable to make the trip to Cloudy Cove.
“I haven’t the nerve to ask Mother for more money,” Marshmallow declared, as he sank down on the porch steps and gazed gloomily out toward the street. “Do you think there’s any chance they’ll catch that fellow?”
“I’m afraid not,” Dave told him. “He’s probably in another state by this time.”
“If only I’d given him a check instead of cash,” Marshmallow moaned. “Then I could have stopped payment.”
“I guess this ends our trip,” Dave said thoughtfully. “My car won’t be in shape for weeks.”
“Why not take your car?” Doris suggested halfheartedly to Marshmallow.
“You know Mother wouldn’t set foot in it,” the stout lad protested. “It’s so rough looking I’m almost ashamed of it myself.”
“Perhaps Kitty and I could go with Mrs. Mallow on the train, as we originally planned. You and Dave could start ahead. Why not paint your car up? That would improve its appearance a lot.”
Marshmallow brightened instantly.
“Say, that’s an idea! What do you say, Dave?”
“It’s our only chance of getting to Cloudy Cove. Maybe if we tinker with the engine a bit and splash on a couple of coats of paint, we can make something out of that old bus!”
Inspired by Doris’s suggestion, the two young men hurried to the nearest store to purchase paint. Returning, they backed Marshmallow’s car out into the yard and set to work.
Doris and Kitty, who in the meantime had decided that by washing out a number of frocks they would speed up preparations for their trip, had come out on the back porch. By the time they had wrung out the garments and hung them upon the line, Marshmallow and Dave had washed the car and were ready to start painting.
“Want us to help?” Kitty asked.
“Too many artists might ruin the job,” Marshmallow laughed.
The girls were not offended that their services were not in demand, for they preferred to watch from the porch steps and to offer suggestions and criticisms. Wags, a small brown dog which Doris had found along the roadside several weeks before, frisked about the automobile and annoyed the boys by biting at their heels. Twice Dave saved the paint bucket from being upset.
“I wish you’d take that little scamp in the house and lock him up!” Marshmallow declared impatiently. “He gets his paws all paint and then he tries to put them on me!”
Wags was reluctant to leave the scene, but the girls dragged him inside by force. Doris went to the piano to practice her singing lesson and Kitty settled herself in a big chair to finish her book.
The dog was completely forgotten. Unnoticed, he went out into the kitchen, and gently pushing open the screen door with his nose, slipped outside.
Fifteen minutes later Doris noticed that he was missing and arose from the piano bench to see what had become of him. At that very moment a loud shout came from the back yard, to be followed by a series of delighted canine yelps. Doris rushed to the window.
“Kitty!” she cried in dismay. “Just see what Wags has done now! Oh, he’s ruined everything!”
CHAPTER III
Off for Cloudy Cove
Hearing Doris’s exclamation, Kitty ran to the window. There was no need to ask what had happened for she saw at a glance the havoc Wags had wrought. In his playful attempts to “chase” the flapping garments, which were drying on the clothesline, he had pushed down the supporting pole, with the result that the line was permitted to drop across one side of Marshmallow’s freshly-painted car.
“Oh, all of our dresses are ruined!” Doris wailed.
Rushing out into the back yard the two girls snatched their frocks from the line and anxiously examined them for paint marks. Marshmallow and Dave gave chase to Wags, but the wary little dog, realizing that he had made a fatal error of judgment in attacking the clothesline, raced across the street out of danger’s way.
“I thought you were going to keep that dog in the house,” Marshmallow grumbled, as the boys came back to the car. “Goodnight! Just look at that! We’ll have to paint the whole side over again! And it’s almost dark now.”
“Just look at our frocks!” Doris retorted. “We’ll be lucky if we ever get the spots out.” While the four were taking stock of the damage Wags had caused, Mrs. Mallow came to the kitchen door to announce that supper was ready. When Dave turned to leave, she called him back, insisting that he remain.
Marshmallow already had broken the news of the stolen automobile to his mother and was relieved to find that she had not considered him at all to blame for the turn events had taken. In fact, Mrs. Mallow had learned from sad experience that her son’s business ventures frequently were impetuous, and had schooled herself to accept them philosophically.
On this evening she did not permit the loss of the money to dampen the spirits of the young people, and as usual supper was a very gay affair. Wardell Force, who was always at his best when surrounded by a group of girls and boys, even made a joke of the misfortune, and by the time the salad was served the unpleasant details were forgotten. Mrs. Mallow was an excellent cook and on this night she had quite outdone herself. As Marshmallow passed his plate for a third helping, Doris teasingly observed that his recent troubles did not appear to affect his appetite.
Naturally the conversation centered about the proposed trip to Cloudy Cove. Dave and Marshmallow insisted that they would have the automobile in shape for the journey within two days, and since the others were eager to be off, it was definitely decided that they leave Chilton on Tuesday. Dave and Marshmallow planned to drive the car, leaving early in the morning, while Mrs. Mallow and the girls would take the late night train.
“Too bad you’re, not going too, Uncle Ward,” Doris remarked. “Can’t you possibly come with us?”
“I’m afraid not,” her uncle returned with a regretful smile. “While you’re enjoying yourselves at Cloudy Cove, I must deliver an important lecture in the southern part of the state.”
“Oh, we don’t expect to play all the time we’re gone,” Doris laughed. “I may surprise you and come back with a fortune!”
The following day Marshmallow and Dave worked diligently on the old car, yet found time to make a trip to the police