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diff --git a/old/53607-0.txt b/old/53607-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 65b839d..0000000 --- a/old/53607-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5273 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Brave and Bold Weekly No. 363, A Hoodoo -Machine;, 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: Brave and Bold Weekly No. 363, A Hoodoo Machine; - or, The Motor Boys' Runabout No. 1313. - -Author: Stanley R. Matthews - -Release Date: November 26, 2016 [EBook #53607] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRAVE AND BOLD WEEKLY NO 363 *** - - - - -Produced by David Edwards, Craig Kirkwood, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (Images -courtesy of the Digital Library@Villanova University -(http://digital.library.villanova.edu/)) - - - - - - -Transcriber’s Notes: - -Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_), and text -enclosed by equal signs is in bold (=bold=). - -Additional Transcriber’s Notes are at the end. - - * * * * * - -[Illustration: A freight train was almost at the crossing, and, unless -Motor Matt could check the runabout in its wild flight, it would surely -be demolished by the onrushing locomotive.] - - * * * * * - -BRAVE AND BOLD WEEKLY - -_Issued Weekly. By subscription $2.50 per year. Copyright, 1909, by_ -STREET & SMITH, _79-89 Seventh Avenue, New York, N. Y._ - -=No. 363.= NEW YORK, December 4, 1909. =Price Five Cents.= - - - - -A HOODOO MACHINE; OR, The Motor Boys’ Runabout No. 1313. - - -By STANLEY R. MATTHEWS. - - - - -CHAPTER I. THE CAR THAT WOULDN’T BEHAVE. - - -“Sufferin’ whirligigs, Pard Matt! Look at that bubble wagon! Is it -trying to turn a handspring, or ‘skin the cat,’ or climb that telephone -pole? I reckon the longhorn up front don’t know how to run the thing. -Either that, or else he’s ‘bug’ with a big ‘B.’” - -“I should say it’s the car that’s ‘bug,’ Joe. The driver seems to be -trying to control the machine in the proper manner, but it won’t be -controlled. What’s your notion of it, Billy?” - -“Hoodoo car, Matt. Look at the number of her--thirteen thirteen. Double -hoodoo. You couldn’t expect no chug wagon with such a tag to behave -anything else than disgraceful. Lo and behold you, if she don’t turn -turtle in the ditch before she goes many more miles then my name’s -not Billy Wells. Watch ’er; keep your eye on ’er an’ I’ll bet you see -something.” - -The three boys were driving along the Jericho Pike well toward Krug’s -Corner--Matt King, Joe McGlory, and Billy Wells. Billy belonged with a -New York garage from which the boys had secured the touring car they -were using that morning. He was a living road map, this Billy, and -could go anywhere up-state, or over Long Island, or in Jersey on the -darkest night that ever fell, and he knew every minute just where he -was. - -Matt was doing the driving, and Billy sat beside him as guide, -counselor, and friend. In the back of the machine was McGlory. - -That was Thursday. Matt and his chum were heeding a summons that -carried them toward the Malvern Country Club, near Hempstead. After -transacting their business at the Country Club--they did not know what -it was, but believed it would not take them long--they were planning to -return to Krug’s Corner for their noon meal, and then back to Manhattan -by Jackson Avenue and the Williamsburg Bridge. But plans are easily -made, sometimes, and not so easily carried out. - -The day was bright, the roads were good, and the motor boys were -enjoying themselves. Well along the Jericho Pike they had come up with -a white runabout, two seats in front and a deck behind, and the actions -of this car aroused their curiosity to such an extent that Matt slowed -down the big machine in order that he and those with him could follow -and watch the performance. - -There was only one passenger in the white car, and he was having his -hands full. - -The runabout would angle from one side of the road to the other, in -apparent defiance of the way the steering wheel was held, and sometimes -it would go its eccentric course slowly and sometimes with a rush--so -far as those in the other car could see--without any change in the -speed gear. - -The driver of the runabout worked frantically to keep the machine where -it ought to be, but the task was too much for him. - -Once a telephone pole gave him a close shave, and once his -unmanageable car gave a sidewise lurch that almost hurled it into a -machine going the other way. - -“What’s the matter?” Matt hailed. - -The man in the runabout looked around with a facial expression that was -far from angelic. - -“If I knew what was the matter with this confounded car,” he cried in -exasperation, “do you think I’d be side-stepping all over the road the -way I am?” Then, muttering to himself, he humped over the steering -wheel again. - -“He’s happy--I don’t think,” chuckled McGlory. “The car’s getting on -his nerves.” - -“A car like that would get on anybody’s nerves,” commented Billy. “The -number’s enough to set mine on edge. Thirteen’s unlucky, no matter -where you find it. That’s right. And when you get two thirteens bunched -together, you’ve sure got a combination that points a car for the scrap -heap. I wouldn’t hold down the cushions in that roadster for all the -money in New York. No, sir, that I wouldn’t,” and Billy shook his head -forebodingly. - -“Oh, splash!” scoffed Matt. “When a car fools around like that, Billy, -there’s something wrong with its internal apparatus.” - -“Matt,” went on Billy solemnly, “I’ve seen cars that hadn’t a thing -wrong with ’em, but they was just naturally crazy and never’d run -right. Steer ’em straight, an’ they’d go crooked; point ’em crooked, -an’ they’d go straight; throw on the reverse, an’ they’d go for’ard; -give ’em the third speed an’ they’d crawl; give ’em the first an’ -they’d tear away like lightnin’--and all the while, mind you, the -engine was running as sweet as any engine you ever see. The Old Boy -himself takes charge of some cars the moment they’re sold and in a -customer’s hands. I’ve worked in a garage for five years, and I know.” - -Matt laughed. McGlory laughed, too, but not so mirthfully. The cowboy -had a little superstition in his make-up and Billy’s remarks had left a -fleeting impression. - -“Gammon, Billy, gammon,” said Matt. “If a car is built right, and works -right, it is going to run right. That stands to reason.” - -“A lot of things happen,” insisted Billy, “that don’t stand to reason. -Now, take that runabout. The engine’s working fine--from the sound of -it. Eh?” - -Matt admitted that, so far as the hum of the motor was