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diff --git a/old/52025-8.txt b/old/52025-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 12f0281..0000000 --- a/old/52025-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4962 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Motor Matt's Make-and-Break, by Stanley R. Matthews - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Motor Matt's Make-and-Break - or, Advancing the Spark of Friendship - -Author: Stanley R. Matthews - -Release Date: May 9, 2016 [EBook #52025] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MOTOR MATT'S MAKE-AND-BREAK *** - - - - -Produced by David Edwards, Demian Katz and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (Images -courtesy of the Digital Library@Villanova University -(http://digital.library.villanova.edu/)) - - - - - - - - - - MOTOR STORIES - - THRILLING - ADVENTURE - - MOTOR - FICTION - - NO. 26 - AUG. 21, 1909 - - FIVE - CENTS - - - MOTOR MATT'S - MAKE-AND-BREAK - - OR ADVANCING THE - SPARK of FRIENDSHIP - - _BY THE AUTHOR - OF "MOTOR MATT"_ - - [Illustration: _"Catch the rope and hold fast!" - cried Motor Matt, as the aeroplane - skimmed over the surface - of the river._] - - _STREET & SMITH, - PUBLISHERS, - NEW YORK._ - - - - -MOTOR STORIES - -THRILLING ADVENTURE MOTOR FICTION - -_Issued Weekly. By subscription $2.50 per year. Copyright, 1909, by_ -STREET & SMITH, _79-80 Seventh Avenue, New York, N. Y._ - - No. 26. NEW YORK, August 21, 1909. Price Five Cents. - - - - -Motor Matt's "Make and Break" - -OR, - -ADVANCING THE SPARK OF FRIENDSHIP. - -By the author of "MOTOR MATT." - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER I. THE SKELETON IN THE CLOSET. - CHAPTER II. WHAT NEXT? - CHAPTER III. BRINGING THE SKELETON OUT. - CHAPTER IV. MARKING OUT A COURSE. - CHAPTER V. THE START. - CHAPTER VI. A SHOT ACROSS THE BOWS. - CHAPTER VII. THE MAN HUNTERS. - CHAPTER VIII. FOOLING THE COWBOYS. - CHAPTER IX. THE TRAILING ROPE. - CHAPTER X. A BOLT FROM THE BLUE. - CHAPTER XI. "ADVANCING THE SPARK." - CHAPTER XII. THE TRAIL TO THE RIVER. - CHAPTER XIII. UNWELCOME CALLERS. - CHAPTER XIV. AN UNEXPECTED TURN. - CHAPTER XV. A RISKY VENTURE. - CHAPTER XVI. CONCLUSION. - MOSE HOWARD'S FISH TRAP. - PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN IN DANGEROUS PLACES. - COSTLY FISHES. - - - - -CHARACTERS THAT APPEAR IN THIS STORY. - - - =Matt King=, otherwise Motor Matt. - - =Joe McGlory=, a young cowboy who proves himself a lad of worth and - character, and whose eccentricities are all on the humorous side. A - good chum to tie to--a point Motor Matt is quick to perceive. - - =Ping Pong=, a Chinese boy who insists on working for Motor Matt, and - who contrives to make himself valuable, perhaps invaluable. - - =Amos Murgatroyd=, the unscrupulous broker whose fight against the - Traquairs and Motor Matt finally results in complete disaster to - himself. - - =Prebbles=, Murgatroyd's old clerk, who resurrects the skeleton from - the family closet, fights a good fight, and, with the help of the - king of the motor boys, finally banishes the skeleton altogether. - - =Newt Prebbles=, for whom Motor Matt undertakes to advance the spark - of friendship; a youth who has erred, but who comes to a turning - point and takes the right path. - - =Lieutenant Cameron=, an officer in the Signal Corps, U. S. A., who - proves to be the cousin of an old friend of Matt, and who nearly - loses his life when the aëroplane is tested. - - =Jed Spearman=, "=Slim=," "=Hen=," =and three others=, cowboys - belonging with the Tin Cup outfit, who make some mistakes and are - finally set right by the sheriff. - - =Roscoe=, sheriff of Burleigh County, who plays a small but very - important part. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -THE SKELETON IN THE CLOSET. - - -"Where's the old man, Prebbles?" - -"Don't ask me, Jim. I haven't a notion." - -"Well, there's a letter for him." - -The postman dropped a letter on the desk in front of the little old -man on the high stool, and the door slammed. Prebbles picked up the -letter and blinked at it. For a while he sat staring like a person in a -dream, then a gasp escaped his lips, and he slipped from the stool and -carried the letter closer to the window. - -It was almost sunset, and a neighboring building shut off the light, -but there, close to the dusty window pane, the light was good enough. -The letter dropped from Prebbles' shaking hand, and he fell back -against the wall. - -"It's from _him_," the old man mumbled; "it's--it's----" - -The words died on his lips, and a choking gurgle arose in his throat. -Trembling like a man with the palsy, Prebbles pulled himself together -and staggered to the water cooler. He drew himself a glass, and the -tumbler rattled against his teeth as he drank. - -"This won't do," he said to himself, drawing a hand across his forehead -in a dazed and bewildered way. "I've got to brace up, that's what I -have. But what's Newt writing to _him_ for? I--I can't understand that." - -Prebbles went back and picked up the letter. He was still greatly -shaken, although he was getting firmer hold of himself by swift degrees. - -It was a very ordinary appearing letter to have aroused such an -extraordinary state of mind in the old man. The address, in a peculiar -backhand, was to "Mr. Amos Murgatroyd, Loan Broker, Jamestown, North -Dakota." - -Prebbles was Murgatroyd's clerk, and the only clerk in the loan office. -For several weeks Murgatroyd had not been in Jamestown, and the work of -the office--what little there was--fell to Prebbles. - -During those weeks of absence, the broker had been doing unlawful -things. Prebbles, knowing his employer well, expected nothing better -of him; but just what Murgatroyd had been doing, the old clerk did not -know. - -Strange men, who might be detectives in disguise, were watching the -office night and day. Prebbles had been keen enough to discover that. - -It was the peculiar handwriting of the letter that had had such a -powerful effect upon the old clerk. Not one man in a thousand, perhaps -in ten thousand, used a pen as the writer of that letter to the broker -had used it. Prebbles felt sure that he could not be mistaken--that -there was not the least possibility of a mistake. He knew who the -writer of the letter was, and for weeks the old man's dream by day and -night was that he could discover the whereabouts of the man. - -The envelope was postmarked at Steele, N. D. The writer might be there, -or he might not be there. After setting hand to the letter, it was more -than possible he had mailed the letter at Steele and then gone to some -other place. - -There was one way to make sure--and only one: In order to find out -positively where the writer of the letter was, Prebbles would have to -open it and read it. Although a clerk in the office, his position did -not give him the right to open his employer's personal mail; in fact, -Murgatroyd had expressly forbidden this. - -The letters received during Murgatroyd's absence--and they were but -few--had been placed in the office safe. A week before, the collected -letters had mysteriously vanished during the night, and in their place -was left this scribbled line: - - "Dropped in and got my mail. Say nothing to any one about my having - been here. A. M." - -That was all, absolutely all, Prebbles had learned of his employer -since he had left Jamestown several weeks before. Only two or three -letters had collected in the safe since the others had been taken, and -now this one from Steele must be added to them, unless---- - -Prebbles caught up a pair of scissors. Before he could snip off the end -of the envelope, he paused. To deliberately open a letter addressed -to some one else is a crime which, if brought to the attention of the -postal authorities, is heavily punished. Prebbles was not afraid of the -punishment, for he believed that Murgatroyd himself was a fugitive; -still, it was well to be wary. - -Laying down the scissors, he ran the end of a pen-holder under the -flap. But again he paused, realizing, with a tremor, that he belonged -to the army, the Salvation Army. As a soldier in the ranks, had he -the right to take this advantage of his employer? On the streets, -Prebbles, because of his earnestness in the army work, he was known as -"Old Hallelujah." Poor business, this, for Old Hallelujah to rifle his -employer's mail! - -With a groan, Prebbles pushed the letter aside and dropped his face -in his hands. While he was thus humped over his desk, a picture of -distress and misery, the door opened and a boy came in with a telegram. -The message was for Prebbles, and he signed the receipt. As soon as the -boy had left, he tore the message open. - - "Forward mail at once to George Hobbes, Bismarck. - - "HOBBES." - -This was from Murgatroyd, and it was not the first time he had used the -name of "George Hobbes." - -Was Prebbles to send that letter on without first seeing what was -inside it? Duty to his employer and duty to himself warred in his soul. - -That last letter received for Murgatroyd might have been taken to the -police. They could secure authority from Washington to open it. But, -if the letter came from the person Prebbles suspected, he did not want -the police to see it. - -The six o'clock whistle blew, but Prebbles paid no attention. He was -fighting with his Salvation Army principles, and the stake was the -contents of that letter to Murgatroyd. - -At seven o'clock, the haggard old man, the battle still going on in his -breast, pushed the letter into his pocket and left the office, locking -the door behind him. He did not go to the cheap eating house where he -usually took his meals--there was no supper for him that night--but he -proceeded directly to the "barracks," got into his dingy blue cap and -coat, and took his cymbals. By eight, a dozen of the "faithful" were -in the street, their torches flaring smokily, and the bass drum, the -snare drum, the cymbals, and the tambourine whanging and clashing and -rattling a quickstep. - -Back and forth they marched, then rounded up on a corner and sang one -of their army songs. - -Old Hallelujah was particularly earnest, that night. His voice was -loudest in the singing, and his exhorting was done with a fine fervor. -His thin, crooked body straightened, and his eyes gleamed, and he -struck the cymbals with unusual vigor. - -"Ole Halleluyer is gittin' young ag'in," ran the comment of more than -one bystander. - -"If he's so pious," observed some one, "it's a wonder he don't break -away from that ole thief, Murgatroyd." - -It _was_ a wonder, and no mistake. But the wonder was soon to cease. - -At ten o'clock Prebbles and the rest were back in the barracks; and at -ten-thirty Prebbles was in his five-by-ten little hall bedroom, calmly -steaming open the letter to Murgatroyd. He had finished the fight, and -had nerved himself for his first false step. But was it a false step? -He had come to the conclusion that the end justified the means. - -The letter, carefully written, jumped immediately into the business the -writer of it had in mind. - - "I must have more money or I shall tell all I know about you and the - accident to Traquair and his aëroplane. I can't live on promises, and - I'm not going to make a fugitive out of myself any longer just to - shield you. You're a fugitive yourself, now, but I reckon you can dig - up enough money for both of us. I have dropped down the line of the - Northern Pacific to mail this letter; as soon as it is in the office, - I'm going back to my headquarters at the mouth of Burnt Creek, on the - Missouri, ten miles above Bismarck. You'd better meet me there at - once, as it's the safest place you can find. I suppose you've made - arrangements to have your mail forwarded, so I'm sending this to your - office. _Bring plenty of money._ NEWT PREBBLES." - -For many a weary hour the old man paced the narrow confines of his -room, reading the letter again and again and turning the contents over -and over in his mind. - -"The boy don't care for me, he's mad at me," muttered Prebbles wearily, -"but if I can make up with him, maybe he can be saved. What's this -about the accident to Traquair? What does Newt know about Murgatroyd? -No matter what happens, I've got to get the boy out of Murgatroyd's -clutches. If Newt stays with him, he'll be as bad as he is." - -It was after midnight when Prebbles dropped weakly into a chair. - -"Motor Matt will help me," he muttered. - -The thought had come to him like a flash of inspiration. And another -inspiration had come to him, as well. He made a copy of the letter, -then placed the original in its envelope, carefully resealed it, and -went to the broker's office. To take the collected letters from the -safe, place them and the one from Steele in a large envelope and -address the envelope to "Mr. George Hobbes, General Delivery, Bismarck, -N. D.," consumed only a few minutes. - -"Motor Matt will know how to do the rest of it," thought the old clerk. -"He's a clever lad, and he helps people. He helped Mrs. Traquair and -he'll help Prebbles. I'm done with this office for good, and I'm glad -of it." - -He looked around the room with a grim laugh. - -"I never thought I'd be pulling the pin on myself," he said aloud. -"Maybe it's the poorhouse for mine, but I'll be glad to starve if I can -make up with Newt and save him from that robber, Murgatroyd." - -He turned off the light and closed and locked the office door. An hour -later he had dropped the long envelope into a letter box and was back -in his room. At seven in the morning he had boarded the northbound -train for Minnewaukon and Devil's Lake. Motor Matt was at Fort Totten, -on the south shore of the lake, and Prebbles would be at the fort in -the afternoon. - -The king of the motor boys was the old man's hope. Prebbles knew -Matt, and had abundant faith in his ability to accomplish seemingly -impossible things. - -"He'll help me," murmured Prebbles, leaning back in one corner of the -seat; "he helped Mrs. Traquair, and he'll help me." - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -WHAT NEXT? - - -"An elegant day--for ducks," said Joe McGlory, turning from the window -against which a torrent of rain was splashing. "I'd about got my nerve -screwed up to the place where I was going to take a fly with you in the -_Comet_, pard." - -"Well," laughed Matt, "perhaps it will be a clear, still day to-morrow, -Joe." - -"The day may be all right, but whether I have the necessary amount of -nerve is a question. It takes sand to sit on a couple of wings and let -a gasoline engine push you through the clouds. Sufferin' jack rabbits! -Why, Ping, that little, slant-eyed chink, has got more sand than me -when it comes to slidin' around through the firmament on a couple o' -squares of canvas. I'm disgusted with myself, and that's honest." - -"It's as easy as falling off a log," remarked Lieutenant Cameron, of -the Signal Corps. "I've been up with Matt, and I know. He does all the -work, McGlory. You won't have to do anything but sit tight and hang on." - -"'Sit tight and hang on!'" echoed the cowboy. "Sounds easy, don't it? -At the same time, Cameron, you know that if your hair ain't parted in -the middle, the overweight on one side is liable to make the _Comet_ -turn turtle." - -"Hardly as bad as that," grinned Matt. - -The three--Lieutenant Cameron, Motor Matt, and Joe McGlory--were in -Cameron's quarters in officers' row at the post. - -One window of the room overlooked the parade ground and, if the weather -had not been so thick, would have given a view of the old barracks, -beyond. Another window commanded a prospect of the lake, just now -surging high and lashing its waters against the foot of the bluff on -which the fort stood. - -The post was practically abandoned, and no more than a handful of -soldiers were in possession. Most of these comprised a detail of the -Signal Corps sent there for the try-out of the Traquair aëroplane with -which Matt had acquitted himself so creditably. - -It was about three o'clock in the afternoon, and all day long Matt and -McGlory had been housed up at the post on account of the storm. - -Ping Pong, the Chinese boy, was watching the aëroplane, which was in a -big shelter tent not far from the post trader's store. - -The cowboy, grumbling over the cheerless prospect from each window of -the room, finally returned to his rocking-chair and sat down. - -"What next, Matt?" inquired Cameron. "You don't remain long in any one -place, and I've been wondering when you'd leave here and where you'd -go." - -"We're liable to break out in any old place on the map," said McGlory. -"That's what I like about trailing around with Pard Matt. You never -know, from one week to the next, whether you're going to hang up -your hat in Alaska or Panama. It's the uncertainty and the vast -possibilities that hooked me." - -"I haven't laid any plans," remarked the king of the motor boys. "The -failure of the government to buy that aëroplane, after Joe and I had -put up a lot of money and time building it, leaves me with the machine -on my hands. It's something of a white elephant." - -"It needn't be a white elephant," returned Cameron. "You can crate the -_Comet_ and leave it here at the post until you find a use for it. The -other aëroplane which you and Mrs. Traquair sold the war department is -going to prove such a success that I am sure the government will be -after this one. It will take a little time. There's a certain amount of -red tape connected with the matter, you know." - -"I'm hoping the government will buy the machine, but I don't feel like -leaving it in storage while we're waiting for the war department to -make up its mind." - -"Why don't you go hunting for Murgatroyd?" inquired Cameron. "The -government has offered a reward of one thousand dollars for his -capture." - -Murgatroyd had not only tried to wreck the first Traquair aëroplane -at the time of the government trials at Fort Totten, but he had also -resorted to crime in an attempt to secure, from Mrs. Traquair, a -quarter section of land in Wells County, which, for some mysterious -reason of his own, he was eager to get hold of. A deserter from the -army, Cant Phillips by name, had assisted Murgatroyd in his nefarious -work; and, for that, Phillips was now on his way to Fort Leavenworth to -serve out a long sentence in a government prison, and Amos Murgatroyd -was a fugitive. - -Matt and his friends had been drawn into these lawless plots of the -broker's, and Cameron supposed that, apart from the reward offered for -the broker's capture, the young motorist would be eager to see him -brought to book. - -"I've lost interest in Murgatroyd," said Matt. "He's a scoundrel, and -the government is dealing with him. What I want to do is to put the -aëroplane to some profitable use. It was damaged considerably, when -Murgatroyd brought it down with that rifle shot, and Joe and I have -had to put up about three hundred more good dollars for repairs. Now -that it's all shipshape and ready to fly once more, I feel as though we -ought to make it earn something for us, instead of leaving it here at -Fort Totten in storage." - -"Aëroplanes are built to sell, aren't they?" asked the lieutenant -quizzically. "How can you make any profit off them if you don't sell -them?" - -"Well, for one thing," replied Matt, "aëro clubs, in different parts -of the world, are offering prizes for flights in flying machines. -This machine of Traquair's, as you know, Cameron, is the best one yet -invented. It can go farther and do more than any other aëroplane on the -market." - -"I guess that's right," agreed Cameron. - -"However, I'm not thinking of flying for a prize. We'd have to go to -Europe in order to get busy with a project of that sort, and I don't -want to leave the United States--at least, not for a while yet." - -"I wouldn't go out of the country, Matt," said Cameron earnestly. -"You're under contract, you know, not to dispose of any of the Traquair -patents to foreign governments." - -"I wasn't thinking of such a thing as that, Cameron. What I was -thinking of is this: Yesterday I received a letter from a show---- -one of these 'tented aggregations,' as they're called in the -bills--offering five hundred dollars a week if we would travel with the -outfit and give two short flights each day from the show grounds----" - -McGlory was on his feet in an instant, waving his hand above his head -and hurrahing. - -"That hits me plump!" he cried. "I've always wanted to do something in -a show. Whoop-ya! Matt, you old sphinx, why didn't you say something -about this before?" - -"I've been turning the proposition over in my mind," answered Matt. -"Frankly, I don't like the idea of traveling with a show so much as I -do the prospect of earning five hundred a week. I'll have to find out, -too, whether the manager of the show is good for the money before I'll -talk with him." - -"Are we going to St. Paul for an interview?" - -"No, to Fargo. The show will make that town in about a week, and I -wired the manager that we would meet him there. The _Comet_ will carry -two light-weight passengers in addition to the operator, so you and -Ping, Joe, will have to fly with me to Fargo. We can save railroad fare -by going in the aëroplane, and that's why I want to get you accustomed -to being in the air with the machine." - -Cameron listened to Matt with an air that showed plainly his -disapproval. - -"You won't like the show business, Matt," he declared. - -"I understand that," was the response, "but it's the salary that -appeals to me." - -"Furthermore," continued Cameron, "the manager of the show will -probably dock your salary every time you fail to pull off a flight. You -know how hard it is to bank on the weather. At least half of each week, -I should say at a guess, you will find it too windy to go up." - -"We'll have to have an understanding with the manager about that. It -will have to be a pretty stiff wind, though, to keep me from flying. -I've got the knack of handling the aëroplane, now, and a moderate -breeze won't bother me at all." - -"The show's the thing!" jubilated McGlory. "Speak to me about -that, will you? The king of the motor boys and the _Comet_ will be -top-liners. And _draw_? Well, I should say! Why, they'll draw the -people like a house afire." - -The first Traquair aëroplane--the one sold to the government after the -Fort Totten trials had been christened the _June Bug_ by McGlory; but -this one, built by Matt after the Traquair model, he had himself named -the _Comet_. This name was to perpetuate the memory of a motorcycle -which Matt had owned and had used with telling effect in far-away -Arizona. - -"I'm sure I wish you all the luck in the world, Matt," said Cameron -heartily, "although I tell you flat that this show project of yours -doesn't commend itself to me worth a cent. However, you know your -own business best. You have demonstrated, beyond all doubt, that -the Traquair aëroplane can travel across country equally as well as -around a prescribed course. This makes it possible for you to take -your friends aboard and fly to Fargo, or to New York, if you want -to--providing the wind isn't too strong and nothing goes wrong with the -machinery, but----" - -Cameron did not finish. Just at that moment a rap fell on the door, and -he turned in his chair to ask who was outside. - -"O'Hara, sor," came the response from the hall. - -"What is it, O'Hara?" - -"There's a little old man wid me, sor, who has just rained in from -Minnewaukon. He's as damp as a fish and about all in, sor, an' he's -afther wantin' t' spake wid Motor Matt." - -"Bring him in, at once." - -The door opened and Sergeant O'Hara entered the room, half dragging and -half carrying a water-soaked individual who dropped feebly into a chair. - -"Prebbles!" exclaimed the king of the motor boys, starting back in -amazement. