more sleepy-headed down there."Florence smiled. "Here's hoping it will."
                               CHAPTER V
                             THE HIDDEN CAR
Once they were in the car and on their way, winding along the Rio Grande
and breathing in the fresh, invigorating morning air, they felt better
about having had to start so early."We'll make the city early this afternoon, at this rate," Peggy remarked.
"That'll give us time to do a little sightseeing. I wish we didn't have
to go clear to Laredo before we cross the river. I'm eager to get on
Mexican soil right away.""That's the way with me," Jo Ann added. "I wish there were a short cut
somewhere. It seems as if there ought to be."When, two hours later, they stopped at a filling station in a little town
to get some gas, and Jo Ann made this same remark to the service man, he
looked puzzled and merely nodded his head. Florence, realizing that he
understood little English, began questioning him in Spanish.All smiles on hearing his native language, he answered at once, "_Sí_,
there is a bridge you can cross here. They are putting in a new highway
across the desert, which joins the main highway from Laredo.""_Bien._ I think we shall go that way," Florence replied. "It will save
us much time, will it not?""_Sí_--a little. It is about a hundred kilometers less, that way."Florence smiled. "That is very good." Now that she was so close to the
country where her parents lived she was growing more and more eager to
get home."That desert road doesn't sound good to me," Miss Prudence put in,
shaking her gray head vigorously. "It's probably impassable. Ask him if
it's any worse than this one. I certainly don't want to get stranded in
the desert."Florence obediently relayed her question. "If there isn't any rain"--the man grinned and shrugged his shoulders--"you can drive through all right." Florence translated to Miss Prudence what he had said and added, "The rainy season doesn't begin till September. We're not likely to have rain. Look at the sky!" She gestured to the cloudless expanse of blue above them. "It's so dry and hot now it's hard to believe it ever rains in this forsaken country." Miss Prudence hesitated a moment, then went on, "If we'll save that much distance through this awful country, maybe we'd better try it." "Grand!" ejaculated all three girls together. "Ah, how good!" sang out Carlitos in Spanish.
While Miss Prudence was still pointing out the country's bad points, Jo Ann followed the man's directions and turned into the side road leading across the toll bridge. With little difficulty she steered the car down the narrow road, not stopping till they reached the bridge. As soon as they had passed over the middle of the bridge, the girls and Carlitos, to Miss Prudence's evident disapproval, 

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