concerned, the -machinery seemed to be doing its part. - -“Well, then,” cried the triumphant Billy, “why don’t the blooming car -run like it ought to?” - -“It’s the steering gear that’s wrong,” Matt answered, “not the engine, -or----” - -Bang! - -Just then the runabout blew up a forward tire. The machine tried to -turn a somersault, and its passenger went over on the hood and tried -to knock off one of the gas lamps with his head. When Matt brought the -touring car to the side of the runabout, and halted, the man was on his -feet, shaking his fist at the silent white tormentor. - -“If I had a stick of dynamite,” he declared wrathfully, “I’d blow -this infernal machine to kingdom come! I’ve been fiddling around the -Jericho Road for two mortal hours, and I could have made better time if -I’d left the car and gone on afoot. But I’ll hang to it, and make it -take me where I’m going. By George, I’ll not be beaten by a senseless -contraption of tires, mud guards, and machinery.” - -Matt had jumped out of the touring car and was sniffing at the damaged -tire. - -“What makes that smell of gasoline?” he asked. - -“I put in a tube this morning, and washed out the chalk with gasoline,” -said the man. - -“Never use gasoline for cleaning the tubes,” counseled Matt. “Get all -the chalk you can from the outer tube, and then soak it in wood naphtha -or ordinary alcohol. No wonder your tire blew up. You left gasoline in -the shoe, and when it got hot, it mixed with a little air in the tube -and something had to happen. Have you got another shoe?” - -“Yes.” - -“And a jack?” - -“Of course. When a man goes out with a car like this he ought to carry -a small garage around with him.” - -“Well, we’ll help you get on the shoe.” - -Matt and Billy worked. McGlory stood near, watching and talking with -the owner of the car. - -After the tire had been repaired, Matt looked over the runabout -critically. Much to his amazement, he could find nothing wrong. - -“It’s the double hoodoo,” whispered Billy; “that’s all that’s the -trouble.” - -“Much obliged to you,” said the man, cranking up. “Now we’ll see how -she acts.” - -He got in, went through the operations for a fresh start, but the -runabout began backing. While the man shouted, and said things, the -runabout backed in a circle around the big touring car, then dropped -rearward down a shallow embankment at the roadside--and its passenger -had another spill, out over the rear deck this time. For a second, he -stood on his head and shoulders, then turned clear over and made a -quick move sideways in getting to his feet. He was afraid, evidently, -that the runabout was coming on top of him. But the car, almost in -defiance of the laws of gravitation, hung to the side of the steep -bank, its position nearly perpendicular. - -“Speak to me about that!” gasped McGlory. - -Matt was scared. From the top of the bank he stood staring while the -man got out of the way. - -“Are you all right?” Matt asked. - -“No thanks to that fiendish machine if I am,” sputtered the man, -laboring frantically up the slope. “It has tried to kill me in a dozen -different ways since I left home with it. I’m done. Life’s too short to -bother with such an infernal car as that.” - -Fairly boiling with rage, he started along the road on foot. - -“Wait a minute!” shouted Matt. “Where you going?” - -The man turned. - -“Krug’s,” he answered. “I’ll get a decent, respectable car there to -take me on.” - -“You can telephone to a garage from Krug’s,” suggested Billy, “and they -can send some one to get the runabout home.” - -“I’m done with the runabout, I tell you. It can stay where it is until -the tires rot, for all of me.” - -“I’ll agree to get it back to the city for you,” said Matt. “My name’s -King, Matt King, and I’m staying at----” - -The man’s rage subsided a little. - -“You’re Matt King?” he inquired. - -“Yes.” - -“I understand, now, how you happen to know so much about tubes. They -say you’re pretty well up in motors, too. Well, here’s where I give you -the job of your life. Matt King, I make you a present of that runabout. -Take it--but Heaven help you if you try to run it.” - -Thereupon the man whirled around and strode off. - -“Oh, I say,” yelled Matt, “you don’t mean it. Wait, and I’ll----” - -But the man swung onward, paying no heed to what Matt was calling after -him. - -Matt King turned and peered in amazement at his cowboy chum. - -“Sufferin’ tenterhooks!” exclaimed McGlory. “You’re loaded up with a -bunch of trouble now, pard.” - -“Come on,” urged Billy, moving toward the touring car with considerable -haste. “Don’t lay a finger on that runabout--don’t have a thing to do -with it.” - -But Matt was face to face with a proposition that caught his fancy. A -refractory automobile! Never yet had he encountered a machine that had -got the best of him. And this runabout couldn’t do it--he was positive -of that. - - - - -CHAPTER II. MATT KING’S RESOLVE. - - -“That man was so mad he was locoed,” observed the cowboy. - -“Certainly he was, Joe,” agreed Matt. “If he hadn’t been, he’d never -have given away that machine. It’s a powerful car and worth twenty-five -hundred of any man’s money.” - -“Don’t tamper with it, Matt,” implored Billy. “When that fellow gets -over his mad spell he’ll want the runabout back. Let him have it--and -let him find it right where he left it.” - -“If he hadn’t been worked up like he was,” said Matt, “he wouldn’t have -given the car to me. I won’t take it, of course, but Joe and I will use -it to take us to the Malvern Country Club, and then back to Manhattan. -By to-morrow that fellow will be looking for me and wanting his car -back.” - -“You wouldn’t think of such a thing as wanting to bother with that -runabout!” gasped Billy, from his seat in the touring car. - -“Yes, I would,” answered Matt. “Why not?” - -“The number--thirteen thirteen!” - -“Bosh!” - -“It’s a hoodoo car.” - -“Never mind about that, Billy. You go on to Krug’s Corner and get a -stout rope. If you overtake the owner of the runabout you can give him -a lift. See him, anyhow, and tell him we’ll take the runabout to New -York and that he can have it whenever he wants it.” - -“Don’t do it!” begged Billy. “I’ve seen enough of these hoodoo cars to -know they’ll prove the death of somebody. Don’t let that runabout prove -the death of you!” - -“Go get the rope, Billy,” said Matt sharply, “and hustle back with it.” - -There was that in the voice of Matt King which proved that he had made -up his mind, and that there was no shaking his determination. With an -ominous movement of the head, Billy started for Krug’s Corner. - -“Pard,” remarked McGlory earnestly, “I reckon the runabout is heap bad -medicine. Do you think you ought to mix up with it?” - -“Are you going back on me, Joe?” asked Matt. - -“Not so you can notice. I’d get on a streak of greased lightning with -you, if you said the word, and help you ride it to the end of the -One-way Trail, but I think this is too big an order for us. Sufferin’ -thunderbolts! Why, pard, that car won’t mind the helm or do the thing -it ought to do even when you pull the right thing. When it began to -crawfish around the road, the reverse wasn’t on.” - -“I don’t know about that. It’s on now,” and he looked down at -the runabout. “I guess the man must have thrown on the reverse -instinctively when the tire blew up. Think of rinsing the chalk from -the outer tube with gasoline!” Matt laughed. “There was good cause for -the tire going wrong, and there may be other good and sufficient causes -for the machine’s sizzling around like it did. Anyhow, we’ll try it, -and see how it will behave for us.” - -“But how can we lay a course for the Malvern Country Club? Billy will -have to show us.” - -“Billy can tell us how to go, and we’ll get to the Country Club all -right. Hello! What’s this?” - -Matt began slipping and sliding down the slope at the side of the -runabout. Just at the point where the driver of the car had taken his -header, the young motorist picked up a long manila envelope, unsealed. - -“I reckon that dropped out of the man’s clothes while he was upside -down,” ventured McGlory. - -“That’s a cinch,” said Matt. “There’s no address on the envelope, and -no printed card in the corner, but it may be we can find the man’s name -and address on the papers inside. If he won’t come for his car, we’ll -take it to him.” - -“I’m a Piute,” mumbled McGlory, “if I feel right about this runabout -business.” - -“Billy’s talk about hoodoo cars has got you on the run,” grinned Matt. -“You’ll feel different when we’re slamming along the pike with the -runabout under perfect control. It’s my opinion that man doesn’t know a -whole lot about running a car.” - -While Matt was moving here and there about the steep bank, making a few -investigations of the “hoodoo” machine, Billy came racing back. - -“There’s your rope, Matt,” said he, tossing a coiled cable into the -road. - -Matt crept warily up the bank to the front of the runabout. - -“Did you see the man, Billy?” he asked. - -“Sure I did. Let him ride with me for half a mile.” - -“You told him what we were going to do?” - -“I did. He says that if you get that car back to the city, and try to -turn it over to him, he’ll have you arrested for assault with intent -to do great bodily damage. He says the runabout is a powder mine, and -liable to blow up at any minute. ‘Tell Matt King to keep it,’ he said, -‘providing he’s got the nerve.’ That’s the way he handed it to me. Take -my advice,” Billy clamored desperately, “and leave it alone!” - -“Joe and I are going to use it,” answered Matt. “Hand me an end of -that rope, pard,” he added to the cowboy. - -McGlory passed him the rope, and Matt made it secure to the front of -the runabout. - -“Back up, Billy,” called Matt, “and tie the other end of the rope to -the touring car. You’ve got to give us a lift into the road.” - -“What if something should happen?” demurred Billy. - -“Nonsense!” said Matt impatiently. - -“You can’t give the car back to that fellow if he won’t take it.” - -“We’ll make him take it. He’s a very foolish man, and he’s going to -feel differently when his temper cools.” - -Billy, not in a very comfortable frame of mind, backed the touring car -close to the edge of the bank. The rope was made fast, and Matt and -McGlory went to the foot of the bank to push while the big machine -pulled. - -The attempt was successful. The runabout sputtered--perhaps -defiantly--as it yielded to the tugging and rolled up the slope. Matt -looked the machine over and could not find that it had suffered any by -the slide down the slope. - -“It’ll hang together till it gets you, Motor Matt,” observed Billy -grewsomely. “That’s the way with these hoodoo cars. They never go to -pieces till they kill somebody.” - -“You’re too good a driver, Billy, to talk such foolishness,” returned -Matt. “Now, tell us how to get to the Malvern Country Club.” - -“Ain’t I going with you?” - -“Three of us couldn’t ride very comfortably in the runabout.” - -“But hadn’t I better go along in the touring car so as to be handy in -case of accidents?” - -“Oh, Joe and I will get along. We’re not going to have any accidents if -we can help it--and I feel pretty sure we can.” - -Billy laid out the course the boys were to take with considerable -detail. When he was through, Matt felt that he had the route clearly -fixed in his mind. - -“If the runabout’s too much for you,” Billy finished, “all you’ve got -to do is to phone the garage, and I’ll come a-runnin’.” - -“Where did you get the rope?” asked Matt. - -Billy told him he had borrowed it at Krug’s. - -“We’ll leave it there,” said Matt, “on our way past the Corner.” - -“You may never get to Krug’s,” answered Billy, in extreme dejection. - -“Pile in, Joe,” said Matt, “and we’ll throw in the clutch and scoot.” - -McGlory, it must be admitted, climbed into the runabout in a way that -proved his lack of confidence. Matt cranked up, listening with deep -satisfaction to the smooth singing of the engine, and then got into the -driver’s seat. - -Billy, in the touring car, watched tremulously and waited. From his -appearance, he was plainly expecting that the white car would turn a -few cartwheels and perhaps land upside down in the middle of the road -with Matt and McGlory underneath. - -But nothing of the sort happened. Car No. 1313 moved off in the -direction of Krug’s as nice as you please--moved on a hair line, with -none of the distressing wabbling which characterized its previous -performance with its owner at the wheel. - -The cowboy gathered confidence. Looking behind, he waved his hat at -Billy. - -“Don’t whistle till you’re out of the woods!” yelled Billy. - -He shouted something else, but his words faded out in the increasing -distance. - -“Speak to me concerning this!” laughed McGlory, straightening around in -his seat. “This little old chug cart is a false alarm, after all. It -seems to understand that there’s a fellow in charge who knows the ropes -up and down and across. Fine!” - -“We’ll see the owner of the machine at Krug’s,” said Matt, “and get his -address.” - -“But he can’t have the runabout till we’re done with it,” protested -McGlory. - -“I should say not! We’ve sent Billy home, and that leaves us only this -car to take us back. Ah, there’s Krug’s! We’ll stop for a few minutes.” - -Matt tried to stop, but he couldn’t. He