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -BRINGING THE SKELETON OUT. - - -The old clerk was so wrought up over the business he had in hand that -he had given scant consideration to himself. All his life--ever since -he had been cast adrift to make his own way in the world--he had been a -clerk. The only outdoor exercise he had ever taken consisted in walking -from his sleeping quarters to his boarding place, and thence to the -office, back to the boarding place for lunch, then back once more for -supper and to his lodgings for sleep. During the last few months, since -joining the "army," he had had evening exercise of a strenuous nature, -but it came at a time of life when it merely ran down the physical -organism instead of building it up. - -It was a bedraggled and shattered Prebbles that completed the trip by -wagon from Minnewaukon to the post. This lap of the journey was through -a driving rain, the old man being insufficiently protected by a thin -horse blanket. His whole body was shaking, as he sat dripping in the -chair, and his teeth clattered and rattled. - -Several times Prebbles tried to speak to Motor Matt, but the chill -splintered his words into indistinguishable sounds. - -O'Hara peered into the clerk's gray face, and then turned a significant -look at his superior officer. - -"Sor," said he, "th' ould chap ain't built t' shtand a couple av hours -in th' rain." - -"Get him something hot from the kitchen, sergeant," ordered Cameron. -Then, when O'Hara had left, the lieutenant turned to Matt. "Bring him -into my bedroom, Matt you and McGlory. I've some clothes he can put on. -They'll be a mile too big for him, but they'll be dry." - -"Don't try to talk now, Prebbles," admonished Matt, as he and the -cowboy supported him into the next room. "You'll feel better in a -little while and then you can talk all you please." - -O'Hara came with a pitcher of hot milk, in which the post doctor had -mixed a stimulant of some kind, and he was left in the bedroom to help -Prebbles out of his wet clothes and into the dry ones. - -"Who is he?" inquired Cameron, when he and the boys were once more back -in the sitting room. - -"Murgatroyd's clerk," replied Matt. "I saw him once, when I first -reached Jamestown and called on the broker to make inquiries about -Traquair's aëroplane." - -"Then, if he works for a scoundrel like Murgatroyd, he must be of the -same calibre. Like master, like man, you know." - -"That old saw don't apply to this case, Cameron," said Matt earnestly. -"Prebbles is a good deal of a man. He belongs to the Salvation Army and -tries to be square with everybody. Why, the very first time I called on -Murgatroyd, Prebbles warned me to beware of the broker." - -"The old boy is the clear quill," said McGlory, "you take it from me. -But what's he doing here? Sufferin' horned toads! Say, do you think -he's come to tell us something about Murg?" - -"By Jove," muttered Cameron, with suppressed excitement, "I'll bet -that's what brought him!" - -"Perhaps," said Matt. "We'll know all about it, in a little while." - -In less than half an hour the old clerk emerged from the room, in a -comfortable condition outside and in. The only thing about him that was -at all damp was a sheet of folded paper which he carried in his hand. - -"We had to swim, just about, from Minnewaukon over here," muttered -Prebbles, as he lowered himself into a chair. "You're mighty good to an -old man, Motor Matt, you and your friends." - -"When did you leave Jamestown?" asked Matt. - -"This morning." - -"Then it was raining hard when you got off the train at Minnewaukon!" - -"Raining pitchforks!" - -"Why didn't you wait in the town until the rain was over?" - -"There wasn't time," and the shake in Prebbles' high-pitched voice told -of his growing excitement. "I just had to get here, that's all. What -I've got to say, Motor Matt," he added, with an anxious look at Cameron -and McGlory, "is--is mighty important." - -"Perhaps we'd better go, then," said Cameron, with a look at the -cowboy. - -"Wait a minute," interposed Matt. "Has what you've got to say anything -to do with Murgatroyd?" - -"He's a robber," barked Prebbles: "he's worse'n a robber. Yes, Murg's -mainly concerned in what I've got to say." - -"Then it will be well for Cameron to stay and hear it. He represents -the government, and the government is after Murgatroyd. As for McGlory, -here, he's my pard, and I have few secrets from him." - -"All right, then," returned Prebbles. "It ain't a pleasant story I'm -goin' to tell--leastways not for me. I've got to dig a few old bones -out of my past life, and I know you won't think hard of me, seeing as -how I belong to the army. It's a great thing to belong," and the old -man seemed to forget what he was about to say, for a few moments, and -fell to musing. - -The young motorist, the cowboy, and the lieutenant waited patiently for -Prebbles to pull himself together and proceed. The old clerk's haggard -face proved that he had suffered much, and his three auditors had only -kindness and consideration for him. - -"It's like this," went on the old man suddenly, pulling himself -together and drawing a hand over his eyes. "I was married, a long while -ago--so long it seems as though it must have been in another world. I -reckon I was happy, then, but it didn't last long. My wife died in two -years and left me with a boy to raise. I wonder if you know how hard it -is for a man like me to bring up a boy without a good woman to help? -The job was too much for Prebbles. I did the best I knew how, on only -thirty-five dollars a month, givin' the lad an education--or trying to, -rather, for he never took much to books and schooling. He ran away from -me when he was fifteen, an' I didn't see him again until last spring, -when he was twenty-one. - -"Six years had made a big difference in that boy, friends. He had gone -his way, and it wasn't a good way, either. He was in Jimtown just a -month, gamblin' and carryin' on, and then him and me had a quarrel. -They were bitter words we passed, me accusin' him of dishonoring his -dead mother and his father, by his ways, and him twitting me of bein' -a failure in life just because I didn't have the nerve to be dishonest -and go to grafting. I must have said things that were awful--I can't -remember--but all I do know is that Newt hit me. He knocked me down, -right in Murgatroyd's office. Murg was out, at the time, and Newt and -me was alone there together. When I came to, Newt was gone." - -Again was there a silence, the old clerk fingering a scar on the side -of his cheek. - -"How like a serpent's tooth is an ungrateful son," went on Prebbles. -"And yet, Newt wasn't all to blame. I wasn't the right sort to bring up -a high-spirited boy. I wasn't able to do my duty. He left four hundred -in gamblin' debts, when he went away. Murgatroyd showed me the I O U's -with Newt's name to 'em. That's why I kept right on workin' for Murg, -when I knew he was a robber, and after I had joined the army. I've been -taking up those I O U's. Three of 'em's been paid, and there's one -more left; and here I've pulled the pin on myself before takin' up the -other. I don't know what I'm going to do for a job," and a pathetic -helplessness crept into the old clerk's voice, "but," and the voice -strengthened grimly, "I started out on this thing and I'm going to -see it through. What I want, is to make up with Newt. Lawsy, how that -quarrel has worried me! I don't care about the way he hit me--he had -the right, I guess--but I want to make up with him an' get him back." - -The old man dropped his face in his hands. The other three looked at -him sympathetically, and then exchanged significant glances. - -"It isn't so hard, Prebbles," remarked Matt gently, "to advance the -spark of friendship, and it ought to be more than easy in the case of -you and your son." - -Prebbles lifted his head and his forlorn face brightened. - -"I knew you'd help me, Matt," and he put out his thin, clawlike hand -to grip Matt's; "you help everybody that wants you to, and I knew -sure you'd see me through this business. I did what I could for -you--remember that? Mebby what I done didn't amount to such a terrible -sight, but I put you next to Murgatroyd the first time you ever came -into his office." - -"Of course I'll do what I can to help you, Prebbles," said Matt -reassuringly. - -"It's make or break with me, this time," shivered Prebbles. "I'm pretty -well along to stand such a row as I had with Newt." - -"Where is Newt now?" inquired Matt. - -"That's the point!" murmured Prebbles, trying to brace up in his chair. -"Somehow, he's got under the thumb of Murgatroyd, or Murg's got under -_his_ thumb, I can't just understand which." - -Prebbles smoothed out the damp sheet of folded paper on his knee. - -"I belong to the army," he quavered, "and I don't feel that what I've -done's wrong. A letter came to Murgatroyd, at the office, last night. -It was addressed in Newt's handwriting. I opened that letter and made -a copy of it; then I sent the letter on, with some others, to George -Hobbes, Bismarck. That's the name Murg uses when he pretends he's -lendin' money for some one else. He can gouge and strip a man, while -sayin' he's actin' for Hobbes, see?" - -Every one of the three who had listened to Prebbles was deeply -interested. The bringing in of Murgatroyd seemed to offer a chance for -capturing the rascal. - -"Here's the letter, Motor Matt," said Prebbles. "Read it out loud, and -then you'll all understand. There's a way to get Newt, and advance the -spark of friendship, as you call it. By doin' that, the boy can be -saved from the influence of Murgatroyd--and that's what I want." - -Matt took the copy of the letter from the clerk's nerveless hand and -read it aloud. Just as he finished, Prebbles slumped slowly forward out -of his chair and fell in a senseless heap on the floor. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -MARKING OUT A COURSE. - - -"Poor old codger!" exclaimed McGlory, as he and Matt lifted the clerk -and carried him to the bed in the other room. "He's had more trouble -than he could dodge, pard." - -"He didn't try to dodge it, Joe," answered Matt quietly, "and that's -to his credit. He's worn out. I'll bet that, while he was scrimping in -order to take up his son's I O U's, he has hardly eaten enough to keep -himself alive. His constitution is broken down, and this trip in the -rain from Minnewaukon has topped off his endurance. It's only a faint, -that's all, but it proves the old man has got to be looked after." - -Matt and McGlory had revived Prebbles before Cameron came with the -doctor. The latter, after listening to as much of the matter as the -boys could tell him, felt the old man's pulse and shook his head -gravely. - -"We'll have to keep him in bed for a day or two, I think," he said. - -"Don't say that!" begged Prebbles. "I got work to do, doctor! Besides, -this isn't my bed--it belongs to Motor Matt's friend, Cameron, and----" - -"Motor Matt's friend," put in the lieutenant, "is only too glad to give -you his bed, Prebbles. I can sleep on the couch in the next room, and -you can stay here until you're well enough to leave." - -"But I can't stay here," cried Prebbles querulously. "Didn't you hear -me say I had work to do? I've got to help Motor Matt--all of you know -why." - -"Anyhow, Prebbles," said Matt, "nothing can be done until morning. You -stay here and keep quiet until then. Meanwhile, Cameron, McGlory, and I -will mark out a course, and we'll tell you all about it before we begin -following it. If you're able, you can go with us. If you're not able, -you can stay here and feel sure that I'll carry out this make-and-break -affair of yours just as though it was my own. You can trust me to -advance the spark of friendship, can't you?" - -"There ain't any one else I'd trust but you, Motor Matt," declared -Prebbles. "But I'm going with you, in the morning. I haven't any -money----" - -"You don't need any," interrupted Cameron. "You're welcome to stay here -as long as you please, at the government's expense. You have brought a -clue which may lead to the capture of Murgatroyd, and the government -has offered a reward of one thousand dollars for him." - -"If he can be captured, Prebbles," added Matt, "the money will go to -you." - -"It'll come in handy, but--but it's Newt I want." - -At a nod from the doctor, Matt, McGlory, and Cameron went into the -other room and closed the door. - -"Prebbles will never be able to leave here to-morrow morning," averred -Cameron. - -"It's up to McGlory and me," said Matt, "to do what we can." - -"Give me a share in the work," begged Cameron. "Perhaps I can do -something. If necessary, I'll get a furlough." - -Matt was thoughtful for a few moments. Stepping to the window -overlooking the parade ground, he peered out at the weather. The rain -continued to come down in torrents, but there was a hint, overhead, -that the storm would not last out the night. - -"We have a good clue to Murgatroyd's whereabouts," said Matt presently, -coming back and taking a chair facing his friends, "but there are -several points to be considered. Prebbles sent on the original of his -son's letter last night. That means that some time to-day Murgatroyd -got the letter in Bismarck. If it is raining as hard, over on the -Missouri, as it is here, it is unlikely that Murgatroyd went up the -river to Burnt Creek to-day. With clearing weather, he'll probably go -up to-morrow." - -"Then," said Cameron, "it's our business to take a train for Jamestown -at once, connect with a west-bound train there for Bismarck, and then -take a team and drive from Bismarck to Burnt Creek." - -"The afternoon train has left Minnewaukon," answered Matt, who seemed -to have considered every phase of the matter, "and there is no other -train south until to-morrow morning. That train, I think, connects -with one on the main line for Bismarck, but we could hardly reach the -town before late to-morrow afternoon, and it would be night before we -could get to Burnt Creek. While we were losing all this time, what will -Murgatroyd be doing?" - -"Why not get an automobile from Devil's Lake City," suggested Cameron, -"and reach Jamestown in time to connect with an earlier train?" - -"How will the roads be after this rain?" inquired Matt. - -"That's so!" exclaimed Cameron, with a gloomy look from one of the -windows. "These North Dakota roads are fine in dry weather, but -they're little more than bogs after a rain like this. We can't use the -automobile, that's sure, and Murgatroyd is likely to reach Burnt Creek -before we can possibly get there. Will he and young Prebbles stay at -Burnt Creek until we arrive? That's the point." - -"It's so uncertain a point," said Matt, "that we can't take chances -with it." - -"We've _got_ to take chances, pard," put in McGlory, "unless we charter -an engine for the run to Jamestown." - -"There's another way," asserted Matt. - -"What other way is there?" asked Cameron. - -"Well, first off, we can send a message at once to Bismarck, to the -chief of police----" - -"Sufferin' blockheads!" grunted McGlory. "I never thought of that." - -"How are the police going to locate Murgatroyd?" went on Cameron. "The -scoundrel is there under an assumed name." - -"Why," said Matt, "tell the police, in the message, to arrest any man -who calls at the post office and asks for mail for 'George Hobbes.'" - -"Easy enough," muttered Cameron. - -"No," proceeded Matt, "not so easy as you think, for it may be that -Murgatroyd has already received the letter. But shoot the message -through at once, Cameron, and let's do all we can, and as quick as we -can." - -The message was written out and sent to the telegraph office by O'Hara. - -"Now," said Cameron, "assuming that that does the trick for Murgatroyd, -there is still young Prebbles to think about. He'll wait at Burnt -Creek, I take it, for Murgatroyd, and if Murgatroyd is captured, and -isn't able to leave Bismarck, we can reach Burnt Creek in time to find -our man and advance that 'spark of friendship'--which, to be perfectly -candid, I haven't much faith in." - -"I believe," said Matt, "that the greatest scoundrel that ever lived -has an affection for his parents, somewhere deep down in his heart. If -I'm any judge of human nature, that cowardly blow Newt gave his father -has bothered the young fellow quite as much as it has that old man, -in there," and Matt nodded toward the door of the bedroom. "Leaving -out sentiment altogether, though, and our ability to reach Newt on -Prebbles' behalf, there's something else in his letter that makes the -biggest kind of a hit with me." - -"What's that?" came from both Cameron and McGlory. - -"Well, young Prebbles is asking Murgatroyd for money, and hinting at -something he knows about the accident to Harry Traquair. You remember -that Mrs. Traquair's husband lost his life, in Jamestown, by a fall -with his aëroplane. It is possible that young Prebbles knows more about -that accident than Murgatroyd wants him to know." - -"Speak to me about that!" muttered the wide-eyed McGlory. "Matt, you -old gilt-edged wonder, you're the best guesser that ever came down the -pike! Give him the barest line on any old thing, Cameron, and this pard -of mine will give you, offhand, all the dips, angles, and formations." - -"This is plain enough, Joe," protested Matt. - -"I can see it now," said Cameron, "but I couldn't before. There are big -things to come out of this business, friends! I feel it in my bones." - -"And the biggest thing," declared Matt, with feeling, "is making Newt -Prebbles' peace with his father." - -"Then," said Cameron, with sudden animation, "I'm to get leave and go -with you by train, to-morrow morning, to Bismarck, on our way to Burnt -Creek?" - -Matt shook his head. - -"That depends, Cameron," he answered, dropping a friendly hand on the -lieutenant's knee. - -"Depends on what?" - -"Why, on whether it's a clear, still day or a stormy one." - -Both Cameron and McGlory were puzzled. - -"I can't see where that comes in," said the lieutenant. - -"If it's a fine day, Joe and I will go to Burnt Creek with the _Comet_." - -McGlory jumped in his chair. - -"That's another time I missed the high jump!" he exclaimed. "Never once -thought of the _Comet_." - -"All roads are the same," went on Matt, "when you travel through the -air. Apart from that, we can cut across lots, in the _Comet_, and do -our forty to sixty miles an hour between here and the Missouri and -Burnt Creek." - -Cameron was dashed. He was eager to take part in the work of bagging -Murgatroyd, and in finding Newt Prebbles. - -"Suppose an accident happens to the flying machine," said he, "and -you are dropped on the open prairie, fifty miles from anywhere? You -wouldn't be gaining much time over the trip by train." - -"We won't go by air ship," replied Matt, "unless we are very sure the -conditions are right. Give me the proper conditions, and I'll guarantee -no accident will happen to the _Comet_." - -"But McGlory is scared of his life to fly in the machine," went on -Cameron. "Why not leave him here and let me go with you?" - -"Not in a thousand years!" clamored McGlory. "I'm going to ride in the -_Comet_. That's flat." - -"Well, the machine will carry three," proceeded Cameron. "Why not leave -the Chinaman behind and take me?" - -"The _Comet_ will carry three light weights," laughed Matt. "You're too -heavy, Cameron." - -"That lets me out," deplored Cameron, "so far as the _Comet_ is -concerned, but I'll go by train. Maybe I'll arrive in time to be of -some help." - -"We may all have to go by train, lieutenant," returned Matt; "we won't -know about that until to-morrow morning. For the present, though, the -course is as I've marked it out." - -"Well, let's go and eat," said Cameron, getting up as the notes of a -bugle came to his ears. "There goes supper call. I'll hope for the -best, but I'm for Burnt Creek, Matt, whether I go in the _Comet_ or by -train." - -Prebbles, they found, was asleep. O'Hara was brought in to sit with him -while they were at supper, and all three left the room. