WASHINGTON***


E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Project Gutenberg Beginners Projects,
Mary Meehan, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team



THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT WASHINGTON

or, Checkmating the Plots of Foreign Spies

By

LAURA DENT CRANE

Author of The Automobile Girls at Newport, The Automobile Girls in the
Berkshires, The Automobile Girls Along the Hudson, The Automobile Girls
at Chicago, The Automobile Girls at Palm Beach, etc.

1913






[Illustration: A Fat Chinese Gentleman Stood Regarding Her.
(Frontispiece)]




CONTENTS

Chapter

       I. A Chance Meeting
      II. Cabinet Day in Washington
     III. Mr. Tu Fang Wu
      IV. At the Chinese Embassy
       V. Sub Rosa
      VI. The Arrest
     VII. Mollie's Temptation
    VIII. At the White House
      IX. Bab's Discovery
       X. The Confession
      XI. In Mr. Hamlin's Study
     XII. Barbara's Secret Errand
    XIII. A Foolish Girl
     XIV. "Grant No Favors!"
      XV. Bab Refuses to Grant a Favor
     XVI. Barbara's Unexpected Good Luck
    XVII. The White Veil
   XVIII. A Tangled Web or Circumstance
     XIX. Harriet in Danger
      XX. Foiled!
     XXI. The Discovery
    XXII. Oil on the Troubled Waters
   XXIII. Suspense and the Reward
    XXIV. Home at Laurel Cottage




CHAPTER I

A CHANCE MEETING


Barbara Thurston stood at the window of a large old-fashioned house,
looking out into Connecticut Avenue. It was almost dark. An occasional
light twinkled outside in the street, but the room in which Barbara was
stationed was still shrouded in twilight.

Suddenly she heard a curtain at the farther end of the drawing-room
rustle faintly.

Bab turned and saw a young man standing between the curtains, peering
into the shadows with a pair of near-sighted eyes.

Barbara started. The stranger had entered the room through a small study
that adjoined it. He seemed totally unaware of any other presence, for he
was whistling softly: "Kathleen Mavourneen."

"I beg your pardon," Bab began impulsively, "but are you looking for
some one?"

The newcomer flashed a charming smile at Barbara. He did not seem in the
least surprised at her appearance.

"No," he declared cheerfully, "I was not looking for any one or anything.
The butler told me Mr. Hamlin and Harriet were both out. But, I say,
don't you think I am fortunate to have found you quite by accident! I
came in here to loaf a few minutes."

Barbara frowned slightly. The young man's manner was surprisingly
familiar, and she had never seen him before in her life.

"I hope I am not disturbing you," he went on gayly. "I am an attache of
the Russian legation, and a friend of Miss Hamlin's. I came with a
message for Mr. Hamlin. I was wondering if it were worth while to wait
for him. But I can go away if I am troublesome."

"Oh, no, you are not disturbing me in the least," Barbara returned. "I
expect Miss Hamlin and my friends soon. We arrived in Washington last
night, and the other girls have gone out to a reception. I had a headache
and stayed at home. Won't you be seated while I ring for the butler to
turn on the lights?"

The newcomer sat down, gravely watching Barbara.

"Would you like me to guess who you are?" he asked, after half a
minute's silence.

Bab laughed. "I am sure you will give me the first chance to tell you
your name. I did not recognize you at first. But I believe Harriet told
us about you last night. She described several of her Washington friends
to us. You are Peter Dillon, aren't you?"

"At your service," declared the young attache, who looked almost boyish.
"But now give me my opportunity. I do not know your name, but I have
guessed this much. You are an 'Automobile Girl!' Permit me to bid you
welcome to Washington."

Barbara nodded her head decidedly. "Yes, I am Barbara Thurston, one of
the 'Automobile Girls.' There are four of us. Harriet has probably
explained to you. My sister, Mollie Thurston, Grace Carter, Ruth Stuart
and I form the quartet. Mr. William Hamlin is Ruth's uncle. So we are
going to spend a few weeks here with Harriet and see the Capital. I have
never been in Washington before."

"Then you have a new world before you, Miss Thurston," said the young
man, his manner changing. "Washington is like no other city in the world,
I think. I have been here for four years. Before that time I had lived in
Dublin, in Paris, in St. Petersburg."

"Then you are not an American!" exclaimed Bab, regarding the young man
with interest.

"I am a man without a country, Miss Thurston." Bab's visitor laughed
carelessly. "Or,