"Give her plenty of gas this time, Betty," Mollie sung after her as the
Little Captain climbed into her car. "If we can manage to get to the woods
before dark we will be doing good work. Let her go."

With which advice she settled herself behind the wheel of her own car and
they were off once more.

Betty did "give her plenty of gas," the result being that they succeeded
in reaching the wagon road that led into the woods to the lodge just on
the edge of dusk.

However, when they started along the road they were dismayed to find that
what was only dusk outside on the road became almost dark in here, and
Betty had all she could do to keep to the road at all.

"Hadn't you better put on your lights?" Grace suggested uneasily. "We
might run into a ditch or something. Betty, I'm half scared."

For answer Betty switched on the lights and the woods and the road ahead
of them were suddenly flooded with a weird radiance. It brought out
branches and leaves and stones in such sharp contrast to the dark
background that the effect was startling.

"Oh," gasped Grace, "turn them off again, do, Betty. It is positively
ghastly."

"Don't be foolish," said Betty, striving to make her voice sound
matter-of-fact, her eyes glued to the road ahead of them as it twisted and
turned through the woods. "I don't see why lights should make a perfectly