went through all the motions -for cutting off the flow of gasoline and switching off the spark. -The clutch was out, but the engine still had the car, and the engine -wouldn’t stop. - -An automobile was just coming out of the sheds. The runabout came -within an ace of a head-on collision. Fortunately the steering gear -still worked, and Matt scraped mud guards with the other car and he and -his cowboy chum bounded on along the road. - -McGlory yelled frantically. “Jump!” he cried; “let the old contraption -run its blooming head off!” - -But Matt wouldn’t jump, and he wouldn’t let his chum go over the flying -wheels. Dazed and bewildered, he bore down on the brake. - -The speed slackened, but they were half a mile beyond Krug’s before the -car made up its mind to stop. Then McGlory tumbled out, while Matt sat -astounded, his arms folded over the steering wheel and such a look on -his face as the cowboy had never seen there before. - - - - -CHAPTER III. A DEMON IN CONTROL. - - -“Get out of that, pard! Get out!” McGlory was wild with apprehension, -and sprang up and down at the roadside and waved his arms. “The way -that car acts would make the hair stand up on a buffalo robe! What are -you staying there for?” - -“I’m trying to guess how that happened,” said Matt. - -“Then stop guessing. You can guess till you’re black in the face and -you’ll still be up in the air. Cut loose from that bubble wagon--that’s -your cue and mine.” - -“There’s a reason for the car acting as it does,” declared Matt, “and -I’m going to get down to the bottom of the mystery. We might just as -well put in a little time right here. It’s not a very long run to -the Malvern Country Club, and we can waste another half hour without -missing your appointment.” - -“If you took my advice,” muttered McGlory, “you wouldn’t touch that -machine with a ten-foot pole.” - -There was a determined look on Matt’s face as he leaped into the road -and began an exhaustive examination. He could find nothing wrong; -nevertheless, he went over the ignition system carefully, step by -step; then he took the carburetor to pieces, ran pins through the spray -nozzle and sandpapered the float guides; and, after that, he went under -the car, broke the gasoline connections and drew wires through the -tubes. - -The cowboy heaved a long breath of relief as Matt reappeared from under -the car. - -“Find anything out of whack, pard?” McGlory asked. - -“Not a thing,” answered the mystified Matt. - -“Then you’re about ready to admit there’s a demon in control of the -car?” - -“I don’t believe in demons.” - -“If a car won’t stop when it ought to stop, and if it won’t go straight -when you’re steering that way, and if it backs up when everything is -set for going ahead, I’m a Piute if I don’t think there’s something -else got a hand in running it.” - -Matt was silent. He was facing a proposition that was new to him, -but he was dealing with motor details with which he was perfectly -familiar. Here was an ordinary four-cycle engine, and an ordinary -float-feed carburetor; the transmission was of the common sliding-gear -variety; the fuel tank was under the seat, and the gasoline was fed -into the engine by gravity. Why was it that the different parts did not -coöperate as they should? - -“Come on, Joe,” said Matt, putting on the coat which he had laid off -while at work, “we’ll go back to Krug’s and see if my tinkering has -helped any.” - -“I can’t pass up the invitation, pard,” returned McGlory, “but if any -one else gave it to me, I’d say _manana_. Every minute we’re aboard -that runabout, we’re sitting on a thunderbolt that’s not more than half -tame. Here goes, anyhow.” - -The cowboy climbed to his place, and Matt “turned the engine over” and -got in beside him. Then they backed until the runabout was headed the -other way, whereupon Matt changed speeds and they slid over the pike as -easily as a girl tripping to market. No. 1313 behaved like the prince -of cars. No one, from its present performance, could ever have dreamed -that it was anything but the mildest-mannered little buzz wagon that -had ever come out of the shop. - -“I’m stumped,” declared McGlory. “She acts as though she had never -thought of such a thing as taking the bit in her teeth. I reckon, pard, -you must have done something that started her to working in the right -way.” - -“I’ll never be able to understand how she ran for half a mile without -any gas in the cylinders or any spark to cause an explosion,” said -Matt, as he came to a stop in front of Krug’s. “Return the rope, Joe,” -he added, “and see if you can find the owner of the runabout.” - -McGlory was gone for ten minutes. When he came back he reported that -the man who had cut loose from the runabout was nowhere to be found, -and that a fellow answering his description had been taken into a car -by a friend and had motored off in the direction of Hempstead. - -“Then,” said Matt, “we’ll stop thinking about the owner of the car and -continue to use it just as though it belonged to us.” - -They turned south from the Corner and moved away in the direction of -Hempstead at a good rate of speed. The runabout kept up its excellent -behavior, answering instantly Matt’s slightest touch on steering wheel -or levers. - -“You’ve got the best of her, pard,” observed McGlory. “When you -hip-locked with her, after she ran away from Krug’s, you must have -poked a wire into something that was causing all the trouble.” - -“I couldn’t have done that,” answered Matt. “Still, no matter what the -reason, the car is acting handsomely now, and we’ll let it go at that. -Read that telegram to me again, Joe.” - -McGlory fished around in his pocket until he had brought up a folded -yellow sheet. Opening it out, he read as follows: - - “‘Meeting of syndicate in the matter of ”Pauper’s Dream“ Mine - postponed from Wednesday night to Thursday night. Meet me eleven - o’clock Thursday Malvern Country Club, near Hempstead, Long Island. - Important. - - “‘JOSHUA GRIGGS.’” - -The “Pauper’s Dream” Mine was located near Tucson, in Arizona. It was -owned by a stock company, and the cowboy had a hundred shares of the -stock. A friend of his, named Colonel Mark Antony Billings, had induced -him to invest in the “Pauper’s Dream” when it was little more than an -undeveloped claim. Development seemingly proved the claim worthless, -and McGlory had been surprised, while he and Matt were in New York, to -receive a letter stating that a rich vein had been struck, and that -the colonel was planning to sell the property at a big figure to a -syndicate of New York capitalists. Random & Griggs, brokers, in Liberty -Street, were the colonel’s New York agents, and