BERKSHIRES***


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THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS IN THE BERKSHIRES

Or

The Ghost of Lost Man's Trail

by

LAURA DENT CRANE

Author of The Automobile Girls at Newport, The Automobile
Girls Along the Hudson, Etc., Etc.

Illustrated







[Illustration: The Splash Descended on Unsuspecting Bab. _Frontispiece._]




Philadelphia
Henry Altemus Company

Copyright, 1910, by Howard E. Altemus



CONTENTS

CHAPTER                                  PAGE
     I.  The Reunion                        7
    II.  New Light on Old Papers           20
   III.  Happiness, and Another Scheme     28
    IV.  In the Heart of the Berkshires    45
     V.  A Day in the Woods                58
    VI.  "The Great White Also"            66
   VII.  Mollie Follows the Trail          76
  VIII.  End of the Search                 90
    IX.  Spirit of the Forest              95
     X.  A Knock at the Door              107
    XI.  The <DW53> Hunt                    120
   XII.  The Wounded Bird                 128
  XIII.  The Wigwam                       135
   XIV.  Give Way to Miss Sallie!         144
    XV.  Society in Lenox                 152
   XVI.  At the Ambassador's              166
  XVII.  A Visit to Eunice                181
 XVIII.  Plans  for the Society Circus    190
   XIX.  The Old Gray Goose               198
    XX.  Barbara and Beauty               206
   XXI.  Eunice and Mr. Winthrop Latham   215
  XXII.  The Automobile Wins              230
 XXIII.  The Recognition                  240
  XXIV.  What to Do with Eunice           251






The Automobile Girls in the
Berkshires

CHAPTER I

THE REUNION


"Mollie Thurston, we are lost!" cried Barbara dramatically.

The two sisters were in the depth of a New Jersey woods one afternoon in
early September.

"Well, what if we are!" laughed Mollie, leaning over to add a cluster of
wild asters to her great bunch of golden rod. "We have two hours ahead of
us. Surely such clever woodsmen as we are can find our way out of woods
which are but a few miles from home. Suppose we should explore a real
forest some day. Wouldn't it be too heavenly! Come on, lazy Barbara! We
shall reach a clearing in a few moments."

"You lack sympathy, Miss Mollie Thurston; that's your trouble."

Barbara was laughing, yet she anxiously scanned the marshy ground as she
picked her way along.

"I wouldn't mind being lost in these woods a bit more than you do, if I
were not so horribly afraid of snakes. Oh, my! this place looks full of
'em."

"They are not poisonous, Bab, or I might be more sympathetic," said
Mollie reassuringly. "The snakes in these woods are harmless. How can a
girl as brave as you are be such a goose about a poor, wriggly little
'sarpint,' that couldn't harm you if it tried."

"O-o-o!" shivered Bab. "One's own pet fear has nothing to do with sense
or nonsense. Kindly remember your own feelings toward the timid mouse!
Just the same, I should like to play 'Maid Marian' for a while and dwell
in the heart of a woodland glen. If ever I have a chance to go on a
camping trip, I shall get rid of my fear of snakes, somehow."

"Bab," said Mollie, after a moment's pause, "hasn't it been dreadfully
dull since Ruth and her father went away? Do you think they will ever
come back? I can hardly believe it has been only three weeks since they
left Kingsbridge, and only six weeks since we came back from Newport.
Anyhow I am glad Grace Carter is home again from her visit to her
brother."

"Cheer up, Mollie, do!" encouraged Bab