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -THE START. - - -The following morning dawned clear, and bright, and still. It was a day -made to order, so far as aëroplane flying was concerned. - -Matt and his cowboy chum spent the night at the post. Before turning -in, Matt got into sou'wester, slicker, and rubber boots and churned his -way down to the aëroplane tent to see how Ping and the machine were -getting along. - -Everything was all right, and the heavy, water-proofed canvas was -turning the rain nicely. Ping was in love with the _Comet_, and could -be counted on to guard it as the apple of his eye. - -"As fine a morning for your start as one could wish for," observed -Cameron, with a note of regret in his voice, as he, and Matt, and -McGlory came out of the mess hall and started along the board walk that -edged the parade ground. - -"I'm sorry, old chap, we can't take you with us," said Matt, "but the -_Comet_ is hardly a passenger craft, you know." - -"What will you do with Prebbles, if he's well enough to go?" - -"We'll let Ping come with you by train. Prebbles doesn't weigh much -more than the Chinaman." - -"Suppose Prebbles doesn't care to risk his neck in the machine?" - -"I don't think he'll make any objection. However, we'll go to your -quarters and make sure of that, right now. How did he pass the night?" - -"Slept well, so O'Hara said. He was still sleeping when a private -relieved the sergeant. McGlory," and here the lieutenant turned to the -cowboy, "do you feel as much like flying, this morning, as you did last -night?" - -"Not half so much, Cameron," answered McGlory, with a tightening of -his jaws, "but you couldn't keep me out of that flyin' machine with a -shotgun. If we join a circus as air navigators, I've got to get used to -flying, and I might as well begin right now." - -"All right," answered the disappointed lieutenant, "I'll go by train." - -The doctor was with Prebbles when Cameron and the boys reached the -lieutenant's quarters. What is more, the doctor's face was graver than -it had been the preceding afternoon. The old man was throwing himself -around on the bed and muttering incoherently. - -"Delirious," said the doctor, examining a temperature thermometer; -"temperature a hundred and three, and he's as wild as a loon. Newt, -Newt, Newt--that's the trend of his talk. You can't understand him, -now, but he was talking plain enough when I got here." - -"Is the sickness serious?" asked Matt. - -"Pneumonia. Know what that is, don't you, Matt? It's hard enough on a -person with a good constitution, but in a case like this, where the -powers of resistance are almost exhausted, the end is pretty nearly a -foregone conclusion. However, we're taking the trouble right at the -beginning, and there's a chance I may break it up." - -"Get a good nurse for him," said Matt, "and see that he gets all the -care possible. The poor old chap was a good friend of mine, once, and -I'll bear all the expense." - -"Never mind that, Matt," spoke up Cameron. "If Murgatroyd is caught, -because of the tip he gave us, the government will be owing Prebbles a -lot of money." - -Suddenly the old man sat up in bed, his eyes wide and staring vacantly, -his arms stretched out in front of him and his hands beating together. -His voice grew clear and distinct, echoing through the room with weird -shrillness. - - "At the cross, at the cross, there I first saw the light, - And the burden from my heart rolled away! - It was there by faith I received my sight, - And now I'm happy all the day!" - -One verse was all. Spent with the effort, Prebbles dropped back on the -pillow and continued his whispered muttering. - -"It's one of those Salvation Army songs," observed the doctor. - -"He thought he was marching and playing the cymbals," said Matt, in a -low tone. - -"Too bad!" exclaimed McGlory, shaking his head. - -"Do all you can for him, doctor," urged Matt. - -"I will, of course," was the answer, "but you may be able to do more -for him than any one else, Matt." - -"How so?" - -"Why, by bringing back that scalawag son of his. That's the one thing -the old man needs. If we can show Prebbles the boy, and make him -realize that he's here, and sorry for the past, it will do a world of -good." - -"I'll bring him!" declared Matt, his voice vibrant with feeling. -"Prebbles said this business would make or break him; and, as the work -is on my shoulders now, it's make or break for me. Come on, Joe!" - -He turned from the room, followed by McGlory and Cameron. Out of the -post went the three, and down the hill and past the post trader's -store, the king of the motor boys saying not a word; but, when the -shelter tent was in sight, he turned to his companions. - -"It's mighty odd," said he, "how chances to do a little good in -the world will sometimes come a fellow's way. Through that rascal, -Murgatroyd, I was led into giving a helping hand to Mrs. Traquair; and -here, through the same man, I've a chance to help Prebbles." - -"And you can bet your moccasins we'll help him," declared McGlory, -"even though we lose that circus contract. Hey, pard?" - -"We will!" answered Matt. - -Ping had cooked himself a mess of rice on a camp stove near the -shelter tent. He was just finishing his rations when the boys and the -lieutenant came up. - -"We're going out in the aëroplane to-day, Ping," announced Matt. - -"Allee light," said the Chinaman, wiping off his chop sticks and -slipping them into his blouse. - -"You and McGlory are going with me," went on Matt. - -The yellow face glowed, and the slant eyes sparkled. - -"Hoop-a-la!" exulted Ping. "By Klismus, my likee sail in Cloud Joss!" - -"I wish I had that heathen's nerve," muttered the cowboy. "It's plumb -scandalous the way the joy bubbles out of him. All his life he's been -glued to _terra firma_, same as me, but, from the way he acts, you'd -think he'd spent most of his time on the wing. But mebby he's only -running in a rhinecaboo, and will dive into his wannegan as soon as -we're ready to take a running start and climb into the air. We'll see." - -"Pump up the bicycle tires, Joe," said Matt. "Get them good and hard. -Ping," and Matt pointed to the haversack of provender McGlory had -brought from the post, "stow that back of the seat on the lower wing. -We may be gone two or three days." - -"And mebby we'll be cut off in our youth and bloom and never come -back," observed McGlory, grabbing the air pump. "This is Matt's make -and break," he grinned grewsomely; "we make an ascent and break our -bloomin' necks. But who cares? We're helping a neighbor." - -Ping crooned happily as he set about securing the haversack. He'd have -jumped on a streak of chain lightning, if Matt had been going along -with him to make the streak behave. - -The _Comet_ had two gasoline tanks, and both of these were full. The -oil cups were also brimming, and there was a reserve supply to be drawn -on in case of need. - -Matt went over the machine carefully, as he always did before a flight, -making sure that everything was tight and shipshape, and in perfect -running order. - -Even if anything went wrong with the motor, and the propeller ceased to -drive the aëroplane ahead, there would have been no accident. The broad -wings, or planes, would have glided down the air like twin parachutes -and landed the flyers safely. - -Cameron, having manfully smothered his disappointment, lent his hearty -aid in getting the boys ready for the start. The machine, at the -beginning of the flight, had to be driven forward on the bicycle wheels -until the air under the wings offered sufficient resistance to lift -the craft. A speed of thirty miles an hour was sufficient to carry the -flying machine off the ground and launch it skyward. - -But there was disappointment in store for the boys. The three, seated -on the lower plane, Matt at the levers, tried again and again to send -the machine fast enough along the muddy road to give it the required -impetus to lift it. But the road was too heavy. - -The trick of fortune caused Ping to gabble and jabber furiously, but -McGlory watched and waited with passive willingness to accept whatever -was to come. - -"I guess you'll have to give up, Matt," said Cameron. "The road's too -soft and you can't get a start." - -Matt looked at the prairie alongside the road. The grass was short, and -the springy turf seemed to offer some chance for a getaway. - -"We'll try it there," said he, pointing to the trailside. "Give us a -boost off the road, Cameron, and then start us." - -The lieutenant assisted the laboring bicycle wheels to gain the -roadside, and then pushed the machine straight off across the prairie. -Matt threw every ounce of power into the wheels. - -Usually the air ship took to wing in less than a hundred yards, but -now the distance consumed by the start was three times that. For two -hundred feet Cameron kept up and pushed; then the _Comet_ went away -from him at a steadily increasing pace. Finally the wheels lifted. - -Quick as thought, Matt shifted the power to the propeller. The _Comet_ -dropped a little, then caught herself just as the wheels were brushing -the grass and forged upward. - -"Hoop-a-la!" cried Ping. - -McGlory said nothing. His face was set, his eyes gleaming, and he was -hanging to his seat with both hands. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -A SHOT ACROSS THE BOWS. - - -The sensation of gliding through the air, entirely cut adrift from -solid ground, is as novel as it is pleasant. The body seems suddenly -to have acquired an indescribable lightness, and the spirits become -equally buoyant. Dizziness, or vertigo, is unheard of among aëronauts. -While on the ground a man may not be able to climb a ladder for a -distance of ten feet without losing his head and falling, the same man -can look downward for thousands of feet from a balloon with his nerves -unruffled. - -Joe McGlory, now for the first time leaping into the air with a flying -machine, was holding his breath and hanging on desperately to keep -himself from being shaken off his seat, but, to his astonishment, his -fears were rapidly dying away within him. - -The cowboy was a lad of pluck and daring; nevertheless, he had viewed -his projected flight in a mood akin to panic. Although passionately -fond of boats, yet the roll of a launch in a seaway always made him -sick; in the same manner, perhaps, he was in love with flying machines, -although it had taken a lot of strenuous work to get him to promise to -go aloft. - -The necessity, on account of wet ground, of juggling for a start, had -thrown something of a wet blanket over McGlory's ardor. Once in the -air, however, his enthusiasm arose as his fears went down. - -Matt sat on the left side of the broad seat, firmly planted with -his feet on the footrest and his body bent forward, one hand on the -mechanism that expanded or contracted the great wings, and the other -manipulating the rudder that gave the craft a vertical course. - -On Matt's quickness of judgment and lightning-like celerity in shifting -the levers, the lives of all three of the boys depended. Every change -in the centre of air pressure--and this was shifting every second--had -to be met with an expansion or contraction of the wings in order to -make the centre of air pressure and the centre of gravity coincide at -all times. - -Upon Matt, therefore, fell all the labor and responsibility. He had no -time to give to the scenery passing below, and what talking he indulged -in was mechanical and of secondary importance to his work. But this -is not to say that he missed all the pleasures of flying. A greater -delight than that offered by the zest of danger and responsibility in -the air would be hard to imagine. Every second his nerves were strung -to tightest tension. - -Ping sat between Matt and McGlory, his yellow hands clutching the rim -of the seat between his knees. He was purring with happiness, like some -overgrown cat, while a grin of heavenly joy parted his face as his eyes -marked the muddy roads over which they were passing without hindrance. - -Up and up Matt forced the machine until they reached a height of five -hundred feet. Here the air was crisp and cool, and much steadier than -the currents closer to the surface. - -"Great!" shouted the cowboy. "I haven't the least fear that we're going -to drop, and I'd just as lieve go out on the end of one of the wings -and stand on my head." - -"Don't do it," laughed Matt, keeping his eyes straight ahead, while his -hand trawled constantly back and forth with the lever controlling the -wing ends. - -"Him plenty fine!" cooed Ping. - -"Fine ain't the name for it," said McGlory. "I'm so plumb tickled I -can't sit still. And to think that I shied and side-stepped, when I -might have been having this fun right along! Well, we can't be so wise -all the time as we are just some of the time, and that's a fact. How -far do you make it, Matt, to where we're going?" - -"A little over a hundred miles, as the crow flies." - -"As the _Comet_ flies, you mean. How fast are we going?" - -"Fifty miles an hour." - -"That clip will drop us near Burnt Creek in two hours. Whoop-ya!" - -The cowboy let out a yell from pure exhilaration. Not a thought -regarding possible accident ran through his head. The engine was -working as sweetly as any motor had ever worked, the propeller was -whirling at a speed that made it look like a solid disk, and the great -wings were plunging through the air with the steady, swooping motion of -a hawk in full flight. - -A huddle of houses rushed toward the _Comet_, far below, and vanished -behind. - -"What was that, pard?" cried the cowboy. - -"Minnewaukon," answered Matt. - -At that moment the young motorist shifted the rudder behind, which was -the one giving the craft her right and left course, and they made a -half turn. As the _Comet_ came around and pointed her nose toward the -southwest, she careened, throwing the right-hand wings sharply upward. - -McGlory gave vent to a hair-raising yell. He was hurled against Ping, -and Ping, in turn, was thrown against Matt. - -"Right yourselves, pards," called Matt. "That was nothing. When we -swing around a turn we're bound to roll a little. You can't expect more -of an air ship, you know, than you can of a boat in the water. You keep -track of the time, Ping. Joe, follow our course on the map. You can -hang on with one hand and hold the map open with the other. We can't -sail without a chart." - -Matt had secured his open-face watch to a bracket directly above Ping's -head. The boy could see the time-piece without shifting his position. - -The map McGlory had in his pocket. Removing the map from his coat with -one hand, the cowboy opened it upon his knee. - -With a ruler, Matt had drawn a line from Minnewaukon straight to the -point where Burnt Creek emptied into the Missouri. This line ran -directly southwest, crossing four lines of railroad, and as many towns. - -"How are we going to know we're keeping the course, pard?" inquired -McGlory. "We ought to have a compass." - -"A compass wouldn't have been a bad thing to bring along," returned -Matt, "but we'll be able to keep the course, all right, by watching for -the towns we're due to pass. The first town is Flora, on the branch -road running northwest from Oberon. If I'm not mistaken, there it is to -the right of us. Hang on, both of you! I'm going to drop down close, -Joe, while you hail one of the citizens and ask him if I've got the -name of the place right." - -There was plenty of excitement in the little prairie village. Men, -women, and children could be seen rushing out of their houses and -gazing upward at the strange monster in the sky. Everybody in that -section had heard of Motor Matt and his aëroplanes, so the curiosity -and surprise were tempered with a certain amount of knowledge. - -"Hello, neighbor!" roared McGlory, as the air ship swept downward to -within fifty feet of the ground, "what town is this?" - -"Flora," came the reply. "Light, strangers, an' roost in our front -yard. Ma and the children would like to get a good look at your -machine, and----" - -The voice faded to rearward, and "ma and the children" had to be -disappointed. - -Having assured himself that he was right, Matt headed the aëroplane -toward the skies, once more. - -Settlers' shacks, and more pretentious farmhouses, raced along under -them, and in every place where there were any human beings, intense -excitement was manifested as the _Comet_ winged its way onward. - -In less than fifteen minutes after passing Flora, they caught sight -of another railroad track and another huddle of buildings. It was the -"Soo" road, and the town was Manfred. - -"How long have we been in the air, Ping?" asked Matt. - -"Fitty-fi' minutes," replied the Chinaman. - -"Manfred ain't many miles from Sykestown, pard," said Joe, "and we must -be within gunshot of that place where we had our troubles, a few days -back." - -"I'm glad we're giving the spot a wide berth," returned Matt, with -a wry face. "We've got to make better time," he added, opening the -throttle; "we're not doing as well as I thought." - -The _Comet_ hurled herself onward at faster speed. The air of their -flight whistled and sang in the boys' ears, and hills underneath leaped -at them and then vanished rearward with dizzying swiftness. - -"I'd like to travel in an aëroplane all the time," remarked McGlory. -"Sufferin' skyrockets! What's the use of hoofin' it, or ridin' in -railroad cars, when you can pick up a pair of wings and a motor and go -gallywhooping through the air?" - -The machine was well over the coteaus, now, and the rough country would -hold, with only now and then an occasional break, clear to the Missouri. - -Another railroad, and a cluster of dwellings known as "Goodrich," were -passed, and the aëroplane slid along over the corner of McLean County -and into Burleigh. - -They were drawing close to Burnt Creek, and everything was going -swimmingly. Matt, notwithstanding the severe strain upon him, was not -in the least tired. In a little less than two hours after leaving Fort -Totten they crossed their last railroad--a branch running northward -from Bismarck. The town, near where they winged over the steel rails, -was down on the map as "Arnold." - -"Speak to me about this!" cried McGlory. "There's a creek under us, -Matt, and I'll bet it's the one we're looking for." - -"We're finding something else we were not looking for," answered the -king of the motor boys grimly. - -"What's that?" queried McGlory. - -"Look straight ahead at the top of the next hill." - -McGlory turned his eyes in the direction indicated. A number of -rough-looking horsemen, evidently cowboys, were scattered over the -hill. They were armed with rifles, and were spurring back and forth in -an apparent desire to get directly in front of the _Comet_. - -"Why, pard," shouted McGlory, "they're punchers, same as me. Punchers -are a friendly lot, and that outfit wouldn't no more think of cutting -up rough with us than----" - -The words were taken out of the cowboy's mouth by the sharp crack of a -rifle. One of the horsemen had fired, his bullet singing through the -air in front of the _Comet_. - -"That's across our bows," said Matt, "and it's an invitation to come -down." - -The "invitation" was seconded by a yell the import of which there was -no mistaking. - -"Hit the airth, you, up thar, or we'll bring ye down wrong-side up!" - -"Nice outfit _they_ are!" grunted McGlory. "Get into the sky a couple -of miles, Matt, and---- Sufferin' terrors! What are you about?" - -Motor Matt had pointed the air ship earthward, and was gliding toward -the hilltop. - -"No use, Joe," Matt answered. "They could hit us with their bullets and -wreck us before we got out of range. They want to talk with us, and we -might as well humor them." - -"Mighty peculiar way for a lot of cowboys to act," muttered McGlory. - -"No likee," said Ping. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -THE MAN HUNTERS. - - -Motor Matt was not anticipating any serious trouble with the cowboys. -The worst that could possibly happen, he believed, was a slight delay -while the curiosity of the horsemen regarding the aëroplane was -satisfied. - -Armed cattlemen are proverbially reckless. A refusal to alight would -certainly have made the _Comet_ a target for half a dozen guns, and it -was a foregone conclusion that not all the bullets would have gone wild. - -The cowboys, of course, knew nothing about aëroplanes. They wanted Matt -to come down, no matter whether the landing was made in a spot from -which the aëroplane could take a fresh start, or in a place where a -start would be impossible. - -The hill on which the horsemen were posted was a high one, and had -smooth, treeless slopes on all sides. It was, in fact, a veritable -turf-covered coteau. - -Matt was planning to alight on the very crest of the hill. When he and -his pards were ready to take wing again, he thought they could dash -down the hill slope, and be in the air before the foot of the hill was -reached. - -The horses of the men below were frightened by the aëroplane, and began -to kick and plunge. The trained riders, however, held them steady with -one hand while gripping rifles with the other. - -The flying machine circled obediently in answer to her steering -apparatus, and landed on the crest of the hill with hardly a jar. As -the craft rested there, the boys got out to stretch their cramped legs -and inquire what the cowboys wanted. The latter had spurred their -restive animals close, and were grouped in a circle about the _Comet_. - -"Well, I'll be gosh-hanged!" muttered one, staring at the machine with -jaws agape. - -"Me, too!" murmured another. "Gee, man, but this here's hard ter -believe." - -"Hustlin' around through the air," put in another, "same as I go -slashin' over the range on a bronk." - -The fourth man gave less heed to his amazement than he did to the -business immediately in hand. - -"Ain't either one o' 'em George Hobbes?" he averred, looking Matt, -McGlory, and Ping over with some disappointment. - -That name, falling from the cowboy's lips, caused Matt and McGlory to -exchange wondering glances. - -"What did you stop us for?" asked Matt. - -"Me an' Slim, thar, thought ye mout hev Hobbes aboard that -thing-um-bob," went on the last speaker. "We're from the Tin Cup Ranch, -us fellers are. I'm Jed Spearman, the foreman. Whar d'ye hail from?" - -"From Fort Totten." - -"When d'ye leave thar?" - -"About two hours ago." - -"Come off! Toten's a good hunnerd an' twenty miles from here." - -"Well," laughed Matt, "we can travel sixty miles an hour, when we let -ourselves out, and bad roads can't stop us. But tell us about this man, -Hobbes. Who is he?" - -"He's a tinhorn, that's what. He blowed inter the Tin Cup bunkhouse, -last night, an' cleaned us all out in a leetle game o' one-call-two." - -"If you're foolish enough to gamble," said Matt, "you ought to have the -nerve to take the consequences." - -"Gad-hook it all," spoke up the man referred to as "Slim," "I ain't -puttin' up no holler when I loses fair, but this Hobbes person is that -rank with his cold decks, his table hold outs, an' his extra aces, that -I blushes ter think o' how we was all roped in." - -"He cheated you?" - -"Cheat?" echoed Jed Spearman, "waal, no. From the way we sized it up -when we got tergether this mornin', it was jest plain rob'ry. Hobbes -headed this way, an' we slid inter our saddles an' follered. But we've -lost the trail, an' was jest communin' with ourselves ter find out what -jump ter make next, when this thing"--he waved his hand toward the -aëroplane--"swung inter sight agin' the sky. We seen you three aboard -the thing, an' got the fool notion that mebby Hebbes was one o' ye." - -"Didn't you find out last night that you had been cheated?" asked Matt. - -"Nary. If we had, pilgrim, ye kin gamble a stack we'd have took arter -this Hobbes person right then. It was only this mornin' when Slim -diskivered the deck o' keerds belongin' ter the feller, which same he -had left behind most unaccountable, that we sensed how bad we'd been -done. The' was an extry set o' aces with that pack, the backs was all -readers, an' the hull lay-out was that peculiar we wasn't more'n a -brace o' shakes makin' up our minds what ter do." - -"What sort of a looking man was this Hobbes?" - -"Dead ringer fer a cattleman, neighbor. Blue eyes, well set up, an' -youngish." - -Matt was surprised. He was expecting to receive a description of -Murgatroyd, but the specifications did not fit the broker. Murgatroyd -was a large, lean man with black, gimlet-like eyes. - -"What's yer bizness in these parts?" demanded Jed Spearman. "Jest -takin' a leetle fly fer the fun o' the thing?" - -"Well," answered Matt, "not exactly." - -"Ain't in no rush, are ye?" - -"Yes. Now that you know the man Hobbes isn't with us, we'll get aboard -and resume our flight." - -Matt stepped toward the aëroplane, with the intention of taking his -place at the driving levers. But Jed Spearman stayed him with a grip of -the arm. - -"I got er notion," said Jed, "that I'd like ter take a ride in that -thing myself." The other cowboys gave a roar of wild appreciation and -approval. "Ye say ye kin do sixty miles an hour," proceeded Jed. "I'm -goin' back ter the Tin Cup Ranch ter see if the other party that went -out arter Hobbes had any success. It's thirty miles ter the Tin Cup, -an' ye ort ter git me thar an' back inside o' an hour--onless ye was -puttin' up a summer breeze when ye told how fast this here dufunny -machine could travel. Hey? How does it hit ye?" - -Motor Matt was taken all aback. An hour's delay might spell ruin so far -as meeting Newt Prebbles at the mouth of Burnt Creek was concerned. - -"We're in too much of a hurry," said Matt, "and we can't spare the -time. I'd like to oblige you, Spearman, but it's out of the question." - -"No more it ain't out o' the question," growled Spearman. "I'm pinin' -ter take