the meeting of the -syndicate was to be held in their office. - -Two bars of gold bullion from the “Pauper’s Dream” mill had been sent -by the colonel to New York, and McGlory had been requested to get the -bullion and exhibit it to the members of the syndicate at the meeting. -Matt and McGlory had had a good deal of trouble with that bullion, and -the cowboy was not intending to take it from the bank, to whose care it -had been consigned, until three o’clock in the afternoon. - -Meanwhile, this telegram from Griggs was taking the boys to the Malvern -Country Club; but just why it was necessary for McGlory to talk with -Griggs was more than either of the lads could understand. - -“Griggs, I reckon,” said McGlory, as he returned the telegram to his -pocket, “is one of the members of the firm of Random & Griggs.” - -“That’s my guess,” returned Matt; “but, if he is, why couldn’t he talk -with you at the office in Liberty Street instead of having you come all -the way out here?” - -“I’ll have to shy at that, pard. Maybe Griggs is a plutocrat, and is -accustomed to having people jump whenever he cracks the whip. Like as -not he didn’t want to go in to the office to-day and just shot that -message at us to save him the trouble of going too far for a palaver.” - -“He told you all it was necessary for you to know, in the message. The -meeting was postponed from last night to to-night. What else is there -that he could want to tell you?” - -“Pass again. Maybe he wants to ask about the colonel’s health, or----” - -The cowboy bit off his words suddenly. Without the least warning, the -runabout had made a wild lunge toward the side of the road. - -“She’s cut loose again!” yelled McGlory, hanging to the seat with both -hands. - -Matt was holding the steering wheel firmly. So far as he could see, -there was not the least excuse for the car’s making that frantic plunge -toward the roadside. - -Just ahead of the machine was a railroad track, and the noise of an -approaching train was loud in the boys’ ears. Matt was thinking that, -if the runabout repeated the performance it had given at Krug’s Corner, -he, and Joe, and the car, stood a grave chance of being hung up on the -pilot of a locomotive. - -Before he could disengage the clutch or give a kick at the switch, -one of the forward wheels struck a bowlder. The car jumped, throwing -McGlory out on one side and Matt on the other. - -As Matt fell, he caught at the two levers on the right of the driver’s -seat and clung to them desperately. Although the car was running wild, -with no hand on the steering wheel, yet it bounded away along the -centre of the road, dragging Matt along with it. - -With his elbows on the footboard, and the lower half of his body -trailing in the dust, Matt endeavored again and again to get back on -the running board and regain a grip on the steering wheel. - -A freight train was almost at the crossing. Unless Matt could check -the runabout in its wild flight, it would surely be demolished by the -locomotive or else hurl itself to destruction against the sides of the -swiftly moving box cars. - -The situation was desperate to the last degree. Unless he could get -hold of the steering wheel and regain his seat, nothing could be done -to avert the threatening catastrophe. If he let go, and abandoned the -runabout to its fate, he was in danger of being thrown under the racing -wheels. - -A demon of perversity seemed to possess the car and to be bent upon the -destruction of Matt King. - -Again and again the young motorist tried to reach the steering post -with one hand and wriggled up onto the running board. Each attempt was -unsuccessful until a lurch of the car helped in executing the manœuvre. - -Hanging to the wheel, Matt threw himself over the upright levers, -dropped into the driver’s seat, disengaged the clutch and jammed both -brakes home. - -Even then he was in doubt as to whether he would succeed in stopping -the car. If it continued mysteriously to refuse control, there was -certain destruction for both Matt and the car against the side of the -train, the box cars of which were already flashing over the crossing. - -But the car stopped--stopped within a yard of the rushing box cars! - -Matt dared not throw in the reverse, fearing the machine might move -forward instead of backward, so he dropped into the road and lay there, -panting and exhausted, while the freight rolled on. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. THE MANILA ENVELOPE. - - -“Sufferin’ doom! I’m beginning to think Billy had a bean on the right -number, pard, when he said this car would have to kill somebody before -it settled down and acted as though it was civilized.” - -Matt looked up and saw his cowboy chum. McGlory was rubbing a bruise on -the side of his face and was carrying the long manila envelope in his -hand. - -“Why didn’t you let the car go to blazes?” demanded the cowboy. “What -did you want to hang on to it for? The best place for the blamed thing -is the junk pile.” - -“I couldn’t let go without getting run over,” explained Matt, rising to -his feet. - -“Well, you’d feel a heap more comfortable under a pneumatic tire than -you would under a train of box cars!” - -McGlory’s face was white, and his voice trembled. The strain he had -been under was just beginning to tell on him. - -“The owner of the runabout,” he went on, “showed his good sense when he -cut loose from it. The car’s like a broncho, Matt, and you never can -tell when its fiendishness is going to break loose. If we had a keg of -powder, I’m a Piegan if I wouldn’t scatter that sizz wagon all over -this part of Long Island.” - -McGlory glared savagely at the white, innocent-looking machine. - -The freight train had passed, and Matt was leaning against the car and -cudgeling his brains to think of some reason for the runabout’s acting -as it did. - -“It brought us out of Krug’s Corner as nice as you please,” he mused. - -“Which is just the way it took us into Krug’s Corner,” proceeded the -cowboy. “That’s the way the pesky thing works. First it lulls you into -thinking it wouldn’t side-step, or buck-jump, or do anything else that -was crooked or underhand for the world; then, when you think you’re all -right, the runabout hauls off and hands you one. That’s the meanest -kind of treachery--reaching out the glad hand only to land on you with -a bunch of fives. There’s something human about that car, Matt.” - -“Inhuman, I should say,” muttered Matt. “Well, it’s too much for me. -Get in, Joe, and we’ll cross the track to those trees over there and -rest up a little before we go on to the Malvern Country Club.” - -“Damaged much, pard?” - -“Jolted some, that’s