Bab's face flushed with pleasure at the news. She had not been with her
beloved Ruth since the Easter before. Then the color died out of her face
and her cheeks showed an unaccustomed pallor.

"I am so sorry, Mother," Bab responded. "I would give anything in the
world to see Ruth. But I simply can't stop school just now, or I shall
lose the scholarship. Mollie, you can accept Ruth's invitation. You and
Grace Carter can go to Washington together. You won't mind going
without me."

"I shall not stir a single step without you," blue-eyed Mollie returned
firmly. "And Mother thinks you can go!"

Mollie and Mrs. Thurston, aided by Bab's teachers, at last persuaded
Barbara to take a few weeks' holiday. Bab could study to make up for lost
time during the Christmas holidays. For no one, except the young woman
herself, doubted Barbara's ability to win the desired Vassar scholarship.

And so it was arranged that Bab and Mollie should go with Ruth to
Washington. Bab had grown taller and more slender in the past few months.
Her brown braids are now always coiled about her graceful head. Her hair
was parted in the middle, although a few little curls still escaped in
the old, careless fashion.

Ruth Stuart, too, was looking sweeter and fresher than ever, and was the
same ingenuous, unspoiled girl, whose sunny disposition no amount of
wealth and fashion could change.

Readers of the first volume in the "Automobile Girls Series," entitled