a ride in that thar machine, an' ye kin help us in our hunt -fer Hobbes if ye'll only take me back ter the ranch. I reckon yore -bizness ain't any more important than what ours is." - -"Make him take ye, Jed!" howled the other punchers. "If he won't, we'll -make kindlin' wood out er the ole buzzard." - -The temper of the cowboys was such that Matt was in a quandary. While -he was turning the situation over in his mind, McGlory stepped forward -and took part in the talk. - -"Say, you," he cried angrily, "what you putting up this kind of a deal -on us for? You can't make us toe the mark by putting the bud to us, and -if you try it, we'll pull till the latigoes snap." - -"Don't git sassy," said Jed, in a patronizing tone. "We're too many fer -ye, kid. Ridin' in that thing'll be more fun fer me than a three-ring -circus, say nothin' o' the help it'll be fer us ter find out whether -the other bunch o' man hunters struck 'signs' er not. Step back, an' -sing small. Here, Slim, you take charge o' my hoss." - -The foreman passed his bridle reins to Slim, dismounted, and laid his -gun on the ground. - -"We'll have to wait here till ye git back, won't we?" asked Slim. - -"Sure," replied Jed. "We've lost the trail, an' thar ain't no manner o' -use ter keep on ontil we find out somethin'." - -"Then I'm goin' ter git down," said Slim. "We kin bunch up the critters -an' smoke a little." - -McGlory's temper was rapidly growing. The cool way in which Jed -Spearman was planning to appropriate the _Comet_ was more than McGlory -could stand. - -"You're a lot of tinhorns!" he cried. "This lad here," he waved his -hand toward the king of the motor boys, "is Motor Matt, and he's making -this flight on government business, mainly. You keep hands off, or -you'll get into trouble." - -"That's me!" whooped Spearman. "Trouble! I live on _that_. Get ready -that flyin' machine, kase I'm hungry ter do my sixty miles an hour on -the way back ter headquarters." - -An idea suddenly popped into McGlory's head. - -"This way, Matt," said he, stepping off to one side and beckoning Matt -to follow. - -The cowboys were a little suspicious, but their curiosity prompted them -to inspect the _Comet_ and leave Matt and McGlory to their own devices. - -"What do you think, pard?" asked McGlory, when he and Matt were by -themselves. - -"I think it won't do to have any delay," replied Matt, "but I -don't just see how we're going to avoid it. If it wasn't for those -rifles----" He cast a look at the cowboys and shrugged his shoulders. - -"I've got a notion we can fool the punchers," said McGlory, "but Ping -and I will have to be left behind, if we do it. You'll be going it -alone, from here on. Think you can manage it?" - -"I'll try anything," answered Matt. "All I want is to get away. -Who this gambler the cowboys call George Hobbes is, I haven't the -least idea. Their description of the fellow doesn't tally with the -description of Murgatroyd, and the whole affair is beginning to have a -queer look. I don't think there's any time to be lost." - -"No more there isn't," replied McGlory. "Ping and I can wander on to -the mouth of Burnt Creek on foot as soon as we can shake the punchers, -and you can look for us there. What I'm plannin' is this." - -Thereupon McGlory hastily sketched his swiftly formed plan. It had -rather a venturesome look, to Matt, and might, or might not, win out. -There was nothing to do, however, but to try it. - -"What you shorthorns gassin' about?" yelled Jed Spearman. "I'm all -ready ter fly, an' time's skurse." - -Matt and McGlory, having finished their brief talk, walked back to the -cowboys. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -FOOLING THE COWBOYS. - - -"If you're bound to make Motor Matt take you to the ranch, Spearman," -said McGlory, "that means that the chink and me'll have to wait here -till you get back." - -"Which is what I was expectin'," answered Spearman. "I don't want ter -feel cramped in that thar machine." - -"The rest of you will have to give the machine a start down the hill," -went on McGlory innocently. "When the craft gets a start, and is in the -air, you'll have to watch your chance, Spearman, and jump aboard." - -"Jump on when she's goin' sixty miles an hour?" howled Spearman. "Say, -what d'ye think my scalp's wuth?" - -"It won't be going sixty miles an hour," parried McGlory. - -Matt had already taken his seat in the _Comet_. - -"Why kain't I git in thar with him," asked Spearman, "an' travel with -the machine right from the start?" - -"Sufferin' centipedes!" exclaimed McGlory, in well-feigned disgust. -"Say, I reckon you don't savvy a whole lot about flyin' machines. She's -got to have a runnin' start, as light as possible; then, when she -begins to skyhoot, you climb aboard. I guess you don't _want_ to take a -trip aloft." - -"Guess again," cried Spearman. "I kin jump some, if it comes ter that, -only"--and here he turned to Matt, who was quietly waiting--"fly low -an' slow." - -"All of you have got to help," proceeded Matt's cowboy pard briskly. -"Lay your guns away, somewhere, so you can give both hands to your -work." - -None of the cowboys had six-shooters, but all were armed with rifles. -This was rather odd, but, nevertheless, a fact. When they started -out after George Hobbes, the Tin Cup men had been counting on target -practice at long range. - -The horses had already been bunched with their heads together. Four of -the cowboys, who were still holding their rifles, stepped hilariously -over to where Slim and Spearman had deposited their guns, and dropped -their weapons. - -McGlory gave Ping a significant look. The young Chinaman stared blankly -for a moment, and then a complacent grin settled over his yellow face. -He was as sharp as a steel trap when it came to understanding guileful -things. Ping knew what was expected of him, and he was ready. - -The _Comet_ was headed down the western slope of the hill. Four of -the cowboys placed themselves at the lower wings, two on each side, -ready to run with the machine when they received the word. Spearman, -in his shirt sleeves, was tying one end of a riata to the timber which -passengers in the aëroplane used as a footrest. - -"What are you doing that for?" demanded Matt. - -Spearman straightened up with a wink. - -"Waal, it's fer two things, pilgrim," he answered jocosely. "Fust off, -by hangin' ter the rope, Slim an' me kin pull while the rest o' the -boys push. Then, ag'in, if ye've got any little trick up yer sleeve, -I'll have a line on yer ole sky sailer an' ye kain't leave me behind, -not noways." - -That rope troubled Matt, but he could voice no reasonable objection to -it. Already McGlory had played on the credulity of the punchers to the -limit, and it was not safe to go much farther. - -"I'm goin' ter have yer job, Jed," rallied one of the cowboys, "if ye -fall outen the machine an' bust yer neck." - -"Don't ye take my job till I'm planted, Hen, that's all," grinned the -foreman. "I been wantin' a new sensation fer quite a spell, an' I guess -here's the place whar I connect with it." - -If the plans of Matt and his friends worked out successfully, Jed -Spearman was to "connect with a sensation" vastly different from what -he was expecting. McGlory was chuckling to himself over the prospect. - -The cowboys, in their uproarious mood, did not seem to notice that -neither McGlory nor Ping were helping to give the aëroplane a running -start down the hill. - -"Ye'll be a reg'lar human skyrocket, Jed," remarked Slim, "if ye travel -at the rate o' sixty miles an hour." - -"I'll be goin' some, an' that's shore," answered the foreman. "Wonder -what folks'll invent next? Say, thar! If ye're ready, let's start." - -Matt started the motor. This evidence of power rather awed the cowboys, -and their grins faded as they watched and listened. - -"Now," instructed Matt, "the minute I turn the power into the bicycle -wheels, you fellows begin to run the machine downhill." - -"Let 'er go!" came the whooping chorus. - -Jed Spearman and Slim, tailed on to a forty-foot riata, were some -twenty feet ahead of the aëroplane. - -"Now!" cried Matt. - -The bicycle wheels began to take the push, and the _Comet_ started down -the slope, the two cowboys ahead pulling, and the four at the wings -pushing. - -Naturally, the descent aided the motor. There had not been as much -rain, in that part of the State, as there had been in the Devil's -Lake country, and the turf was fairly dry and afforded tolerably good -wheeling. - -The cowboys roared with delight as they ran awkwardly in their -tight, high-heeled boots. What happened was only natural, in the -circumstances, although quite unexpected to the ignorant cattlemen. - -In less than fifty feet the aëroplane was going too fast for the -runners. The four at the wings had to let go; and the two at the rope, -finding themselves in imminent danger of being run over, dropped the -rope and leaped to one side. - -All six of the cowboys watched while the _Comet_, catching the air -under her outspread pinions, mounted gracefully--and then continued to -mount, the riata trailing beneath. - -"He ain't comin' back fer ye, Jed!" howled Slim. - -"Here, you!" bellowed the foreman. "Whar ye goin'? What kinder way is -that ter treat a feller? Come back, or I'll send a bullet arter ye!" - -Matt paid no attention. He was following, to the very letter, the plan -McGlory had formed, and was rushing at speed in the direction of the -Missouri and the mouth of Burnt Creek. - -"Git yer guns!" cried the wrathful Spearman. "Shoot him up!" - -It is doubtful whether the cowboys would have been able to retrace -their way up the hill and secure their guns before Matt had got out of -range. But they had not a chance to put their purpose to the test, for -the contingency had been guarded against. - -When the cowboys reached the top of the hill, Ping was at the foot of -it on the eastern side, traveling as fast as his legs could carry him; -and clasped in his arms were the six rifles! - -"Blazes ter blazes an' all hands round!" fumed the enraged Jed. "The -chink's runnin' off with the guns so'st we kain't shoot. Hosses, boys! -Capter the little heathen!" - -And here, again, were the cowboys doomed to disappointment. Well beyond -the foot of the hill, on the south side, was McGlory. He was riding one -horse and leading the other five bronchos. - -"Done!" gasped Slim, pulling off his Stetson and slamming it on the -ground, "done ter a turn! Who'd 'a' thort it possible?" - -"It was a frame-up!" raged the foreman. "The two of 'em hatched the -plan while they were talkin'. I was a fool ter let 'em palaver like -what they done, kase I mout hev knowed they was up ter somethin'. The -chink lifted the guns on us, an' t'other feller lifted the hosses so'st -we couldn't ketch the chink; an', as for _him_," and Jed Spearman -turned and looked westward to where the aëroplane was a mere speck -in the sky, "as fer him, I say, if that flyin' machine ever comes -crowhoppin' eround whar I am, I'll shore put it out o' bizness!" - -"An' ye didn't fly, arter all!" bubbled Slim. - -"You hesh," grunted Spearman, "or thar'll be fireworks." - -"Ye're purty good at jumpin'," jeered another, "so why don't ye jump -aboard? I don't reckon she's more'n two mile off an' a mile high." - -"Oh," fretted the foreman, "if I _only_ had a gun! Say, let up er I'll -use my hands." - -"An' we had to push," scoffed Slim; "oh, yas, _indeed_! We had ter -git off'n our hosses, an' put down our guns, an' push. Never reckoned -nothin', did we? Never a thing. But they knowed, them fellers did--they -knowed ev'ry minit jest what they was about. Next time I fool with this -here Motor Matt an' his flyin' machine, ye'll know it." - -"An' Jed had a string on her," mourned another. "Sure he did. Why, -Jed had his rope fast to her so'st ter hang on in case Motor Matt had -anythin' up his sleeve. Well, well! I wonder----" - -But Spearman could stand no more. With a fierce whoop, he rushed down -the hill along the path taken by the Chinaman. Across, on an opposite -uplift, Ping could be seen. He was adding insult to injury by hopping -up and down and making derisive gestures with one hand. - -"We got ter overhaul the chink an' git back them guns," shouted Slim. -"Come on, boys!" - -The remaining five started after Spearman. Ping, observing the pursuit, -hopped out of sight over the top of the hill. Burdened as he was, he -could not hope to escape the pursuing cowboys. But he had faith in -McGlory--and McGlory did not fail him. - -When the cowboys reached the top of the next hill, they could look -down and see McGlory and the six horses. Ping was mounting one of the -animals, and when he and McGlory vanished around the base of another -coteau--which they were not slow in doing--they took the rifles with -them. - -The cowboys had to pursue, and they had to do their pursuing on foot. -If a cattleman hates one thing more than another it is walking, and -the six disgruntled Tin Cup men limped and staggered and toiled onward -through the coteaus, following the trail for at least four miles. When -they finally ran it out, they found their horses and their guns, but -McGlory and Ping were conspicuous by their absence. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -THE TRAILING ROPE. - - -Motor Matt could not look behind and take note of how events were -progressing on the hill. He could only hope that McGlory would carry -out the rest of his plan without any setbacks, and that he and Ping -would get safely away from the foiled cattlemen. - -The ease with which the boys had played upon the ignorance and -credulity of the high-handed cowpunchers, would have been laughable -could the young motorist have known how successfully the rest of -McGlory's plot was to be carried out. As the matter stood, Matt was -worrying too much to enjoy the situation. - -He carried away a memento of the recent trouble in the shape of the -trailing rope. The forty-foot line hung downward, swinging to right and -left and giving frightful pitches to the _Comet_ in spite of Matt's -manipulation of the wing ends. - -Bending down, he tried with one hand to untie the riata and rid the -machine of its weight, but the knot had been drawn too tight by the -pulling of Spearman and Slim. As a compromise, Matt pulled the rope in -and dropped it in the seats recently occupied by McGlory and Ping. - -Now for the mouth of Burnt Creek, and the carrying out of the purpose -that had brought Matt into that section. The mystery connected with -the "George Hobbes" the cowboys were looking for, and the success or -failure of McGlory and Ping in their final clash with the Tin Cup men, -the king of the motor boys put resolutely from his mind. He was now to -look for Newt Prebbles and advance the spark of friendship in behalf of -the poor old man at Fort Totten. - -Matt conceived that the easiest way to reach the mouth of Burnt Creek -was to hover over the stream and follow it to its junction with the -Missouri. This manoeuvre he at once put into operation. - -The creek was as crooked as could well be imagined, and twisted and -writhed among the coteaus, carrying with it, on either bank, a scant -growth of cottonwoods. Matt cut off the corners, flying high enough to -clear the tops of the neighboring hills, and soon had the broad stretch -of the Upper Missouri in plain view ahead of him. - -In a clump of cottonwoods, near the mouth of the creek, was a small -shack. Matt's view of the shanty was not good, on account of the trees, -and he could not tell whether or not there was any one about the place. - -He was just looking for a spot, on the river bank, where he could make -a comfortable landing, when he was startled by discovering a skiff. - -The skiff was in the river, well off the mouth of the creek, and was -heading for the western bank of the Missouri. There was one man in the -boat, and he was using his oars frantically, watching the _Comet_ as he -rowed. - -"That may be George Hobbes," thought Matt, "and it may be Newt -Prebbles. In any event the fellow, whoever he is, thinks I'm pursuing -him. I'll drop lower and give him a hail." - -As the _Comet_ settled downward over the surface of the river, the -man in the skiff redoubled his efforts with the oars. He seemed to be -seized with an unreasoning panic. - -"Hello, below there!" shouted Matt. - -To slow the aëroplane too much would mean a drop into the water, for a -certain rate of flight was necessary in order to keep the machine aloft. - -As Matt called, he passed on beyond the boat, described a turn over the -middle of the river, and came back toward the eastern bank. - -The man made no response. - -"Are you Newt Prebbles?" yelled Matt. - -The other shouted something, in an angry tone, the exact import of -which the young motorist could not catch. Taking his right hand from -the oar, the man jerked a revolver from his belt. - -"Don't shoot!" cried Matt. "I'm a friend of yours." - -The last word was snipped off in the incisive crack of the weapon. The -bit of lead zipped past Matt's head and bored a hole through the upper -wing of the air ship. - -"Stop that!" called Matt sternly, pointing the aëroplane higher and -turning again when over the eastern bank. - -Whatever he did, he realized that he must not expose the motor and -propeller to a stray bullet. - -But no more shots were fired. - -Matt wondered at this until he had faced the machine about and was able -to observe what was going on below. - -The man in the skiff had lost an oar. In releasing his hand to use the -revolver, the oar had slipped from the rowlock into the water. - -A frantic effort was being made by the man to recover the oar; and -so wild and inconsidered was the attempt that the skiff went over, -throwing its occupant into the river. - -"Help!" came the cry, as the man, thrashing and floundering, bobbed to -the surface of the river between the overturned boat and the oar. - -It was evident, at a glance, that he could not swim, or that he could -swim so little the mere weight of his clothes was enough to drag him -under. - -"Keep your nerve!" cried Matt encouragingly. "I'll help you in a -minute." - -The _Comet_ was well to the westward of the man. Matt turned her -sharply, at the same time bringing her as close to the water as he -dared. Then, with one hand on the lever controlling the wing tips, with -the other he reached for the rope on the seat beside him. - -Laying a course to pass directly over the man, Matt leaned forward and -flung the riata downward. The sinuous coils straightened out as the -rope descended, the lower end swishing through the water. - -"Catch the rope and hold fast!" cried Motor Matt, as the aëroplane -skimmed over the surface of the river. - -There would be a jolt when the _Comet_ took up the slack in the riata, -providing the man were successful in laying hold of the line. Would -the jolt disengage the man's hands, or have any serious effect on the -_Comet_? - -By that time the aëroplane was so far beyond the man that Matt could -not see what he was doing. Holding his breath, the king of the motor -boys braced himself and waited. - -In perhaps a second the _Comet_ reeled and shivered as though under -a blow. Quickly Matt turned full speed into the propeller, and the -machine steadied itself and began to tug at the weight underneath and -behind. - -Then, slowly, the aëroplane mounted upward. At a height of fifty feet, -Matt could look down and see a dripping form, swaying and gyrating at -the end of the riata. - -"Can you hang on?" called Matt. - -"Yes," was the response from below, "if you don't want me to hang on -too long." - -"No more than a minute. By that time I'll have you ashore." - -The heavy weight, swinging under the machine like a pendulum, made -the aëroplane exceedingly difficult to manage. In the early stages of -aëroplane flying, equilibrium had only been kept by swinging weights, -and it had remained for the Wrights to discover that bending the wing -tips upward or downward kept an aëroplane's poise much better than any -shifting weight could do; and to Harry Traquair had fallen the honor -of inventing sliding extensions, whereby either wing area could be -increased or contracted in the space of a breadth. - -Now that the _Comet_ had both a shifting weight and wing manipulations -to keep her steady, she was not steady at all--one balance seeming to -counteract the other. In spite of the terrific dipping and plunging, -however, Matt succeeded in getting to the shore. - -The moment the man on the rope found himself over solid ground, he let -go his hold and dropped five or six feet to the bank. - -Instantly the _Comet_ came fairly well under control again, and would -have been entirely so but for the weight of the rope. - -Matt selected a cleared spot in which to alight, shut off the power, -and glided to the earth easily and safely. - -Stepping out of the aëroplane, he hurried to the spot where the rescued -man was lying. - -"How are you?" asked Matt, kneeling beside him. - -"I'm about fagged," he answered. "There's a cabin, about a rod up the -creek on this side. Go there and get the bottle of whisky you'll find -on the table. A pull at that bottle will put some ginger into me." - -"You don't need that kind of ginger," replied Matt. "I'll help you to -the cabin, and when we get there you can get into some dry clothes. -That will do you more good than all the fire-water that ever came out -of a still." - -The man hoisted up on one elbow and peered at Matt with weak curiosity. - -"That's your brand, is it?" he asked, with as much contempt as he was -able to put into the words. - -"Well, yes," replied Matt. "It's my brand, and you'd be a heap better -off if it was yours." - -He had been scrutinizing the man closely. He now saw that he was young, -that he had blue eyes, and that he was wearing cowboy clothes. His hat, -of course, was in the river. - -"Who are you?" the young fellow asked. - -"I'll tell you later," was the indefinite reply. - -"How did you happen to be around here in that flying machine?" went on -the other suspiciously. - -"You'll find that out, too, at the proper time." - -"If you're from the Tin Cup Ranch----" - -"I'm not, so make your mind easy on that. But I know you. You're George -Hobbes, and you robbed the cowboys at the Tin Cup Ranch in a game of -cards, last night. You----" - -With a fierce exclamation, the youth sat up, and his right hand darted -toward his hip. - -"You're not going to do any shooting," said Matt. "Your gun's in the -river, and you'd have been there, too, but for me. What sort of way is -that to act toward the man who saved you from drowning?" - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -A BOLT FROM THE BLUE. - - -Small, and seemingly trifling, events sometimes pave the way for vital -undertakings. The performance on the coteau, in which the Tin Cup men -had so prominently figured, had left the _Comet_ equipped with a -forty-foot riata. On the flight to the Missouri Matt had tried to untie -the rope and drop it from the machine. In this he had failed--a very -fortunate circumstance for the dripping young man on the bank. But for -that trailing rope, Matt would never have been able to effect a rescue. - -"It may be," said the young man, "that you have only pulled me out of -the river to give me into the hands of the Tin Cup