all.” - -“Same here. I landed in the road like a thousand of brick. This is -my first experience with a crazy automobile, and you can bet your -moccasins it will be the last. I didn’t know there was such a thing.” - -“There isn’t,” said Matt. “How can you put together a lot of machine -and have anything but a senseless piece of mechanism?” - -“I’m by, when you pin me right down, pard, but if this car isn’t -locoed, then what’s the matter with it?” - -“Something must go wrong.” - -“Goes wrong and then fixes itself,” jeered the cowboy. “If you’d -look the blamed thing over this minute, you wouldn’t be able to find -anything out of order.” - -Once more Matt started the car, and once more it acted like a sane -and sensible machine, carrying the boys to the shade of the trees and -stopping obediently to let them alight. - -Matt flung himself down on the grass at the roadside and examined his -watch to ascertain whether it had been injured. He found the timepiece -in good condition. - -“Ten-fifteen, Joe,” he observed, replacing the watch in his vest and -noticing that his chum was still carrying the manila envelope in his -hand as he sat down beside him. “What are you holding that envelope -for?” he inquired. - -“I reckon I’ve gone off the jump myself, Matt,” laughed McGlory. “It -dropped out of my pocket when I fell into the road. I picked it up, but -have been too badly rattled ever since to do anything but hold it in my -hand.” - -McGlory was about to put it in his pocket when Matt suggested that he -examine the contents and see if he could discover the name and address -of the man who owned the runabout. - -The cowboy pulled out a couple of papers. Unfolding one of them, he -read some typewritten words and gave a gasp and turned blank eyes on -his chum. - -“What’s wrong?” queried Matt. - -“Listen to this,” was the answer. “‘Private Report on the Pauper’s -Dream Mine, by Hannibal J. Levitt, Mining Engineer, of New York -City.’ Wouldn’t that rattle your spurs, Matt?” cried McGlory. “The -syndicate had an expert go out to Arizona and make an examination of -the ‘Pauper’s Dream,’--you remember the colonel told me about that, in -his letter. Here’s the report! It drops into our hands by the queerest -happen-chance you ever heard of. Mister Man takes a header from a crazy -chug cart, unloads the machine onto you, and then hustles for Krug’s, -leaving the report behind. He’s not at Krug’s when we get there, so -the report is left in our hands. This couldn’t have happened once in a -million times, pard!” - -Matt was rubbing his bruised shins and allowing the amazing event to -drift through his brain. It was queer, there was no mistake about it. -In fact, all the experiences of the boys that Thursday morning were on -the “queer” order. - -“You say,” said Matt, “that the document is headed ‘Private Report.’ -Why should it be a private report if it is for the syndicate?” - -“Private for the syndicate, I reckon.” - -“Hardly that, Joe. Unless there’s some skullduggery that report ought -to be public property--public enough so that it could go into a -prospectus. What’s the other paper?” - -McGlory opened the other document, and found it to be a letter from -Colonel Billings, dated nearly a month previous. - -“It’s a letter from the colonel, Matt,” the cowboy announced, “and -is addressed to Levitt. The colonel says he will not pay Levitt the -balance due until Levitt sends him the private report on the ‘Pauper’s -Dream’ proposition.” - -“Great spark plugs!” exclaimed Matt. - -“What’s strange about that?” demanded McGlory. “If Levitt made an -examination of the property he certainly expects pay for it.” - -“But not from the colonel, Joe! Levitt was examining the mine for the -syndicate, and he’s not entitled to any money from the colonel unless -he’s doing shady work of some kind.” - -“Speak to me about that!” muttered McGlory. “It looks as though we’d -grabbed a live wire when we got hold of this yellow envelope.” - -“I don’t like the way the business stacks up,” said Matt earnestly. -“The owner of this troublesome runabout happens to be Hannibal J. -Levitt, and he’s playing an unscrupulous double game. Glance through -that report and give me the gist of it.” - -Eagerly--and a little apprehensively--McGlory looked through the -private report. His face grew longer and longer as he read. - -“Sufferin’ poorhouses!” he cried at last. “Levitt says, in this report, -that the ‘Pauper’s Dream’ isn’t a mine, but a pocket, and that the -pocket has been worked out. In other words, pard, my hundred shares -of stock are worth just about what they’ll bring for scrap paper. -And the colonel had me worked up till I thought I was going to be a -millionaire! Riddle: Where was Moses when the light went out?” - -McGlory fell back on the grass and kicked up his heels dejectedly. - -“Can’t you see through the dodge your Tucson colonel is working, Joe?” -asked Matt. - -“Dodge?” echoed McGlory. “The ‘Pauper’s Dream’ is just a hole in the -ground. We can’t any of us dodge that.” - -“The colonel,” went on Matt quietly, “is paying Levitt to make a false -report to the syndicate. To-night the syndicate meets and decides -whether or not it will buy the ‘Pauper’s Dream.’ Levitt’s false report -has already been submitted, I suppose, and read. You show up at the -meeting with the two bars of bullion, and a sworn statement from the -colonel that they came out of the ten-stamp mill on the ‘Dream’ during -one week’s run. That clinches the proposition. The syndicate, relying -on Levitt’s honesty, and, incidentally, on the colonel’s, pay over a -big sum for a worthless hole in the ground, and----” - -The cowboy leaped erect, flushed and excited. - -“And the colonel,” he cried, “divides the proceeds among the -stockholders! That gives me a big profit on my five hundred. Oh, well, -I reckon I’ve got my dipper right side up during this rain.” - -McGlory chuckled. Matt stared at him as though he hardly believed what -he heard. - -“Pard,” said Matt quietly, “it’s a game of out-and-out robbery.” - -“That’s the syndicate’s lookout, not mine. If they want to drop half a -million into that hole in the ground, what is it to me?” - -“I don’t think you mean that, Joe,” said Matt, getting up. “We’ll go on -to the Malvern Country Club and find out what Griggs has to say to you. -We’ve got plenty of time to figure the matter over before the Syndicate -meets to-night.” - -Matt’s face was set and determined, and there was a smouldering light -in his gray eyes, which proved that he had nerved himself for some -duty which might be disagreeable. McGlory was wrapped in thought--so -concerned in his own affairs that he forgot Matt, forgot the -treacherous nature of the runabout, forgot everything but the “Pauper’s -Dream” and his chances for winning or losing a fortune. - - - - -CHAPTER V. THE UNEXPECTED. - - -The unexpected happened at least twice to the motor boys between -ten-thirty and eleven o’clock that Thursday morning. First, they -naturally expected to have trouble with the runabout, but it carried -out its work handsomely and deposited them in the Malvern Country Club -garage at precisely five minutes of eleven. - -There was not much talk between the boys during the ride. McGlory -was concerned with his “Pauper’s Dream” reflections--and Matt had -reflections of his own. Besides his thoughts, which were none too -agreeable, Matt had to recall Billy’s instructions for finding the way, -and also to be on the alert for any sudden tantrum on the part of the -runabout. But the tantrum did not develop, and the boys left the garage -and made their way across the broad lawn of the clubhouse to a porch -which extended along the front of the building. - -“I’d like to see Mr. Joshua Griggs,” said McGlory to a stout person -wearing side-whiskers and knee breeches. The servant looked the boys -over. - -“Wot nyme?” he asked. - -“Matt King and Joe McGlory--two nymes.” - -“’E’s hexpecting you. This w’y, please.” - -The boys were ushered through a great apartment with a beamed ceiling -and a fireplace that covered half of one end of the room, up a flight -of broad stairs, and along a wide hall. Here the servant paused by a -door and knocked. A mumble of voices, coming from the other side of the -door, ceased abruptly. - -“What’s wanted?” demanded some one. - -“Mr. McGlory hand friend, sir.” - -“Send ’em in.” - -The servant pushed open the door, drew to one side, and bowed the boys -out of the hall. Then the unexpected happened for the second time. - -There were two men in the room, and the atmosphere was thick with -tobacco smoke and a reek of liquor. A box of cigars was on a table; -also a decanter and two glasses, a bowl of cracked ice, and a bottle of -“fizz” water. - -A man was seated in a comfortable chair, rocking and smoking. This man -was Hannibal J. Levitt, owner of the unmanageable runabout. - -The other man was tall and gaunt. He wore a black frock coat and gray -trousers, a flowing tie, and a big diamond in the front of his pleated -white shirt. His hair was a trifle long and a trifle thin on the crown. -A mustache spread widely from his upper lip; and a wisp of pointed -beard decorated his chin. - -This latter individual exploded a hearty laugh as McGlory recoiled and -stared like a person in a trance. - -“Howdy, son?” barked the man in the long coat, sweeping down on the -cowboy and seizing his hand. “Something of a surprise, hey? Lookin’ for -Griggs, by gad, and you find me!” - -“Colonel!” gulped McGlory. “Speak to me about this! Why, I thought you -were in Tucson?” - -“Made up my mind at the last minute that I’d better trek eastward and -make sure the deal for the ‘Dream’ went through.” He slapped McGlory -on the back. “A fortune, my boy, for all of us, by gad! The ‘Dream’s’ -a bonanza--gold from the grass roots down. But present your friend; -present your friend.” - -The colonel turned beamingly toward Matt. - -“My pard, Matt King,” said McGlory. “Everybody has heard of him, I -reckon.” - -“You do me proud,” bubbled the colonel, seizing Matt’s hand and pumping -his arm up and down. “A friend of McGlory’s is a friend of mine. Allow -me”--and he turned toward Levitt, only to find Levitt leaning across -the table, his jaws agape. “Well, well, well!” mumbled the colonel. -“What’s flagged you, Levitt?” - -“We’ve met before,” grinned Levitt. - -“How’s that?” - -“These are the young fellows to whom I gave that confounded runabout.” - -“A conspiracy, by gad, to keep me from meeting McGlory! How’d you -expect him to get here in a motor wagon you couldn’t run yourself?” - -“I didn’t know who the lads were, colonel, or I’d have been more -considerate. But”--and here he turned to Matt--“how _did_ you do it?” - -“We had plenty of trouble with the machine,” said Matt, “but we made it -bring us.” - -The situation was clearing. Levitt, at the time Matt and McGlory had -met him that morning, was also on his way to the Malvern Country Club. - -“Re-markable!” cooed the colonel. “But it’s a terrible land for dust, -ain’t it?” He poured something from the decanter into the glasses. -“Irrigate!” he said. “Advance by file, my young friends, and refresh -the inner man.” - -“None for me, colonel,” answered Matt, whose opinion of the colonel was -dropping by swift degrees. - -“That’s the way I stack up, too, colonel,” grinned McGlory. - -The colonel looked horrified. - -“From Arizona, Joseph,” he murmured, “and you won’t indulge? -Ex-traordinary, I must say. Smoke?” And he indicated the box of cigars. - -“No, colonel,” declined Matt. - -A sheepish look crossed McGlory’s face as he met the colonel’s -inquiring eye. - -“I’m in line with my pard,” said he. - -“Astounding!” gasped the colonel. “Both habits are -reprehensible--exceedingly so. I honor you highly, my lads, -but--ahem!--your shining example is one by which I may not profit.” He -turned to the mining engineer. “The fire-water is before us, Levitt,” -said he; “charge!” - -Two hands gripped the glasses simultaneously, and a gurgling followed. -The colonel dried his lips elaborately with a large yellow handkerchief. - -“The day, Joseph,” he resumed, “is not far distant when you can own a -private yacht, a racing stable, an imported car, and a lordly mansion. -I have come personally to New York to drive the business through and -clinch it. To-night we show the moneyed interests what we’ve got up our -wide and flowing sleeves. Half a million in coin, my son, will rise to -the bait like a speckled trout to the alluring fly. But be seated, be -seated; let’s all be seated.” - -Matt took a chair by an open window, and McGlory dropped into another -at a little distance. - -“The telegram I received, colonel,” observed the cowboy, “was signed -‘Joshua Griggs.’” - -“Even so, my dear youth,” smiled the colonel, lowering himself into -a chair and lifting his feet to the top of the table. “Mr. Griggs -lives in Hempstead. I am enjoying his hospitality, and he has put me -up at this most delightful club. I arrived yesterday afternoon, and -I yearned to clasp your honest palm before we met in Liberty Street -to-night. Incidentally, I will relieve you of further responsibility in -the matter of the bullion. Being somewhat fatigued after my long and -arduous railroad journey, the Syndicate meeting was put off. To-night, -however, we shall be there; and to-night, my son, we put our fortunes -to