route and follow it."

"That isn't fair, doctor," Dave rejoined. "We're on foot, and
have been away from Gridley for something over a fortnight. It
is you who must have been following us, with that seven-passenger
automobile of yours. And may I remind you, sir, that you wouldn't
have bursted the tire if you hadn't been driving at something
under a hundred and eighty miles an hour in the effort to overtake
us?"

"I'm beaten", laughed Dr. Bentley. "I take it all back. I agree
that the appearances are all against me. But I didn't know that
you young scions of Gridley were on the road. I was driving fast
in order to bring the ladies to Ashbury in time for luncheon.
And now, they won't get it."

"Small loss to them, and great gain to us," smiled Dick. "We
have provisions enough in our wagon to offer all the luncheon
that your party can possibly care to eat."

"No, no! We've encroached upon your hospitality too often in
the past," replied Dr. Bentley, with a shake of his head. "We
won't be delayed long. Just how long, Reade, do you think it
is going to take us to fit on the new tire?"

"The car ought to be ready to run again in fifteen minutes," Tom
answered truthfully.

"And we can make Ashbury in another fifteen minutes," Laura's
father continued. "So we won't rob the pantry of Dick & Co. to-day."