outfit." - -"I have already told you," returned Matt, "that I have nothing to do -with the Tin Cup outfit." - -"Why were you chasing me in that air ship, then?" - -"I wasn't chasing you. You had a guilty conscience, and if a man had -been coming this way on an elephant you would have thought he was after -you." - -The other was silent for a space, surveying Matt furtively and, -apparently, trying to guess his business. - -"You knew about that work in the Tin Cup bunk house, last night," said -he tentatively. - -"I heard of it from a party who are out looking for George Hobbes. That -is your name, is it?" - -"That's the way I was billed during that performance at the bunk house." - -"What are you, by profession--a cowboy or a gambler?" - -"Cowboy." - -Matt glanced at the young fellow's hands. They looked more like a -gambler's hands than a cowboy's. And yet, skillful though he must have -been with the cards, Hobbes had not the appearance of a gambler. - -"Do you live here?" Matt went on. - -"Yes," was the answer. "I told you, a moment ago, where my shack was." - -"Then you're not doing much in the cattle line if you hang out in this -deserted spot." - -Hobbes gave a grunt and got up. - -"What are you trying to pry into my business affairs for?" he asked -surlily. "Do you think saving my life gives you a right to do that?" - -"Well," fenced Matt, "that depends. You don't talk like any cowboy I -ever heard--your English is too good." - -"There are a lot of punchers who use better English than I do." - -"Possibly," answered Matt. "I haven't been in the cattle country very -much. What was the amount of money you stole from the Tin Cup outfit?" - -A flush of color ran into Hobbes' tanned face. - -"I didn't steal their money," he cried angrily. "I played cards for it." - -"You didn't play a square game. They found the pack you used, this -morning, and there were extra aces, and the backs were printed in such -a way that you could tell what cards your opponents held." - -"What of that?" was the scoffing response. "They didn't find me out. -They had the right to beat me at my own game--if they could." - -"I'm not here to preach," said Matt, "but you've got yourself into a -pretty bad mix. I'm willing to help you out if you'll send back the -money." - -"I'll not send back a soo," was the answer, "and you've got your nerve -along to bat such a proposition up to me. Who asked for your help? I -didn't." - -Hobbes turned away in a huff and started for the creek, his wet clothes -slapping about him as he walked. - -"Just a minute, Hobbes," called Matt, "and I'll go with you. I want -to rope this flying machine to a couple of trees, so that it won't be -blown into the river if a wind should happen to come up." - -Hobbes was very wet, very tired, and very sulky, but he could hardly -refuse such a trifling request. With the rope that had saved his life, -he helped Matt secure the _Comet_. - -"Do you know any one, in these parts, by the name of Newt Prebbles?" -Matt inquired, while they were moving toward the shack. - -"You used that name while I was in the skiff," said Hobbes, "I -remember, now. What's your business with Newt Prebbles?" - -"I'll tell him that when I see him. It's important. Do you know the -man?" - -"Yes, I know him. He's a pal of mine and lives with me in the shack." - -"Is he there, now?" asked Matt eagerly. - -"No." - -"When will he be back?" - -"That's hard to tell. He won't come back at all if you don't tell me -what your business is with him." - -"Why so?" - -"I'll warn him away. You've found out a lot about me, but how much have -you told me about yourself? Not a thing. I haven't a notion who you -are, and I'm blamed if I like mysteries." - -They were close to the cluster of cottonwoods and the shack, and Matt -fell silent. The house, as the king of the motor boys could see, now -that he was close to it, was built of sod, and had a roof of grass -thatched over cottonwood poles. It was in a fairly good state of repair -and had evidently been occupied for some time. - -The door stood open, and Hobbes stepped to one side to let Matt enter -first. It looked like a mere act of courtesy, and may have been no more -than that; but, in view of what immediately happened, Matt would have -been entitled to suspicions. - -Believing the shack to be empty, Matt crossed the threshold. He was -instantly seized by some one who threw himself from behind the open -door. - -With a startled cry, the young motorist twisted around in the strong -arms that held him and caught a look at the man's face. - -It was Murgatroyd! - -Another moment and all the fight in Matt's nature flew to the surface. -Putting forth all his strength, he kicked and struggled until he had -freed himself of the broker's grip. - -He was no sooner clear of Murgatroyd, however, when Hobbes set upon -him. Hobbes had not yet recovered his strength, and Matt would have -made short work of him had not the broker come savagely to his aid. -Between them Matt was forced to the clay floor of the house and lashed -with a rope in such a manner that he was powerless to move. - -Murgatroyd, panting from his exertions, lifted himself erect and gave -the prisoner a vengeful kick. - -"Wasn't expecting to find me here, eh?" he asked. "You've led me a -pretty chase, Motor Matt, but here we are at the end of the trail, and -I've got the upper hand." - -Somehow Matt had fallen under the impression that the police of -Bismarck would take care of Murgatroyd; hence, he had left the broker -out of his calculations, and this meeting with him in that sod shack -was like lightning out of a clear sky. - -"You know this fellow, then?" said Hobbes. - -"I know him too well, and that's the trouble. He's meddled with my -affairs until they're in a pretty tangle, and I'll have all I can do to -straighten them out again. I wasn't expecting a chance like this," and -a jubilant note entered the broker's voice. "How did he happen to come -here, Newt?" - -"That's too many for me, Murg. He was in a flying machine. I saw him -coming, and thought he was on my track for a little game that was -pulled off at the Tin Cup Ranch, last night. In my hurry to get across -the river I lost an oar, and in my hurry to get the oar I overturned -the boat. I can't swim much, and with all my clothes on I'd have gone -to the bottom if he hadn't snatched me ashore." - -Motor Matt was not much surprised to hear Murgatroyd call the supposed -Hobbes "Newt." The young motorist's mind had been working around to -that view of the young fellow's identity. He was Newt Prebbles, and was -on friendly terms with the master scoundrel, Murgatroyd. - -The broker seated himself in a chair, and did not seem particularly -well pleased with the news Prebbles had just given him. Perhaps, for -his peace of mind, he was wishing that Matt had not rescued Newt, -and it may be he resented the "hold" this rescue gave Matt on Newt's -gratitude--providing Newt harbored such a sentiment, which seemed -doubtful. - -Newt began changing his clothes. Before he began, he took a bottle -from the table and poured himself a drink of its fiery contents. - -"When did you get here, Murg?" he demanded, as he got into his clothes. - -"It must have been while you were having that trouble on the river. I -didn't see anything of the flying machine, and I didn't hear anything -of the fracas. Feeling sure you'd be back soon, I hitched my horse -among the cottonwoods and came in here to wait. I heard you and Motor -Matt talking as you walked this way, and I had to rub my eyes in order -to make sure it was really Motor Matt who was coming. Jove, but this is -a stroke of luck!" - -"You'll have to tell me about that, for it's mighty dark to me. You got -my letter all right?" - -"Naturally, or I shouldn't be here. The letter arrived in Bismarck -yesterday forenoon, and I pulled out of the town at once. Stayed -last night with a farmer, more to make certain I wasn't followed -than anything else." Murgatroyd scowled. "This being a fugitive," he -finished, "gets on a man's nerves." - -Newt laughed grimly. - -"Did you bring the money?" he demanded. - -"Don't talk about that here," and the broker flashed a significant -glance at Matt. - -"All right," agreed Newt. "Suppose we let this Motor Matt, as you call -him, go free? We don't want him around, anyhow." - -"Go free?" cried Murgatroyd. "I'll catch myself doing that! I owe him -something," and here a demoniacal look crept into the broker's eyes, -"and I guess, as my old friend Siwash used to say, I'll take advantage -of this opportunity and 'saw off' with him." - -This threat, however, did not make Matt feel at all uncomfortable. He -had in his hands the material necessary to play off one of these men -against the other. Out of this might come a good deal of benefit to -himself, and much good for Newt Prebbles. In case he did not succeed in -this plan, there was McGlory and Ping yet to be heard from. If they had -safely escaped the Tin Cup men, it would not be long before they gained -the mouth of Burnt Creek and played their part in events to come. - -Just then Matt felt like congratulating himself on having been made a -prisoner. Such a position gave him the advantage of being impartial in -the hostility he was about to incite between his captors. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -"ADVANCING THE SPARK." - - -"I'm not going to stand around and let you be rough with him," asserted -Newt, finishing his dressing and taking another drink from the bottle. - -"Nobody asked you to stand around," said Murgatroyd. "When I'm ready -to get rough, you can go down to the river and stay there till I'm -through." - -"Why did you jump on him like that?" - -Considering what he himself had done toward Matt's capture, Newt's -stand was hardly consistent. - -"I'll tell you," and, with that, Murgatroyd went on to relate the -number of times his trail had crossed Matt's, and the circumstances. - -Newt's eyes widened as the recital proceeded, and when the end was -reached it found him moody and preoccupied. - -"From all that," went on Murgatroyd, "you can see just how much I am in -Motor Matt's debt." - -"He saved my life," said Newt doggedly, "and I'm not going to let you -be rough with him." - -"Don't make a fool of yourself, Newt," scowled Murgatroyd. - -"He did me a good turn," insisted the other, "and I'm not going to let -him get the worst of this." - -"Sit me up in a chair, can't you?" asked Matt. "I want to talk a -little, and I'm not very comfortable, lying here like this." - -"It's nothing to me," snarled Murgatroyd, "whether you're comfortable -or not." - -Without a word, Newt went to the prisoner and helped him get to his -feet and drop into a chair. - -"Leave his ropes alone," called Murgatroyd sharply. - -"I'm not touching his ropes--yet," returned Newt. "What have you got to -say?" he asked, facing Matt. - -"How many I O U's for gambling debts did you leave in Jamestown, -Prebbles, when you left there?" - -A lighted bomb, hurled suddenly into the shack, could not have startled -either of the two men more than did this question. - -It was a random shot on Matt's part. He wanted both Newt and Murgatroyd -to understand that he was well equipped with information. - -"I didn't leave a single gambling debt behind me," asserted Newt, with -rising indignation. - -The broker became visibly uncomfortable. - -"He's talking wild, Newt," said he. - -"Then," continued Matt, "how did it happen that Murgatroyd had several -duebills, signed by you?" - -"He didn't have any signed by me." - -"Of course not," agreed Murgatroyd, laughing derisively, but there were -demons rising in his sharp eyes. - -"Too bad your father didn't know that, Newt," said Matt. "He's been -slaving, and denying himself necessities of life, to take up a lot of -I O U's which, Murgatroyd told him, had been given by you for gambling -debts." - -Newt, his face full of rage, whirled on the broker in a fury. - -"Is that the truth?" he cried. - -"Not a word of truth in it," answered the broker coolly. "From what -I've told you about Motor Matt, Newt, you ought to understand that he's -cunning. He's working some sort of a dodge, now. Don't let him fool -you." - -Newt was quieted somewhat but not convinced. - -"Who told you about those duebills?" he demanded. - -"Your father." - -"When did you see him? And how did he happen to tell you anything like -that?" - -"Just a minute," said Matt, playing with the spark before he advanced -it fully. "There's a point about George Hobbes that I'd like to have -settled. Which of you uses that name? Or have you a partnership -interest in it? Newt plays cards at the Tin Cup Ranch as George Hobbes, -and Murgatroyd does business in that name and receives letters in -Bismarck when they are so addressed. Now----" - -With a hoarse exclamation of astonishment and anger, Murgatroyd flung -himself from the chair and started toward Matt. Newt jumped in front of -him. - -"You'd better sit down, Murg," said Newt. - -The two men stared at each other, the broker furious, and the younger -man defiant. - -"He knows too much!" flared Murgatroyd. - -"He says so much I know to be true that I'm inclined to believe -everything he tells us. We'll hear him out, and if you try to lay your -hands on him you'll settle with me." - -The spark was working splendidly. It would not be long, now, before it -set off an explosion. - -"You wrote a letter to Murgatroyd, Newt," said Matt, "and posted it in -Steele, North Dakota. Murgatroyd hasn't found it healthy to be in his -Jamestown office for some time, and the only person there, when your -letter was received, was your father. He recognized your handwriting, -and he opened the letter and made a copy of it before he sent it on to -Murgatroyd, in Bismarck." - -The broker's face became fairly livid. He tried to talk, but the words -gurgled in his throat. - -"Your father knew I was a friend of his," pursued Matt, "and he came to -Fort Totten to see me. He got there yesterday afternoon, driving over -from Minnewaukon in a heavy rain. When he showed me the copy of your -letter, I started for this place in the aëroplane." - -"What were you intending to do here?" inquired Newt. - -"I was hoping to persuade you to go back to Totten and see your father. -He wants you." - -Newt shook his head. - -"It won't do," he answered. "The old man and I had a tumble, and it's -better for us to keep apart." - -"You don't _dare_ to go!" stormed Murgatroyd. "What have I been paying -you, for? Tell me that. You'll stay away from Fort Totten, Newt. I've -brought money enough to take you to South America, and that's where -you're going." - -Newt's eyes brightened a little. - -"I wonder if you really mean to shell out enough to take me that far?" -he asked. - -"Yes," cried the broker, "and I'll pay you well for going, too." - -"You won't go, Newt," put in Matt. "You're not going to let this -scoundrel wheedle you into leaving the country just to get you out of -the way and prevent you from telling what you know about the accident -to Harry Traquair." - -Silence followed the launching of this bolt, silence that was broken -only by the startled breathing of the two men. Both of them kept their -eyes riveted on the prisoner. - -"Traquair, the inventor of the aëroplane," continued Matt, "tried out -his machine in Jamestown, several weeks ago, and an accident happened. -Some part of the mechanism broke. Why did it break?" Matt's voice grew -solemn as he turned his eyes on Murgatroyd. "Why did it break?" he -asked, again. - -The broker's face turned ashen. Drops of sweat stood out on his -forehead, his hands clinched spasmodically, and his lips moved without -sound. - -"Murgatroyd," Matt pursued mercilessly, "had a mortgage on Harry -Traquair's homestead, in Wells County. For some reason of his own, -Murgatroyd wants that piece of prairie land. If Traquair had lived, he -would have sold his aëroplane to the government, and have paid off the -mortgage. But he didn't live, because a _supposed_ accident happened to -his aëroplane." - -The broker's lips were dry, and again and again he moistened them with -his tongue. The demons grew harder, and brighter, and more merciless in -his eyes. - -The spark was doing well, but it had not yet been advanced to the -limit. It was the spark of friendship, but it was coming into its -own through devious ways. The friendship was to be between poor old -Prebbles and his son; but it was to result in something else between -Newt and Murgatroyd, and prove powerful enough to force the two apart. - -"Murgatroyd has been paying you money, Newt," resumed Matt, "to keep in -the background and remain silent about what you know. Is the scoundrel -worth protecting? Is it worth while to take hush money from him? The -bribes he has been giving you, he collected from your father by means -of duebills to which he had forged your name." - -Fierce anger flamed in Newt's face. Matt, seeing that an explosion was -close, hastened on. - -"Your father is now lying ill at Fort Totten. It is doubtful whether he -can live--and he certainly cannot unless you go back with me and be to -him what you have not been in the past--a son." - -The red faded from Newt Prebbles' face and a deathly pallor came in its -stead. Stepping over to Matt, he dropped both hands on his shoulders -and looked him steadily in the eyes. - -"Motor Matt," said he, "are you telling me the truth about my father? -He is dangerously sick at Fort Totten? Don't you lie to me," he warned -fiercely. - -"I am telling you the truth." - -"And those forged I O U's--where did you learn about them?" - -"From your father, as I have already told you." - -"It's like Murgatroyd," said Newt, between his teeth. "He did want -Traquair's homestead, because he happened to discover that there is -coal under the soil, and the railroad company will buy the hundred and -sixty at a fancy price and run a spur track to it, so----" - -The explosion came, at that moment, but it was not as Matt expected. -While Newt Prebbles stood facing Matt, his back to the broker, there -came the sound of a blow. - -Pain convulsed Newt's face for the fraction of a second, his eyes -closed, and he dropped senseless, overturning Matt and his chair with -the force of his fall. - -Lying bound and helpless, Matt heard sounds of quick footsteps, and saw -Murgatroyd bending down over him. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -THE TRAIL TO THE RIVER. - - -Joe McGlory and Ping were in a fine good humor. They had left the -horses and rifles for the Tin Cup men and, from the top of a distant -hill, they had watched the party recover the live stock and the guns. -Then, laughing and congratulating themselves, the boys had ducked in -among the cottonwoods of the creek bottom and started along the trail -to the river. - -"Plenty fine," chattered Ping. "By Klismus, my gettee heap fun this -tlip. Woosh!" - -"We played 'em to a fare-you-well," laughed McGlory, pausing to extend -his hand to Ping. "Shake, my little heathen brother! You're the finest -bit of the Yellow Peril that ever landed in the U. S. You've got a head -on you, you have. Why, you savvied right off what I wanted you to do -with those guns, and I didn't have to say a word." - -"My savvy look you makee all same eye," chuckled Ping. "Top-side -pidgin! One piecee fine bizness." - -Then, abruptly, Ping had a swift, paralyzing thought. - -"Mebbyso Melican men makee chase fo' McGloly and Ping, huh?" he cried. -"Plaps we lun, ketchee Matt, no lettee Melican men ketchee us?" - -"Oh, shucks, Ping!" exclaimed McGlory disgustedly. "When you forget -yourself, now and then, and do a particularly bright thing, you spoil -it all by some break of that sort. Those punchers don't know where -we're going! And what sort of a trail are we leaving?" The cowboy -turned and looked back over the ground they had covered. "All buffalo -grass," he finished, "and the Tin Cup outfit couldn't run us down in a -thousand years." - -But Ping's fears persisted, in spite of McGlory's attempt to smother -them. - -"My no likee," he quavered, pausing again and again to look back as -they traveled. "Mebbyso they ketchee, they takee scalp. My no likee. -Losee pigtail, no go back to China ally mo'." - -"Well, well, don't blubber about it!" exclaimed McGlory. "You'll keep -the pigtail, all right, though what in Sam Hill it's good for is more -than I know. Buck up, step high, wide, and handsome, and don't lose so -much time looking around. Just stow it away in your mind, Ping, that -every step on the trail to the river brings us that much closer to Pard -Matt." - -McGlory took the lead and set a brisk pace. - -"Didn't Matt get away in great shape?" he called out, as he strode -along. "And that rope Spearman tied to the machine didn't amount to a -row of dobies." - -"Cloud Joss heap fine fo' tlavel," remarked Ping. "Feet tlavel plenty -tough fo' China boy." - -"I guess the circus we pulled off, back there on that hill, was worth -the price, Ping. Don't grumble. There was something doing, and you and -I answered to roll-call during the height of the agitation. Little -Chop Suey and your Uncle Joe had something to say and do every minute -the curtain was up. Oh, shucks! I'm tickled to death with myself. -I'll be plumb contented, now, if nothing happens to me for the next -fifteen minutes. Wonder how Matt's getting along, advancing that spark? -Something gives me a hunch and whispers in my ear that he's having his -hands full. Put your best foot forward, Ping, and let's see how quick -we can get to where we're going." - -"No gottee best foot," complained Ping. "Both feets allee same bum. -Cleek makee bend, makee bend, makee bend; heap walkee to go li'l way." - -"That's right," agreed McGlory. "Sufferin' serpents, how the creek -twists! Suppose we climb to the top of this hill on the right and see -if we can't work a cut-off on the pesky stream." - -"Awri'," agreed Ping, and followed McGlory to the top of the hill. - -From the crest they had an extensive view in every direction; in fact, -it was almost too extensive, for behind them they glimpsed the Tin Cup -men, racing back and forth over the uplifts, scattered widely and -hunting for "signs." - -McGlory muttered to himself and slipped off the top of the hill like a -shot. Ping gasped as he followed. - -"They ketchee China boy," he wailed, "him losee pigtail." - -"Oh, hush about that," growled McGlory. "Do you know where we was lame, -Ping?" - -"My plenty lame in feet," said Ping. - -"I mean, where we made a hobble. It was by not keeping two of those -horses and using them to take us to the mouth of Burnt Creek." - -"Woosh! We ketchee Matt now, Melican men follow tlail, ketchee Matt, -too. Motol Matt go top-side, we all go top-side. Plenty bad pidgin." - -"If they're really following us, which I don't think," remarked -McGlory, "we'll fool 'em." - -"No fool 'em twice." - -"You watch. We'll take the longest way to the river and get that bunch -away from the creek." - -Ping groaned at the thought of more walking. He could have stood the -journey better if he had not been compelled to hang onto his grass -sandals with his toes. - -McGlory scuttled off between the coteaus, and every once in a while he -would climb to the top of a hill to reconnoiter along the back track. -Finally, to his great satisfaction, he lost sight of the Tin Cup men. - -"That means," said he, when he reported the fact to Ping, "that we're -free, once more, to get to the mouth of Burnt Creek as soon as we can." - -From that on there was little talking. The boys needed their breath for -the work before them. As before, McGlory led the way and Ping hopped -and scuffled along behind him. - -An occasional hill was scaled to get the bearings of the creek and -watch out for the river. McGlory gave a shout of joy when he finally -saw the broad ribbon of muddy water in the distance ahead. - -"We're close to where we're bound for, Ping," he said cheerily. "We've -been two or three hours on the hike, but you trail along and I'll land -you at the junction of the creek and the river in less than twenty -minutes. Whoop-ya! I'm guessing about Matt. Has it been make or break -with him? And how has the spark worked? I'm all stirred up with the -notion that he's having a time. Ever get a hunch like that and not be -able to explain how you got it?" - -"No savvy hunch," groaned Ping. "Let's findee place to makee sit in -shade. Heap tired." - -"We'll sit in the shade and rest and enjoy ourselves after we find -Matt. Keep a-moving, Ping, keep a-moving." - -A pass between two hills brought them out into the creek bottom again. -The sun was getting low in the west, but it was still uncomfortably -warm, and the shade of the cottonwood trees was refreshing. Ping -tottered along with his eyes on McGlory's heels. Suddenly the cowboy -stopped and whirled around. - -"Look!" he murmured, pointing. - -The Chinaman swerved his weary eyes in the direction indicated and saw -the sod shack. - -"Hoop-a-la!" he exclaimed. - -"I hear voices in there," whispered McGlory, "and I'll bet Pard Matt's -busy laying down the law to Newt Prebbles. Let's not interrupt, but -slip carefully up to the door and get the lay of the land before we -butt in." - -Ping was for getting to a place of comfort and refreshment in the -shortest possible time; but, as usual, he deferred to the superior -wisdom of the cowboy. - -Silently they stole toward the open door of the hut. Through the -opening there came to them the sound of a voice. It was a strange -voice, and the words were not distinguishable. - -While they were still some distance from the door, the voice was -blotted out by the impact of a blow; and immediately there came a crash -as of something being overturned. - -McGlory was no longer anxious to "get the lay of the land" before -butting into Matt's argument with Newt Prebbles. In an instant he -jumped for the door and stood peering into the hut. - -The scene before him was difficult to comprehend. A chair had been -overturned, and there was a form--no, two forms--lying on the floor -beside it. Then, too, there was some one else, a man, bending over one -of the forms. - -The dark interior of the shack was not favorable to a clear survey of -the scene by eyes but recently turned from the glaring sunshine. - -McGlory, however, caught one detail of the picture that wrenched a -sharp cry from his lips. - -"Murgatroyd!" he shouted. - -The bent form lifted itself with catlike quickness, _Crack!