The Adventure of the Hasty Elopement

When Octavius reads in the newspaper that auto-thieves had been making havoc in the vicinity of the Rosedale Country Club, his soul was stirred to extraordinary effort. He had just bought a car himself, and naturally felt a keen interest in anything affecting even remotely his new and cherished possession. Then again, there was, of course, his Duty to the Public. In his capacity as an amateur detective Octavius was above all else a relentless bloodhound in the public interest. So he took his machine and went out to Rosedale. Adventure met him on the way, for at the railway station a pretty girl begged him for a ride, and Octavius gladly complied with her request. After a short ride, the girl, apparently by accident, dropped her parasol from the automobile. Octavius gallantly stopped the machine, and ran back to get it. A moment later, the astonished Octavius was standing with the parasol in his hands watching his car speeding down the road under the guidance of the perfidious female. A