and purred off down the street in the direction of Betty's house.

When she arrived there she was a little surprised to see that Betty was
backing her fast little roadster down the drive.

To Betty the little car was almost alive, and she talked to it as she
would have to some loved horse or dog. She scrubbed it and scoured it and
shined it so that it always looked like a brand new car.

"Hey, look out!" cried Mollie, for Betty, not noticing her and being a
little worried about the sound of the engine, had backed the small car
down the drive and almost into Mollie's big one. "What kind of driving do
you call that? Do you want to buy me a new mudguard?"

"Oh, pardon me," said Betty, laughing back at her. "You were so small and
insignificant, I came near not seeing you."

"Well, you would have felt me in another minute," grumbled Mollie,
as she shut off the engine and got out of the car. "What's the idea of
your little peanut, anyway? Thought you were going to ride in a regular
car."

"That's why I chose mine," Betty laughed back impishly, still intent on
the sound of the engine.

It was part of their fun to be always throwing insults at each other's car
but the thrusts were invariably good-natured.

Only once had there threatened to be any trouble between the chums on
account of rivalry over the cars. That had been when Mollie had taken