_ The sharp -note of a revolver rattled through the narrow room, followed by a -warning shout in a well-known voice: - -"Look out, Joe! It's Murgatroyd, and he's in a killing mood!" - -Matt was in the room, bound and helpless. That was the next detail that -flashed before the eyes of McGlory. - -Murgatroyd's shot had missed. Mad with rage, he was making ready to -fire again. - -Blindly, desperately, the cowboy flung himself across the room. Pard -Matt was there, and in danger. Think of himself, McGlory would not. - -The demons in the broker's eyes glowered murderously along the sights -of the leveled weapon. It seemed as though nothing could save the -cowboy. - -At just that moment, however, a window behind the broker crashed -inward. A stone, hurled by Ping with all his force, had shattered the -glass, plunged across the gap, and struck Murgatroyd's arm. - -The arm dropped as though paralyzed, and the broker staggered sideways -with a cry of pain. McGlory sprang upon him, and the two were -struggling fiercely when Ping raced into the room and took a hand in -the battle. - -Murgatroyd, with only one hand, was no match for his wiry young -antagonists. - -As Newt and Murgatroyd had overpowered Matt, so the cowboy and the -Chinaman wrestled and secured the advantage of Murgatroyd. - -One of the forms on the floor slowly lifted itself and became busy with -the cords around Matt's wrists. - -"I can do the rest, Newt," said Matt, sitting up and freeing his ankles. - -A few moments more and the tables had been completely turned. -Murgatroyd was now the prisoner, and the king of the motor boys and his -friends were in command of the situation. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -UNWELCOME CALLERS. - - -Once more, during the course of that eventful day, Ping was to be -congratulated on his quickness and wit. McGlory had gone to the door to -make his survey of what was transpiring inside the sod shack, and Ping -had approached a window. The revolver shot caused the Chinese boy to -jump, and to debate in his startled mind whether it would be better to -run, or to hold his ground. He held his ground and used the stone--to -the lasting benefit of Joe McGlory. - -Now, at last, it seemed, the brawling and the violence was over. -Murgatroyd lay in the place where Matt had lain, Newt Prebbles was -bathing his injured head in a basin of cool water, and Matt, McGlory, -and Ping were sitting down and explaining to each other how everything -had happened. - -"You were foolish to talk like you did to Murgatroyd, when he had the -best of you, Matt," said McGlory. - -"He didn't have the best of me," asserted Matt. "I had made a friend by -that talk, and the friend was Newt Prebbles." - -"That's the truth," spoke up Newt, turning his head for a look at Matt. - -"Well, then," bristled McGlory, "maybe you'll explain why you helped -Murgatroyd down Matt, in the first place?" - -"I was to blame there," answered Newt, "but I didn't understand the -situation. Everything had been sprung on me all of a heap, as you might -say, and I was dazed and bewildered. Murgatroyd had come here because I -had written and asked him to. He had money for me, as I supposed, and I -considered myself in duty bound to help him. Later, when Motor Matt did -his talking, I discovered some things which put up the bars between -Murgatroyd and me. That last thump on the head, of course, topped off -the whole affair. Murgatroyd was crazy mad, that's all. He hit me with -something harder than his bare knuckles. Was it the handle of his -revolver?" - -"Maybe it was this," and McGlory leaned forward and picked a pair of -brass knuckle dusters off the clay floor. - -"That's what he used," declared Prebbles. - -"I have always feared," said Matt, "that our dealings with Murgatroyd -would end in some violent work, like this. And it was all for a hundred -and sixty acres of coal land, which would have netted Murgatroyd only a -few thousand dollars, at the most!" - -The broker's anger had vanished with his capture, and left him -miserable in spirit; but, even now, while his fortunes were at lowest -ebb, his crafty mind led him to think of some way out of his troubles. - -"You've got me," said he, with a bitter laugh. "I didn't think you lads -could do it, but you've turned the trick. Are you any better off?" - -"Speak to me about that!" muttered McGlory. "Matt's a heap better off. -I don't know what you were going to do, when Ping and I showed up, but -I'm feeling a whole lot easier to have this matter just as it is." - -"So am I better off," put in Newt Prebbles. "I've led a hard life, and -I've been a hard man, but I'm the only one to blame for that. And I -know this: Association with Amos Murgatroyd, for any length of time, is -an excellent passport to the penitentiary." - -"That's right, Newt," said the broker scathingly. "You know on which -side your bread is buttered. Get on the side of the winning team, by -all means. But I wasn't talking to you or McGlory, but to Motor Matt." - -His voice changed to a pleading tone. - -"I'm wrecked, Motor Matt," he went on, "if you turn me over to the -authorities. There's nothing in my past life that's so very criminal. -Of course, knowing what I did about the Traquair homestead, I was -anxious to get hold of it. But that's out of my power, now. You've been -put to a good deal of inconvenience, but I'll make that all up to you -in dollars and cents if you'll take these ropes off me and let me clear -out." - -"You say," said Matt, "that there's nothing in your past that is so -very criminal. If that's so, why are you afraid to face the music? Why -do you want to shirk the consequences?" - -"Even a short term of imprisonment will ruin my loan business," -answered Murgatroyd. "I have built that business up very carefully, -and I hate to see it go to smash. I tell you what I'll do. If you'll -release me, I'll wipe out that mortgage of one thousand dollars which -I hold on the Traquair homestead, and I'll give you and your friends a -thousand apiece, all around. What do you say?" - -"I'm sorry for you, Murgatroyd," said Matt, "but I haven't any -authority to set you free, even if I was inclined that way. It's the -government that wants you; and the government wants you so much that a -price has been placed on your head. You've danced, and now you've got -to pay the fiddler." - -"He says he hasn't done anything so very criminal," remarked Newt -Prebbles, as he tied a handkerchief around his head. "I'd like to know -what he calls criminal." - -"Well," sneered the broker, "I haven't been bribed for keeping what I -know away from the authorities." - -"As I was bribed," retorted Newt hotly, "with money my own father paid -you for forged duebills!" - -Murgatroyd laughed, and it was the laugh of a wretch utterly devoid of -conscience. - -"That _was_ rather a neat play of mine," said he. "But you haven't -given me your answer yet, Motor Matt." - -"Yes, I have," said Matt. "You're going to Fort Totten." - -"And so am I," put in Newt Prebbles, "just as quick as I can get there. -I'll take Murgatroyd's horse and ride to Bismarck. There's a night -train I can catch for Jamestown, and I ought to be at the post some -time before noon, to-morrow." - -"You can't get there any too quick," observed McGlory caustically. - -He had no liking for Newt Prebbles. A man who would do what Newt -Prebbles had done could never stand very high in the cowboy's -estimation. - -"You'd better watch that fellow, Motor Matt," called Murgatroyd. "He'll -not go to the post, but will clear out for parts unknown." - -"He'll go to the post, I'm sure of it," said Matt. - -"I will," declared Newt. "My father and I never agreed very well, but -I guess that was my fault, too. When you leave here, Motor Matt, just -lock the door and bring the key. I don't know whether I'll ever come -back to this shack or not--I don't think I will, as I feel now--but it -will be well for me to have the key. Good-by." - -He stepped toward the king of the motor boys and extended his hand. - -"Haven't you forgotten something, Newt?" inquired Matt. - -Prebbles gave him a blank look. The next moment he understood what Matt -had reference to, and pulled a jingling bag from his pocket and tossed -it upon the table. - -"That's the whole of it," he said. "You'll see that it is returned?" - -Matt nodded. - -"That means that I'll have to walk to Totten, or ride Murgatroyd's -horse," Prebbles added, as he moved toward the door. - -Matt was about to lend him the money for his railroad ticket, when a -form darkened the door and stepped into the room. - -"Goin' somewheres?" queried a voice. "Well, I wouldn't, George--not -jest yet." - -It was Jed Spearman. Behind him came Slim, and back of Slim trailed the -cowboy who had been referred to as "Hen." - -Matt, greatly alarmed, sprang up and stepped forward. - -"Don't lay a hand on that man, Spearman," said Matt. "His father is -sick at Fort Totten, and he's got to go there in a hurry." - -"Oh, ho!" guffawed the foreman. "If here ain't Motor Matt, who was -flyin' this way on gov'ment bizness! An' the chink that run off with -the guns, an' t'other chap as lit out with our live stock. Waal, now, -ain't this here a pleasin' surprise--fer us? Don't git vi'lent, any -o' ye. Three o' us is in here, and thar's three more watchin' on the -outside. I reckon the boot's on the other leg, this deal, hey, Slim?" - -"I reckon," agreed Slim. "This is a whole lot funnier than that other -game, over on the coteau." - -"Don't ye ask us ter put down our guns an' do no more pushin'," said -Spearman. "Ye kain't work that joke on us twicet, hand-runnin'. We've -cut our eyeteeth, we hev. Got any weppins among ye?" - -Newt Prebbles, glaring at the Tin Cup men, had backed into a corner. He -had his eye on the broken window, and Spearman observed his intention. - -"Don't ye never try _that_, George," he grinned. "Ye'd be riddled like -a salt shaker afore ye'd hit the ground." - -"Spearman," said Matt, "you don't understand this matter. If you -did----" - -"Thar was some parts o' it I didn't onderstand none too well, back -thar on the hill, a few hours ago. But ye heered me say we'd cut our -eyeteeth, didn't ye? I meant jest that." - -"I came here on government duty, just as I said," went on Matt, "and if -you interfere with me in any way, you'll regret it." - -"Will I? Waal, life is plumb full o' sorrers an' regrets. Who's the -gent on the floor?" - -"I'm a helpless victim of these young scoundrels," said Murgatroyd -plaintively. "Release me, gentlemen, and do an act of simple justice!" - -"His name is Murgatroyd," corrected Matt, "and the government has -offered a reward of a thousand dollars for his capture." - -"That's your story fer it, young man. I ain't takin' your word fer -nothin'. Slim, step over an' cut the gent loose." - -Slim started. Matt stepped in front of him. - -"Leave that man alone!" ordered Matt. "You fellows, I suppose," he -continued, turning to Spearman, "have come here after the money -Prebbles took from you at the ranch. He was leaving it with me to -deliver to you, just as you came." - -"Likely yarn," scoffed Jed Spearman, taking a chair in the doorway. -"Consider yerselves pris'ners, all o' ye. We ain't so terribly het up -over Motor Matt, and we ain't so mad at t'other feller or the chink as -we mout be, seein' as how they left us our hosses an' guns an' then -trailed straight fer this place whar we diskiver George Hobbes. It's -Hobbes we want, an' I tell ye plain we're goin' ter play bob with him -afore we're done. That's flat." - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -AN UNEXPECTED TURN. - - -Motor Matt was never more at sea than he was at that moment. What could -he, and McGlory, and Ping do against six armed cowboys who, because of -their hostility, would not listen to reason? - -Jed Spearman and his companions could do exactly as they pleased. They -could take the law into their own hands, so far as Newt Prebbles was -concerned, and delay his departure for Fort Totten; and, in reckless -defiance of what Matt said, they could release Murgatroyd. - -Ping, so far from being a factor of strength in the slender force to be -mustered against the cowboys, was a decided element of weakness. He was -afraid he was going to lose his queue, and the fear had made him almost -daft. - -"Slim," called Spearman, tilting back in his chair and fanning himself -with his hat, "jest count the _dinero_ in that bag an' see how much it -foots up." - -Slim slouched over to the table, Matt, meanwhile, standing guard -between him and Murgatroyd. - -With elaborate ease, Slim dumped the contents of the pouch on the table -and proceeded to count the gold pieces. - -"Why, Jed," he called, "I'm blamed if it ain't all here, an' a dollar -more'n what we lost." - -"Keep the dollar fer int'rest, Slim," said Spearman generously. "Tell -me, Hen," he proceeded, "what we're goin' ter do to the low-down -tinhorn who run in them fancy tricks on us at the bunk house?" - -"Hang 'im," replied Hen promptly. - -"Oh, ye're altogether too desp'rit. Somethin' lighter'n that. What say, -Slim?" - -"Waal," replied Slim, "I'd suggest runnin' him out o' the kentry, Jed. -We ain't got no room, in these parts, fer a robber like what this -feller is. The law kain't tech him, ye know." - -"Hev we got ter waste our vallyble time pusson'ly conductin' sich a -missable galoot across the border?" asked Spearman. - -"Thar's a hoss among the cottonwoods, Jed. Let's tie the tinhorn ter -his back, take off the hoss' bridle, an' then chase the critter fer a -ways. That 'u'd do the trick." - -"Gentlemen," came the imploring voice of Murgatroyd, "that animal -belongs to me. I beg of you not to use him in your scheme of -punishment. How shall I get back to Bismarck after you release me?" - -"Stop yer talkin', you!" scowled Spearman. "I reckon, if we turn ye -loose, that ort ter be about all ye kin ask. Slim," he added to his -comrade, "yer suggestion is in good taste, an' hes my approval. The -trick hes been done afore, an' allers, I make no doubt, with good an' -lastin' effects ter the community. Pris'ner, hev ye got anythin' ter -say?" - -"Only this," replied Newt Prebbles. "My father is lying sick at Fort -Totten. He needs me. If you try to tie me to that horse and send me -across the border, I'll fight till I drop. What more do you want?" he -cried passionately. "I gambled with you, and I resorted to a gambler's -tricks, but I have returned more money than I took." - -"Ye returned the money bekase ye had ter," said Spearman grimly. "If us -fellers hadn't blowed in here, we wouldn't 'a' got it." - -"You're wrong there, Spearman," called Matt. "I have told you once, and -I repeat it now, that Prebbles gave up that moment before he, or any -of the rest of us, knew you were coming here. I protest against such -inhuman treatment as you're planning to give him." - -"All right," grinned Spearman, "protest. Now, we'll let that drap while -we consider the case o' the gent on the floor. I reckon, Motor Matt, -ye're plumb anxious ter take him ter Totten, ain't ye?" - -"I am," answered Matt. "As I told you, he's wanted by the government." - -"It 'u'd be a feather in yer cap if ye toted him in, wouldn't it?" - -"I don't know anything about that, and I don't care. He's a scoundrel, -and ought to be punished." - -"An' thar's a thousand out fer him?" - -"Yes." - -"Which ye'd git?" - -"No. It goes to another man." - -Spearman drew down an eyelid in a knowing wink. - -"'Course I ain't swallerin' that, not noways. It was right funny, that -thing ye done over on the hill. I reckon ye've laughed a-considerable -about that, hey? I didn't git a chance ter fly with ye, an' the boys -hev been joshin' me ever sence about it. Ye ort ter be punished -somehow, an' I reckon the easiest and best way ter do that is by -letting yer pris'ner go. Ye won't hev no feather in yer cap, an' ye -won't hev no thousand dollars. Slim!" - -"On deck, Jed." - -"I ordered ye, a while ago, ter let that man loose. Now, I order ye -ag'in. This time, I want it done!" - -"Wait a second!" cried Matt. "Spearman," he went on, "are you such a -fool you think you can punish me by allowing this man his freedom?" - -"Keerful!" warned the foreman. "Don't git ter callin' names. I won't -stand fer that, not fer a minit." - -"If you allow this criminal to go, you'll be getting yourself into hot -water--you won't be hurting me." - -"I know what I'm about. Slim!" - -Slim started toward Motor Matt, swinging one hand carelessly but -significantly behind him. - -"Keep away," said Matt, a dangerous light rising in his eyes. "You'll -not let this man go." - -"Are you going to let yourself be bluffed by a fellow of his size?" -taunted Murgatroyd, taking another tack. - -"No words from you," growled Spearman. - -Slim undoubtedly felt that it was up to him to let the foreman and Hen -know what he was good for. He had a natural delicacy about using a -weapon against an unarmed youth, so he made the mistake of thinking he -could eliminate the barrier with his hands. - -"Side-step!" he commanded. - -Matt held his ground. - -"Waal, if ye won't, then take that." - -Slim swung his fist. What happened, then, must have astonished him -exceedingly. - -His fist clove the empty air, and before he could recover his poise he -was struck a blow that heaved him over against Hen, and toppled both of -them against the wall. - -"Jumpin' jee-mimy!" stuttered Slim, rubbing his chin. "He hits like the -kick of a mule--an' it was about as quick." - -"Oh, blazes!" growled Spearman, in disgust. "Hen, you help. If the two -o' ye ain't enough, I'll join in." - -McGlory had pressed closer to Matt's side. The two chums were now -shoulder to shoulder. - -"I'm a cowboy myself," cried McGlory, "and if you longhorns have come -out prancin' for trouble, I guess we can accommodate you." - -But the matter was never brought to an issue. A shrill whistle echoed -from the outside. Spearman jumped to his feet. - -"That's from one o' our boys," said he. "What's doin'?" - -The next moment Spearman knew. A khaki-clad officer appeared in the -doorway, covered with the dust of a hard ride. Standing there, for an -instant, he surveyed the interior of the shack. - -"Cameron!" cried Matt joyfully. - -"Whoop-ya!" roared McGlory. "Lieutenant Cameron, of the old U. S. A. -Speak to me about that! He's just in time." - -"Who's Leftenant Cameron?" snorted Spearman. "I don't know him from -Adam." - -"Possibly not," answered Cameron, "but, fortunately, I've got a man -with me whom you do know. Come in, Roscoe!" called the lieutenant, -stepping farther into the room. - -A burly individual slouched through the doorway and stood looking out -from under his bushy brows at Spearman. - -The foreman's careless air left him in a flash. He fell back a step. - -"Roscoe!" - -"Surest thing you know," replied the burly individual, "Roscoe, Sheriff -of Burleigh. Now, what's been going on here?" - -There was something humorous, after that, in Spearman's attempt to -explain. The whole story was finally given by Matt, and listened to -with attention. - -The sheriff, when all the details were in, drew a large slab of tobacco -from his pocket and nibbled off a corner. - -"Who's got the money that was won at the bunk house?" he asked calmly. - -"Slim, thar," answered Spearman. - -"Fork over, Slim." - -Slim promptly tossed the bag to Roscoe. - -"If you Tin Cup men haven't got sense enough to keep from being -skinned," remarked the sheriff, "you ought to be done out of your -eyeteeth. And, furthermore, you haven't any call to chase the man -that was too sharp for you and try to run him out of the country. You -fellows at the Tin Cup are a heap too lawless. I've had my eye on -you for quite a spell. The money goes to the man that took it. Here, -stranger! I'm not approving of the way it was come by, mark you, but, -so far as the ethics of this case are concerned, the money is yours." - -"I don't want it," was the astounding response from Newt Prebbles. "I'm -a different man from what I was when I got that away from the Tin Cup -fellows." - -The sheriff stared, then calmly dropped the bag into his own pocket. - -"I'll accept the donation," said he, "and pass it along