catch up before we get to Ft. Wayne." I knew what Nyoda was thinking
about. The man had said the girls in the car were laughing fit to kill,
and that looked very much as if there were some joke on foot. We knew
very well they were running away from us and were going to lead us a
chase to Ft. Wayne.

As we started off in pursuit I looked around from the tonneau, where I
was then sitting, and saw a red roadster not far behind us. There was
one man in it and he was the Frog I had seen goggling at Nyoda in the
dining-room at Toledo.

We were not so terribly surprised when we did not find the Striped
Beetle at Napoleon where we stopped for gasoline. We knew now that they
would not let us catch them before we got to Ft. Wayne. We inquired at
the service station and found that the brown car had stopped for
gasoline nearly an hour before. Clearly they were not losing any time
on the road. Neither were we gaining on them at that rate. Nyoda looked
thoughtful as she started out once more. I knew she was meditating a
lecture for Gladys when she caught up with her, about running away from
us. Nyoda was responsible for the welfare of seven girls and how could
she fulfil her trust if she had only three under her eye? And I knew as
well as I knew anything that Gladys would forfeit her right to be
leader by that little prank and for the rest of the trip would follow
meekly along behind us. Nyoda would never in the world stand for her
going off like that. But by the puzzled frown on her face I knew that
she didn't understand it any more than I did. Gladys was the last one
in the world to do such a thing. There must be some reason.

From my seat I could see that the Frog, who had also stopped for
gasoline when we did, was not far behind us. The car he was in looked