followed after.

In a moment the entire flock was galloping off down the road with the
excited girls in pursuit. There is no telling how far they might have
followed the sheep had not Betty become suddenly possessed of a grain of
common-sense.

Panting and laughing, she came to a standstill while the girls rushed past
her.

"Come back here!" she cried, her voice choked with laughter. "There's no
use of our being as silly as the sheep. Mrs. Irving will think we have
deserted her."

So reluctantly the girls abandoned the chase and started back to rejoin
their much relieved but slightly dazed chaperon.

"Now if we had only done that an hour ago," said Mollie, as they climbed
back into the machines determined to make up for lost time, "we would have
been that much nearer the lodge and--something to eat."

"Goodness, it will be almost dark when we get there now," wailed Grace, as
she slipped into the seat beside Betty. "And we haven't had anything to
eat since breakfast."

"What with highway robbers and sheep," laughed Betty, as she started the
engine, "we shall be lucky if we get there at all."

"Oh, Betty, if you love me don't mention that awful highwayman again,"
begged Grace, looking uneasily into the shadows of the wood. "I don't want