to the Bismarck -Orphan Asylum. Now, Spearman," and he stepped over and tapped the -foreman on the chest, "I wish I could take you to town with me for -planning to release a badly wanted man. But I can't. All I can say is -that I've got my eye on you. Scatter out of this. That will be about -all." - -The Tin Cup men "scattered." As the galloping hoofs died away in the -distance, Lieutenant Cameron stepped over and caught Matt's hand. - -"I guess I was of some use, after all, eh, Matt? You fellows have had -most of the fun, but I managed to get here in time to save you some -unpleasantness." - -"You did," answered Motor Matt gratefully, wringing the brave fellow's -hand. "You've saved the prisoner, and made it possible for Prebbles' -son to get to the post in time to----" - -"Wait," interrupted Cameron, pulling a yellow slip from his pocket. -"That reached me just as the sheriff and I were leaving Bismarck." - -Matt took the telegram. It was brief, but terribly to the point. - - "Prebbles can't last more than twenty-four hours, at the outside. - Useless to bring his son." - -This was signed by the doctor. Silently Matt passed the telegram to -Newt. - -Young Prebbles read it, dropped into a chair, and buried his face in -his hands. - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -A RISKY VENTURE. - - -While Roscoe was removing the ropes from Murgatroyd's hands and -replacing them with a pair of steel manacles, Matt and McGlory stepped -out of the shack for a brief talk. - -"Young Prebbles is pretty badly cut up," said Cameron. - -"He ought to be," said McGlory. "I reckon this is a lesson for him, and -for any other young fellow who feels like taking the bit in his teeth." - -"It's pretty tough," murmured Matt, shaking his head. "There's good -stuff in young Prebbles." - -"That's Pard Matt for you, Cameron," said the cowboy. "He always looks -for the good stuff in a fellow and never sees much of anything else." - -"After all," approved Cameron, "that's the best way. But I'll warrant -Matt can't find much to commend in Murgatroyd." - -"He's old enough to know right from wrong," said Matt, "and now that -he's made his bed, he's got to lie in it. Where did you find the -sheriff, Cameron?" - -"Wired him I was coming, and he met me at the train with a couple of -riding horses. They couldn't remember anything definite at the post -office, although one of the clerks had a hazy recollection that some -one had called for a letter addressed to Hobbes. That's all we had to -go on. We hit the trail and rode hard." - -"Good thing you did. If you hadn't ridden so hard you might have got -here too late." - -"What a day this has been! I should think you fellows would be about -fagged." - -Before Matt could make any response, Newt Prebbles came out of the -shack. - -"I'm going, just the same," said he doggedly. - -"There's no way you can get to the post in time, Prebbles," returned -Cameron kindly. - -"I'll get there, anyhow, whether I'm late or not. Good heavens! You -don't understand what this means to me! You don't know----" - -He bit his lips to keep back the emotion that grew with the words. - -"I've just got to go," he finished. "I'll get through somehow." - -"How'll you get from here to Bismarck?" inquired Cameron. - -"On Murgatroyd's horse." - -"Your connections are poor all the way through. You'll not be able to -reach Totten before to-morrow afternoon." - -"I'm going." - -"Wait," said Matt. "Are you willing to take a little risk, Prebbles?" - -"Risk? I'd take any risk if it could shorten my trip to Totten by a -single hour." - -"Do you know the country between here and Totten?" - -"Every foot of it." - -"By night as well as by day?" - -"Any time." - -"Let's get a little something to eat," said Matt, "and then I'll agree -to get you to Totten inside of three hours." - -"How?" - -"We'll use the aëroplane." - -There was a silence, then a protest from McGlory. - -"Pard, you're not made of iron. You can't stand that trip, after all -you've done. Sufferin' cats! Why, you're workin' every second you're -runnin' the _Comet_! And it's the hardest kind of work, at that." - -"I can do it," said Matt, looking around at the gathering dusk. "But -we'll have to start before it gets too dark." - -"Look at the risk!" - -"We'll face it. Besides, it's not so much." - -There was no arguing with Matt. He had his mind made up and was like a -rock. - -"You and Ping, Joe," said Matt, "will come with Cameron and Murgatroyd. -Have you a lantern, Newt?" - -"Yes." - -"Get it." - -The lantern was secured and lighted. After Matt had hastily bolted a -few mouthfuls of food, he took the lantern and started for the place -where he had left the _Comet_. - -Cameron, Ping, and McGlory accompanied the king of the motor boys and -Newt Prebbles. Roscoe remained at the shack with Murgatroyd. - -The rope with which the aëroplane had been made fast to the trees was -taken off, and Matt, while he was going over the machine to see that -everything was in proper order, told McGlory to hunt for a favorable -place to make the start. - -When Matt had finished his inspection, the cowboy had selected the -nearest spot which was at all promising. - -"It's at the top of the bank, Matt," said McGlory. "There's a clear -stretch, sloping slightly to the east." - -"Then let's get the machine up there." - -The _Comet_, a ghostly monstrosity in the gloom, was pushed and pulled -to the top of the bank and pointed down the slight slope. Matt walked -over the course of the start with the lantern, to make sure there were -no stones in the way. - -"We don't want the lantern," said Matt, coming back and handing the -light to McGlory. "Lock up the shack when you leave and bring the key -with you, Joe." - -McGlory was nervous and apprehensive. He grabbed Matt's hand before he -took his seat. - -"It's a risky venture," he breathed. - -"A little risk, of course," answered Matt. "There always is." - -"But this is night, pard. You never tried to fly the machine at night -before." - -"There's always got to be a first time." - -"There's some wind, too." - -"Not enough to be dangerous." - -"You'll win out, Motor Matt," said Cameron; "you always do." - -"There's got to be a first time when he won't," croaked McGlory -dismally. - -"Take your seat, Newt," said Matt. - -Newt, without a word, placed himself as directed. - -"I guess we're all ready," called Matt, starting the motor. "Help us in -the getaway, you fellows." - -Cameron, McGlory, and Ping pushed the car down the slope through the -dusk. Finally it drew away from them, and they saw it, like a huge -spectre, sailing skyward. - -Newt Prebbles undoubtedly remembered more about that daring night trip -than Motor Matt. - -The king of the motor boys had eyes and ears for nothing but his work. -The propeller whirled the great planes on and on into the gloom, and -sense of touch alone told Matt when to meet the varying points of air -pressure by a shift of the wing tips. - -Newt said little, and what he did say was in the nature of directions -for keeping the _Comet_ on the right course. With eyes peering ahead -and downward, he watched the dusky panorama flitting away below them. - -Matt admired his courage. Calm and steady, he kept rigidly to his -place, interfered in no way with the freedom of Matt's movements, and -watched alertly for the landmarks with which he was familiar. - -Whenever they swept over a cluster of lights, young Prebbles named the -town instantly. - -The stars came out in the dusky vault overhead, and a big moon crept up -over the horizon. - -Swinging through space, hung from the zenith as by invisible cords, the -_Comet_ glided steadily and surely onward. - -"Oberon," announced Newt, as they swept across a gleaming mat of yellow. - -"Great spark plugs!" exclaimed the king of the motor boys. "I don't -know, Newt, but I've a notion we're making a record flight." - -"It's wonderful," mused young Prebbles; "but there's something which, -to my mind, is even more wonderful than this work of the flying -machine." - -"What's that?" - -"Why, that you're doing this for me--for a man who nearly drowned -himself trying to get away from you, and who tried his best to cripple -you, or the _Comet_, with a bullet." - -"We all of us make mistakes, now and then," answered Matt. "It's a -mighty foolish man who won't rectify a mistake when he finds he has -made one." - -From Oberon the course led north and east. - -"There's the post trader's store," reported Prebbles. - -"That means we're just about where we're going," said Matt. - -"Where'll we come down?" - -"On the parade ground at the post." - -When near the old fort, they could hear the call of the sentries, and -were able to mark the fringe of oil lamps around the barracks and -officers' quarters. - -Silently, like a wraith from the Unknown, they dropped downward, struck -on the bicycle wheels, and glided to a stop. - -"Be hivins," cried a voice, "it's th' _Comet_. Now what would you be -afther thinkin' av that? Th' _Comet_, d'ye moind, rammin' around in th' -dark th' same as if it was broad day. Is that yerself, Motor Matt?" - -"Yes," said Matt, stepping out of the machine. "How's Prebbles, O'Hara?" - -"Th' ould sawbones has given up hope, an' that's all I kin tell ye. But -who is it ye have along?" - -"Prebbles' son. Take him up to Cameron's quarters at once, will you?" - -"Sure I will." - -"I'll see you in the morning, Newt," Matt added. - -Young Prebbles paused to grasp Matt's hand. - -"I appreciate what you have done for me, don't forget that," he said. - -Matt gave the _Comet_ into the care of a guard, then hunted up a place -to sleep. His head had hardly dropped on the pillow before he was off -for the land of dreams. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -CONCLUSION. - - -Doctors are not infallible, and the post doctor was no exception in -this respect. All his experience and skill in diagnosing the ills of -humanity, made him certain that Prebbles was booked for the other -world. But there was an error--and, more than likely, that error was -due to the arrival of Newt, who, it will be remembered, the doctor had -wired it would be useless to send. - -Prebbles was singing his Salvation Army hymns when Newt stepped into -the sick room. All night he was marching the streets, in his disordered -mind, pounding the cymbals and exhorting. Occasionally there crept -into the oral wanderings a reference to the young man watching at the -bedside. - -Most unexpectedly--most unaccountably, to the doctor--a lucid moment -came to Prebbles in the early morning. He saw his son, he recognized -him, and he felt his handclasp. There was a smile on the old man's lips -as he drifted back into his sea of visions. - -But, from that moment, there was a noticeable change. There seemed more -resisting power in the wasted body of the old clerk, as though hope for -better things had grown up in him and was giving him strength. - -To Matt, Newt Prebbles told what he knew about the accident to poor -Harry Traquair. - -Siwash Charley, under agreement with Murgatroyd, had tampered with -Traquair's machine before the fatal flight, just as he had tampered -with Matt's machine before the official trials at Fort Totten. But -Traquair had not been so fortunate as the king of the motor boys. - -Newt had learned of this villainous work through Siwash Charley, and -had received from Siwash, at a time when the ruffian was under the -influence of liquor, an incriminating note from the broker, signed with -his _alias_, "George Hobbes." - -Prebbles had made use of this document, holding it over Murgatroyd's -head and extorting money from him on account of it. - -This, of course, formed a sad commentary on the character of young -Prebbles. But Motor Matt, in "advancing the spark of friendship," -so played upon the facts in the case, and showed up the broker's -duplicity, that the old clerk's illness formed the turning point in his -son's career. - -Such transformations are not so rare as it would seem. - -Cameron, Matt, Ping, and Roscoe arrived at the post in the afternoon -following the arrival of Matt and young Prebbles. Murgatroyd, of -course, accompanied them. - -Murgatroyd was tried, not on the Traquair charge, but on the later -one of conniving, with Siwash Charley, to injure the aëroplane at the -government trials, thus endangering the life, not only of Motor Matt, -but of Lieutenant Cameron as well. - -His sentence was commensurate with the evil he had attempted, and he -followed Siwash Charley to the Leavenworth prison. - -After a few days the post doctor was as certain Prebbles would recover -as he had been positive, at the time he sent his message to Cameron, -that he had not many hours to live. - -The reward paid by the government for the capture of Murgatroyd was -made over to the old clerk. On this, he and his son were to begin life -anew. - -One of the first things Matt did, after reaching the post with Newt -Prebbles, was to write to Mrs. Traquair, at Jamestown, settling a -mystery which had long puzzled every one who knew of Murgatroyd's -attempts to secure the Wells County homestead. - -There was coal under the soil of the quarter-section, and the railroad -company wanted it. That was the secret, and Mrs. Traquair profited -handsomely by the knowledge of it. - -The mortgage was paid, and the homestead passed into the hands of the -railroad company. - -In a country so barren of trees as North Dakota, coal is a valuable -commodity. - -Matt still kept the aëroplane, and still persistently refused to put it -in storage at the post, to be called for later. - -"The _Comet_," said Matt, one evening when he and McGlory were again -with Cameron, "has got to earn something for Joe, and Ping, and myself." - -"Ping comes in on the deal, does he?" laughed Cameron. - -"Share and share alike with the rest of us," averred Matt. "That -Chinese boy is loyalty itself. Down in that shelter tent, below the -post trader's, he spends his nights and days watching the aëroplane." - -"And talking to it, and singing about it, and burning rice-paper -prayers to the heathen josses, asking them to keep it carefully and -not let it go broke while up in the air," put in McGlory. "Oh, he's a -freak, that Ping boy; but, as Matt says, he's a mighty good sort of a -freak at that. Look how he ran off with the rifles when we fooled the -Tin Cup punchers on the hill! And remember how he slammed that stone -through the window when Murgatroyd had drawn a fine bead on me and was -about to press the trigger. Share and share alike? Well, I should say." - -"You're still determined to go into the show business, Matt?" asked -Cameron anxiously. - -"I don't see why we shouldn't," said Matt. "Five hundred a week isn't -to be sneezed at. Joe's agreed, and so has Ping. When the first -favorable day arrives, we're going to fly to Fargo." - -Two days later the favorable moment was at hand. All the soldiers at -the post were out to witness the start, and even the gruff post trader -was present to say good-by to the king of the motor boys and his -friends. - -Matt's last call, at the post, was made on Prebbles. The old man was -practically out of danger, but his recovery would take time, and for a -long while yet he would have to remain in bed. - -He was not able to say much, but what little he did say Matt considered -an ample reward for the strenuous adventures that had befallen him and -his chums on their flight to the upper Missouri. - -Newt had become his sworn friend. Whenever Matt wanted any help, in any -way that was within Newt's power to grant, he was surely to call on -young Prebbles. - -When finally Motor Matt took his way down the post hill for the last -time, he was in an exceedingly thoughtful mood. - -He remembered when he had first come to Devil's Lake, knowing nothing -about aëroplanes, and had practiced with the _June Bug_ until he had -acquired the knack of flying the machine and had made good and sold the -machine to the government for enough to give large profit to himself -and his friends, and, what pleased him most, to place Mrs. Traquair -above want. - -He remembered, too, how he had sailed away alone into Wells County -on a fool's errand, had become entangled in a losing cause, and had -experienced a sharp reverse. - -But, best of all, in his estimation, was the night journey back to the -post from the Missouri River, bringing Newt Prebbles to his father's -bedside. - -Down into the cheering throng below the post trader's store went the -king of the motor boys, shaking hands with every one he met, Indians, -whites, or "breeds," receiving good wishes from all and heartily -returning them. - -For the last time the aëroplane was dragged from the shelter tent, -given a strong start along the old familiar roadway, and then watched -as it climbed up and up into the air and winged swiftly eastward, -carrying Motor Matt, and Joe McGlory, and Ping into untried ventures -and fresh fields of endeavor. - - -THE END. - - - - -THE NEXT NUMBER (27) WILL CONTAIN - -Motor Matt's Engagement; - -OR, - -ON THE ROAD WITH A SHOW. - - "On the Banks of the Wabash"--In the Calliope Tent--An - Eavesdropper--Queer Proceedings--Motor Matt Protests--A Blaze in the - Air--Was it Treachery?--A Call for Help--Black Magic--The Mahout's - Flight--The Paper Trail--Carl Turns a Trick--The Lacquered Box--The - Hypnotist's Victim--"For the Sake of Haidee"--The Rajah's Niece - - - - -MOTOR STORIES - -THRILLING ADVENTURE MOTOR FICTION - -NEW YORK, August 21, 1909. - - -TERMS TO MOTOR STORIES MAIL SUBSCRIBERS. - -(_Postage Free._) - -Single Copies or Back Numbers, 5c. Each. - - 3 months 65c. - 4 months 85c. - 6 months $1.25 - One year 2.50 - 2 copies one year 4.00 - 1 copy two years 4.00 - -=How to Send Money=--By post-office or express money-order, registered -letter, bank check or draft, at our risk. At your own risk if sent by -currency, coin, or postage-stamps in ordinary letter. - -=Receipts=--Receipt of your remittance is acknowledged by proper change -of number on your label. If not correct you have not been properly -credited, and should let us know at once. - - ORMOND G. SMITH, } - GEORGE C. SMITH, } _Proprietors_. - - STREET & SMITH, Publishers, - 79-89 Seventh Avenue, New York City. - - - - -MOSE HOWARD'S FISH TRAP. - - -Nicodemus Squab, Professor of Orthography in the Jimtown district -school, was a man of an inquiring turn of mind. - -Overhearing some of the scholars discussing a prospective coon hunt -that was to come off the following Saturday night, the professor drew -near and inquired if they would allow him to join them. - -"Of course you kin jine us," said Mose Howard, who was the ringleader -in all the devilment in the neighborhood. "Glad tu have you go 'long. -We'll come by for you." - -"Thank you," said the professor. "I never was coon hunting in my life, -though I've always wanted to go--just to see how it is done, you know." - -According to promise, Mose Howard, Dick Miller, and Joe Smiley came -by for the professor, who was ready and waiting, and who joined the -hunters, anticipating a jolly old time. - -After winding up the coon hunt, which resulted in the capture of five -possums and three coons, Mose Howard proposed that they should go back -by the fish trap and catch a mess of fish. - -The proposition was unanimously agreed to, and they struck off down -the creek, the professor bringing up the rear, puffing and blowing, -though highly elated at the variation that this additional act in the -programme promised, as well as at the prospect of a successful raid -upon the finny tribe. - -The "Dofuny" contraption that Mose dignified with the name of fish trap -consisted merely of a large sack held open by a hoop, around which -the mouth of the sack was fastened, and a couple of ropes, one end of -which was fastened to each side of the hoop, while the other ends were -fastened to trees on the opposite sides of the stream, in such a way as -to allow the hoop to remain about halfway submerged. - -On the bank of the creek was a lantern, in which was about half a -tallow candle. - -Producing some matches, Mose lit the candle and proceeded to explain to -the professor the modus operandi of catching fish with his new-fangled -trap. - -"You just take the lamp, and wade into the trap, and hold the lamp -right in front of the mouth so that the fish can see how to run in, and -we boys'll go away down the creek and pull off our clothes and wade -into the creek and drive the fish up and into the trap." - -The professor, as unsuspicious of any trick as a sucking baby, shucked -himself, and then taking up the lantern, waded into the trap that the -boys set for him instead of for fish, and in the construction of which -they had not only exhausted their financial resources in the purchase -of the material out of which it was constructed, but also their -ingenuity in the getting up and fabrication of the same. - -"Ugh!" grunted the professor, as he reached the trap and placed the -lantern in the position indicated, "this water is cold as ice. I want -you boys to make haste." - -"Yes, sir," responded the boys. - -"You'll hear us hollerin' as we come," said Mose, and off they started -down the creek in a trot. - -"All right," said the professor. - -As soon as they got out of sight their gait slackened to a walk, which -they kept till they reached a point some four hundred yards distant -from the trap, when, seating themselves on a log, they began the most -uproarious din of yelling and howling that had ever awakened the -slumbering echoes of those old woods since the aborigines had vacated -the premises. - -After about an hour spent in this way the boys got up and advanced -slowly up the bank of the stream about a hundred yards, when they -seated themselves on another log, where they continued to whoop and -yell like so many wild Indians. - -After another hour thus spent they made another advance which brought -the professor and the fish trap within their range of vision, though, -owing to the darkness, they were not visible to him. - -"Hurry up, boys!" he shouted. "I'm nearly froze, and the candle's -nearly out." - -That was what they were waiting for--the candle to burn out--so that -their failure to catch fish could be laid to the absence of the light. - -"Yes, sir!" they shouted back; "we're hurrying as fast as we can!" - -And renewing their yells, they advanced slowly--very slowly--up the -stream. - -"Hurry up! hurry up!" again shouted the professor. "The candle will be -out in two minutes." - -"Ay, ay, sir!" shouted Mose back; "but you must stop hollerin', or -you'll skeer the fish." - -Sure enough, in about two minutes the candle gave a last convulsive -flicker, and in the twinkling of an eye thick darkness reigned as -absolutely over the professor and the fish trap as elsewhere. - -"Boys," said Mose, in a tone of voice loud enough for the professor to -hear him, "there ain't no use wadin' in this water any longer; let's go -back an' git our cloze." - -Seating themselves on a log, they sat perfectly silent for a -while--long enough, as they thought, for it to have taken them to go -back to where they commenced their drive, dress themselves, and reach -that point on their return--when they got up and resumed their progress -upstream. - -On reaching the trap, they found the professor on shore, and though he -had completed his toilet, his teeth were chattering together worse than -a pair of castanets rattling off a quickstep march. - -"We'll have to try it over ag'in some other time," said Mose, "and -fetch more candles with us. I thought we had plenty this time, but we -didn't. I guess I'll bring enough next time." - -"Why didn't you fellows hurry up?" said the professor. "What made you -come so slow?" the chattering of his teeth as he spoke causing him to -cut the words into more than the legitimate number of syllables to -which they were entitled. - -"Couldn't come no faster," said Mose. "The water was so thunderin' cold -the fish wouldn't drive fast." - -Satisfied with this explanation, the professor fell into ranks as -the boys filed off in the direction of home. The exercise of walking -soon brought a reaction in his system, the first effect of which was -to put a stop to the music of the castanets, and on reaching home he -pronounced himself all right again. - -Sometime during the ensuing week Mose Howard informed the professor -that they were going to try the fish trap again the following Saturday -night, and asked him if he didn't want to go along. - -The professor gave an involuntary shudder as the recollection of that -protracted soaking in ice water of the previous Saturday night flashed -across his mind. - -Discretion prompted him to give a negative response. Curiosity, -however, got the better of discretion, and he accepted the invitation. - -"I'll be on hand," said he. "There's no fun standing in that cold -water, especially when you get no fish; but if you can stand it I guess -I can." - -At the appointed time the boys came by, when, the professor joining -them, they proceeded to the fish trap. - -On arriving there, Mose produced a couple of pieces of candle, one of -which he proceeded to light and put in the lantern. It was nearly twice -as long as the one they had burned out on the previous occasion. - -The other piece he placed in the lantern, so that it could be easily -got at if it should be needed. - -This latter piece Mose had had manufactured himself especially for the -occasion, and had taken some little pains in its construction. - -After soaking the wick in water until it was perfectly saturated, he -had taken a skillet and melted some tallow therein; then placing the -wick in a mould, he filled the latter with the melted tallow, and the -thing was accomplished. - -This particular candle he had carefully marked, so as to be able to -distinguish it from any other candle. - -Before completing their arrangements at the fish trap, preparatory to -beginning the drive, the professor proposed that one of the boys should -take his place at the trap while he accompanied the others and assisted -in driving the fish. - -"Kin you swim?" asked Mose Howard. - -"No," answered the professor. - -"Well, you'd run the resk ov gittin' drownded, then," said Mose. - -"You go on, then," said the professor, "and I'll mind the trap." - -So off the boys started, and going down the stream about a mile, seated -themselves upon a log, and began yelling and whooping, as on the -previous occasion. - -Hour after hour passed, each hour seeming to the benumbed professor an -age. - -The yelling approached slowly but surely. - -The boys had now arrived at a point where every motion of the professor -was distinctly visible. - -The piece of candle Mose had lighted and put in the lantern was nearly -burned out. Taking up the other piece, the professor proceeded to light -it. Placing it in the lantern, it gave a splutter and went out. Dark! -Dark was no name for it. No moon, no stars, no matches. - -But that bogus candle would have been a match for a whole box of -matches. - -"What in thunder's the matter now?" shouted Mose. - -"The candle's gone out," shouted the professor back. "Have you got any -matches?" he inquired. - -"Nary match," said Mose. - -"What's to be done?" inquired the professor. - -"Nuthin'," said Mose. "The thing's played out. Put on your cloze, while -we go and git ourn, and then we'll git for home." - -Seating themselves on a log, the boys remained quiet for a while, then -rising to their feet, they came up to where the professor was waltzing -around trying to get up a circulation. - -"Another waterhaul," said Mose. - -"Looks a good deal like it," said the professor. - -"Don't know why the mischief some of us didn't think tu bring some -matches," said Mose. - -"I don't know, either," responded the professor, in a deprecating tone -of voice, as though he entertained the idea that somehow or other he -had been mainly instrumental in producing the bad luck. - -"Better luck next time," said Mose philosophically, as he struck out -for home, followed by the others. - -They had proceeded about two-thirds of the way home, groping their way -as best they could through the thick darkness, when a shrill, prolonged -scream directly ahead of them, and apparently at no great distance, -broke upon their startled auriculars. - -"Painter!" ejaculated Mose, in a low tone of voice, though sufficiently -loud to be distinctly audible to the professor, at the same time -springing to one side, and the next moment he was out of the -professor's hearing. - -The fact was he had only taken a couple of steps and then squatted in -the grass as completely concealed from his companions by the intense -darkness as though he had been on the opposite side of the globe. - -"Painter!" repeated the other boys, following Mose's example, of -springing to one side and squatting in the grass. - -Left alone, the professor, with hair on end, paused a moment to collect -his scattered thoughts; but only for a moment. - -Another scream long drawn out, and apparently but a few yards distant, -set his dumpling-shaped body in motion, and the next moment he was -streaking it across the country as fast as his duck legs could carry -him. - -Tumbling over a log lying on the edge of a bank some twenty feet high -and nearly perpendicular, down which he rolled, he landed in a mud hole -at the bottom. - -Gathering himself up he began looking for his hat, which had parted -company with him on the way down the bank, when, another scream -breaking upon his ear, he struck out once more on his race for life, -hatless and covered with mud from his head to his heels. - -Coming to a brier patch, he was on the point of diverging from -his course in order to try and go around it, when another scream -precipitated the terror-stricken professor into the patch like a -catapult. - -Emerging from the brier patch with his coat tails torn into ribbons, -the mud-begrimed professor held on the even tenor of his way without -any diminution of speed for a hundred yards or so, when his pace began -to slacken a little. Another scream, however, put him to his mettle -again, but as that was the last, and as he was about exhausted, he soon -settled down to a walk, and presently stumbling over a log, he picked -himself up and seated himself thereon. - -After resting a while, plunged in the meantime in a deep cogitation, he -finally concluded to try and seek a shelter for the remainder of the -night. So, starting forward, he wandered about first in one direction -and then in another, and it was not until daylight began to streak the -eastern horizon that he stumbled on a clearing in the woods, in the -midst of which was a log cabin. - -Cautiously approaching the cabin, he had reached the foot of a sapling -some fifty steps from the door when a big dog came dashing around the -corner of the house, barking in a most furious manner. - -No sooner did the professor catch sight of the dog bouncing along in -the direction of him and the sapling than he was seized with such a -sudden panic as to cause him to grasp the sapling in his arms and start -up it, though, owing to want of practice, with hardly the agility of -a squirrel. After a tremendous effort he succeeded in reaching a fork -some ten feet from the ground, where he seated himself, and awaited the -issue of events. - -He didn't have long to wait. The furious barking of the dog soon roused -the inmates of the cabin. - -Scarcely a minute had elapsed after the professor had succeeded, by -the most superhuman exertions, in seating himself comfortably in the -fork of the sapling, out of the reach of the dog, when the door of the -cabin opened and a huge six-footer of a backwoodsman, somewhat airily -attired, with a rifle of corresponding size with himself in his hand, -emerged therefrom. - -"What you got thar, Bull?" said the man, as he approached the sapling, -at the root of which the dog was barking in a most vociferous manner. -"What is it, old feller?" he continued. "B'ar, painter, ur catamount?" - -Bull's response was an abortive attempt to climb the tree, accompanied -by a most furious outburst of barking. - -"Be quiet, old feller," said the man; "we'll soon see what it is," at -the same time raising his rifle to his shoulder. - -"Hold on there," shouted the professor, who was beginning to realize -the perilous position in which he was placed, and the imminent danger -he was in of being shot for a bear or catamount. "I am no varmint. -I'm Nicodemus Squab, Professor of Orthography in the Jimtown district -school." - -"Hallo," said the backwoodsman, as he lowered his rifle, "is that so? -Well, that gits me. What in thunder ur you doin' up thar?" - -"Wait till I get down, and I'll tell you." - -And crawling out of the crotch in which he had been seated, the -professor slid down the sapling, when he soon succeeded in explaining -matters to the satisfaction of that thinly clad backwoodsman and his -savage bulldog. - -It was now broad daylight, and when he reached Jimtown the sun was some -distance above the horizon, climbing upward toward the zenith. - -Of course every man, woman, and child in the place beheld, with -wonder-depicted countenances, the advent of the mud-begrimed, hatless -professor, and a thousand conjectures were indulged in as to the cause -of his singular appearance. - -The professor was disposed to be reticent on the subject, answering -interrogatories in relation to the matter evasively; but the joke was -too good to be kept, and in less than twenty-four hours his approach -toward any crowd was greeted by a broad grin overspreading the -countenances of a majority of the members thereof, and his departure -signalized by a long guffaw. - -This conduct on the part of the citizens annoyed the professor -considerably at first; then it grew monotonous, and he became disgusted. - -Finally he burst into a flame of indignation, and after taking his -revenge out of the hides of the pupils, especially Mose Howard and his -confederates, the irate professor shook the dust of Jimtown off his -feet, and betook himself to parts unknown. - - - - -PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN IN DANGEROUS PLACES. - - -"Race war in Alabama. Take cinematograph pictures of fighting and -country." "Want pictures of Dyaks of Borneo as soon as possible." -"Series wanted of whale-hunting in Arctic regions." - -The average man, receiving one of these messages with his breakfast, -would not regard the commission exactly in the light of a pleasure -trip. To the cinematograph man, however, such orders are all in a day's -work. He simply packs up his machine, makes his arrangements in the -shortest possible time, and goes right ahead with the business. - -It is thrilling and wonderful work at times; and it requires a little -patience, too. "One of our photographers," said the manager of a -company recently, "once sat beside a geyser in Iceland for three -weeks, waiting for an eruption to take place, in order that he might -obtain some pictures of this wonderful phenomenon. The geyser seemed in -no hurry to oblige him, so he left the district for a couple of days. -When he returned he found that the eruption had taken place and the -geyser had again become inactive. - -"Another of our photographers, who went out to Borneo to take pictures -of the home life of the natives, narrowly escaped losing his head as -well as his machine. The natives thought the latter was some new and -powerful weapon, and it was only by the timely intervention of the -interpreter, who explained matters, that they adopted a more friendly -attitude. - -"By the way, this particular photographer raised a good laugh when -he came home. We wanted some pictures taken while traveling down the -water chute at an exhibition. It was necessary for the operator and the -machine to be strapped to the boat, in order that he might be quite -free to turn the handle and take the photographs as he shot down the -chute. I asked the photographer from Borneo to do the job. 'I would -rather be excused,' he said; 'I've got a weak heart.' Here was a man, -who spent weeks among one of the most savage tribes in the world, who -was afraid to go down a water chute. Nerves are peculiar things. - -"I think, however, the worst experience which has befallen one of our -photographers was that of the man we sent to take the pictures of a -whale-hunting expedition. A fine school--I believe that is the correct -term--of whales was sighted one day. The boats went in pursuit, and our -photographer with his machine entered one of them. The crew of this -boat managed to harpoon a fine big whale, who went through the sea at a -terrific pace, dragging the boat behind him. Our photographer was just -congratulating himself on getting some of the most realistic pictures -ever obtained, when suddenly the whale doubled in its tracks, and, to -make a long story short, smashed the boat. Luckily, another boat came -up at the critical moment and rescued the crew and the photographer. -But the latter is always bemoaning the fact that one of the finest sets -of cinematograph pictures ever taken lies at the bottom of the Arctic -Ocean." - -Some of the most interesting pictures shown, however, are scenes taken -en route while traveling by rail in various parts of the world. A -special engine is chartered, and the operator, with his machine, takes -his place on the front platform of the engine, or on a low truck which -the engine pushes in front of it. Thus mile after mile of scenery is -photographed as the engine rushes along. It is a rather ticklish job, -particularly in wild regions where all sorts of animals stray on to the -line, and there is a risk of collision and general smash. - -Doubtless many readers are acquainted with the entertaining and novel -manner in which these pictures are afterward shown. One sits in a -stationary model of a railway carriage, the picture being thrown on a -screen at the end. A motor underneath the carriage gives a realistic -impression of the noise made by a train when traveling, and thus one -seems to be rushing through the country which is being depicted on the -screen. It is a novel notion, which is deserving of all the success and -popularity it has attained. - - - - -COSTLY FISHES. - - -The most beautiful and withal costly fishes in the world come from -China, and of these the most expensive and rarest is the brush-tail -goldfish. Specimens of these have sold for as high as $700 each, and in -Europe the prices range from $250 to $500. The brush-tail goldfish is -so small that a half-crown piece will cover it, and probably there is -no living thing of its size and weight that is worth so much money. - - - - -LATEST ISSUES - - -MOTOR STORIES - -The latest and best five-cent weekly. We won't say how interesting it -is. See for yourself. =High art colored covers. Thirty-two big pages. -Price, 5 cents.= - - 11--Motor Matt's Daring Rescue; or, The Strange Case of Helen Brady. - - 12--Motor Matt's Peril; or, Castaway in the Bahamas. - - 13--Motor Matt's Queer Find; or, The Secret of the Iron Chest. - - 14--Motor Matt's Promise; or, The Wreck of the _Hawk_. - - 15--Motor Matt's Submarine; or, The Strange Cruise of the _Grampus_. - - 16--Motor Matt's Quest; or, Three Chums in Strange Waters. - - 17--Motor Matt's Close Call; or, The Snare of Don Carlos. - - 18--Motor Matt in Brazil; or, Under the Amazon. - - 19--Motor Matt's Defiance; or, Around the Horn. - - 20--Motor Matt Makes Good; or, Another Victory for the Motor Boys. - - 21--Motor Matt's Launch; or, A Friend in Need. - - 22--Motor Matt's Enemies; or, A Struggle for the Right. - - 23--Motor Matt's Prize; or, The Pluck That Wins. - - 24--Motor Matt on the Wing; or, Flying For Fame and Fortune. - - -TIP TOP WEEKLY - -The most popular publication for boys. The adventures of Frank and Dick -Merriwell can be had only in this weekly. =High art colored covers. -Thirty-two pages. Price, 5 cents.= - - 684--Dick Merriwell at the "Meet"; or, Honors Worth Winning. - - 685--Dick Merriwell's Protest; or, The Man Who Would Not Play Clean. - - 686--Dick Merriwell In The Marathon; or, The Sensation of the Great - Run. - - 687--Dick Merriwell's Colors; or, All For the Blue. - - 688--Dick Merriwell, Driver; or, The Race for the Daremore Cup. - - 689--Dick Merriwell on the Deep; or, The Cruise of the _Yale_. - - 690--Dick Merriwell in the North Woods; or, The Timber Thieves of the - Floodwood. - - 691--Dick Merriwell's Dandies; or, A Surprise for the Cowboy Nine. - - 692--Dick Merriwell's "Skyscooter"; or, Professor Pagan and the - "Princess." - - 693--Dick Merriwell in the Elk Mountains; or, The Search for "Dead - Injun" Mine. - - 694--Dick Merriwell in Utah; or, The Road to "Promised Land." - - 695--Dick Merriwell's Bluff; or, The Boy Who Ran Away. - - 696--Dick Merriwell in the Saddle; or, The Bunch from the Bar-Z. - - 697--Dick Merriwell's Ranch Friends; or, Sport on the Range. - - -NICK CARTER WEEKLY - -The best detective stories on earth. Nick Carter's exploits are read -the world over. =High art colored covers. Thirty-two big pages. Price, -5 cents.= - - 646--Three Times Stolen; or, Nick Carter's Strange Clue. - - 647--The Great Diamond Syndicate; or, Nick Carter's Cleverest Foes. - - 648--The House of the Yellow Door; or, Nick Carter in the Old French - Quarter. - - 649--The Triangle Clue; or, Nick Carter's Greenwich Village Case. - - 650--The Hollingsworth Puzzle; or, Nick Carter Three Times Baffled. - - 651--The Affair of the Missing Bonds; or, Nick Carter in the Harness. - - 652--The Green Box Clue; or, Nick Carter's Good Friend. - - 653--The Taxicab Mystery; or, Nick Carter Closes a Deal. - - 654--The Mystery of a Hotel Room; or, Nick Carter's Best Work. - - 655--The Tragedy of the Well; or, Nick Carter Under Suspicion. - - 656--The Black Hand; or, Chick Carter's Well-laid Plot. - - 657--The Black Hand Nemesis; or, Chick Carter and the Mysterious - Woman. - - 658--A Masterly Trick; or, Chick and the Beautiful Italian. - - 659--A Dangerous Man; or, Nick Carter and the Famous Castor Case. - - -_For sale by all newsdealers, or will be sent to any address on receipt -of price, 5 cents per copy, in money or postage stamps, by_ - -STREET & SMITH, Publishers, 79-89 Seventh Avenue, New York - - -=IF YOU WANT ANY BACK NUMBERS= of our Weeklies and cannot procure them -from your newsdealer, they can be obtained from this office direct. -Fill out the following Order Blank and send it to us with the price -of the Weeklies you want and we will send them to you by return mail. -=POSTAGE STAMPS TAKEN THE SAME AS MONEY.= - - - ________________________ _190_ - - _STREET & SMITH, 79-89 Seventh Avenue, New York City._ - - _Dear Sirs: Enclosed please find_ ___________________________ - _cents for which send me_: - - TIP TOP WEEKLY, Nos. ________________________________ - - NICK CARTER WEEKLY, " ________________________________ - - DIAMOND DICK WEEKLY, " ________________________________ - - BUFFALO BILL STORIES, " ________________________________ - - BRAVE AND BOLD WEEKLY, " ________________________________ - - MOTOR STORIES, " ________________________________ - - _Name_ ________________ _Street_ ________________ - - _City_ ________________ _State_ ________________ - - - - -A GREAT SUCCESS!! - -MOTOR STORIES - - -Every boy who reads one of the splendid adventures of Motor Matt, which -are making their appearance in this weekly, is at once surprised and -delighted. Surprised at the generous quantity of reading matter that we -are giving for five cents; delighted with the fascinating interest of -the stories, second only to those published in the Tip Top Weekly. - -Matt has positive mechanical genius, and while his adventures are -unusual, they are, however, drawn so true to life that the reader can -clearly see how it is possible for the ordinary boy to experience them. - - -_HERE ARE THE TITLES NOW READY AND THOSE TO BE PUBLISHED_: - - 1--Motor Matt; or, The King of the Wheel. - - 2--Motor Matt's Daring; or, True to His Friends. - - 3--Motor Matt's Century Run; or, The Governor's Courier. - - 4--Motor Matt's Race; or, The Last Flight of the "Comet." - - 5--Motor Matt's Mystery; or, Foiling a Secret Plot. - - 6--Motor Matt's Red Flier; or, On the High Gear. - - 7--Motor Matt's Clue; or, The Phantom Auto. - - 8--Motor Matt's Triumph; or, Three Speeds Forward. - - 9--Motor Matt's Air Ship; or, The Rival Inventors. - - 10--Motor Matt's Hard Luck; or, The Balloon House Plot. - - 11--Motor Matt's Daring Rescue; or, The Strange Case of Helen Brady. - - 12--Motor Matt's Peril; or, Cast Away in the Bahamas. - - 13--Motor Matt's Queer Find; or, The Secret of the Iron Chest. - - 14--Motor Matt's Promise; or, The Wreck of the "Hawk." - - 15--Motor Matt's Submarine; or, The Strange Cruise of the "Grampus." - - 16--Motor Matt's Quest; or, Three Chums in Strange Waters. - - 17--Motor Matt's Close Call; or, The Snare of Don Carlos. - - 18--Motor Matt in Brazil; or, Under the Amazon. - - 19--Motor Matt's Defiance; or, Around the Horn. - - 20--Motor Matt Makes Good; or, Another Victory for the Motor Boys. - - 21--Motor Matt's Launch; or, A Friend in Need. - - 22--Motor Matt's Enemies; or, A Struggle for the Right. - - 23--Motor Matt's Prize; or, The Pluck that Wins. - - 24--Motor Matt on the Wing; or, Flying for Fame and Fortune. - -To be Published on August 9th. - - 25--Motor Matt's Reverse; or, Caught in a Losing Game. - -To be Published on August 16th. - - 26--Motor Matt's "Make or Break"; or, Advancing the Spark of - Friendship. - -To be Published on August 23d. - - 27--Motor Matt's Engagement; or, On the Road With a Show. - -To be Published on August 30th. - - 28--Motor Matt's "Short Circuit"; or, The Mahout's Vow. - - -PRICE, FIVE CENTS - -At all newsdealers, or sent, postpaid, by the publishers upon receipt -of the price. - - STREET & SMITH, _Publishers_, NEW YORK - - - - -Transcriber's Notes: - - -Added table of contents. - -Italics are represented with _underscores_, bold with =equal signs=. - -Page 2, corrected "aëroplan" to "aëroplane" in "Traquair and his -aëroplane." - -Page 3, corrected "Tarquair" to "Traquair" in "try-out of the Traquair" -and "you and Mrs. Traquair sold." - -Page 6, corrected "wil" to "will" in "money will go to you." - -Page 10, corrected "se" to "see" in "see the time-piece." - -Page 14, converted ligature in "manoeuvre" to "oe" for text edition; -ligature retained in HTML version. - -Page 25, corrected "Pebbles" to "Prebbles" in "good stuff in young -Pebbles." - -Page 29, corrected "thty" to "they" in "which they kept till." - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Motor Matt's Make-and-Break, by Stanley R. 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