the touch.” - -The colonel was altogether too loquacious to suit Matt--too fluent and -insincere. That he was entirely capable of engineering a huge swindle -Matt felt sure. And Matt regretted to note that the colonel exerted a -powerful influence over McGlory. - -“Is this deal for the ‘Pauper’s Dream’ on the level, colonel?” inquired -the cowboy. - -A lighted bomb, suddenly dropped in front of the colonel and Levitt, -would not have caused more consternation. The colonel’s feet fell from -the table with a bang, and the mining engineer once more threw himself -half-way across the table top. - -There followed a period of silence. The colonel, after an odd look at -Levitt, was first to speak. - -“McGlory,” said he, “you are my friend, and I would take a good deal -from a friend. Has my integrity ever been questioned? Have you any -reason to believe that this mining deal is not on the level?” - -“Shucks!” deprecated McGlory. “Is the syndicate anxious to buy a pocket -that’s been worked out? Have they got so much money, these Syndicate -fellows, that they want to drop some of it into a mine that’s a ‘dream’ -in more senses of the word than one?” - -This was another bomb. Levitt went white, and breathed hard. Colonel -Billings drew a deep breath, studied McGlory’s face, and then looked at -the ceiling. Then once more he was first to speak. - -“My son,” said he, “you talk like a buck ’Pache with more tizwin aboard -than is good for him. And yet you must be in your sober senses. What -are your grounds for expressing yourself in that--er--preposterous -manner? I wait to learn!” - -“Well,” answered the cowboy, “when Levitt took his header from that -runabout of his, on the Jericho Pike, a long yellow envelope dropped -from his pocket----” - -“I breathe again!” interjected the colonel. “You found it, McGlory?” - -“That’s the size of it.” - -“And you read the contents of that yellow envelope?” - -“Matt and I wanted to find out the name of the man who owned the -runabout. That’s how we happened to read the ‘private report.’ It -wasn’t good reading, colonel.” - -“It was for private perusal by the inner circle, my son,” said the -colonel. “Levitt and I were vastly worried over the loss of that -report. I will trouble you for it, my boy.” - -The colonel reached out his hand. McGlory took the envelope from his -pocket, and was about to pass it over when Matt reached forward and -caught it from his fingers. - -“I beg your pardon,” said Matt, “but I was the one who found this -envelope. I gave it to Joe when I threw off my coat, east of Krug’s -Corner, to tinker with the runabout. I am going to take care of it.” - -All four were on their feet--Matt determined, McGlory puzzled and -bewildered, the colonel wrathful, and Levitt with a dangerous gleam in -his eyes. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. A DIFFERENCE OF OPINION. - - -“Well, by gad!” exclaimed the colonel, realizing suddenly what sort of -a lad he had to deal with in Matt King. - -“What’s that for, pard?” inquired McGlory. - -“It don’t belong to you, or to McGlory, or to any one but me!” said -Levitt. “If you try to keep that document, King, you’re nothing more -nor less than a thief.” - -The red ran into Matt’s face. - -“Softly, softly,” breathed the colonel. “This talk of thieves, Levitt, -is a little premature. Matt King is a friend of McGlory’s, and he could -not be that if there was any yellow streak in his nature. No, by gad! -We are all gentlemen here. King, sir, if that manila envelope contains -papers belonging to our mutual friend, Levitt, you will return them to -him, will you not?” - -“After a while,” said Matt; “not immediately.” - -The colonel seemed thunderstruck. - -“You hear?” muttered Levitt, between his teeth. “He’s trying to play -double with us, Billings! Those papers mean a whole lot to me, and I’m -going to have them!” - -The colonel’s mood underwent a change. Attempts at conciliation having -failed, there now remained nothing but vigorous action. His first move -was to pass rapidly to the door, turn a key in the lock, and drop the -key into his pocket. Then he once more approached Matt. - -“May I inquire, young man,” he bristled, “what you mean by this most -remarkable conduct?” - -“I’m trying to protect Joe and myself,” Matt answered. - -“Protect? Protect yourself and Joe against what, in Heaven’s name?” - -“Against being drawn into a criminal act by you and Levitt, and being -compelled to take the consequences.” - -“He talks like a fool!” snapped the mining engineer. - -“He is misinformed, that’s all,” said the colonel. - -“I’m not misinformed,” went on Matt sturdily. “These New York -capitalists hired Levitt to go to Arizona and investigate the ‘Pauper’s -Dream.’ He made two reports, one private and the other for the members -of the Syndicate. One says the mine is no good, and the other, of -course, gives it a glittering recommendation.” - -“How do you know,” asked Levitt, his voice shaking with anger, “that -the Syndicate’s report is different from the other?” - -“Because Colonel Billings is paying you for making it,” replied Matt. -“Would the colonel give you good money for handing that private report -over to the Syndicate? Hardly. Colonel Billings is here to sell the -mine.” - -“How do you know Billings is paying me anything?” - -“He has already paid you a little, and you came out here this morning -to receive the rest of it. If that crazy runabout of yours hadn’t -interfered, you’d have been able to turn the private report over to the -colonel, and no one would ever have been the wiser.” - -“How do you know all this?” Levitt’s voice was husky. - -“There was a letter from the colonel in the envelope along with the -report.” - -“By gad!” Billings whirled on the mining engineer. “You don’t mean to -say, Levitt,” he asked, “that you had so little sense as to keep that -letter of mine?” - -“Why shouldn’t I keep it? It was the only thing in the way of an -agreement that I had with you.” - -“Then”--and the colonel tossed his hands--“that lets in the search -light on the two of us.” - -“And we’ve caught a tartar in this meddling young whelp,” ground out -Levitt, waving his hand toward Matt. - -“He’s an intelligent youth, Levitt,” declared the colonel, “and -amenable to reason. Let me talk with him. My dear young man,” said the -colonel to Matt, “assuming that what you say about the report is true, -in what way are you legally liable through association with Levitt and -myself?” - -“You’re trying to swindle a company of New York capitalists,” answered -Matt, “and Joe and I, not knowing the deal was crooked, have already -been dragged into it. If we allowed the plot to go on we would be -equally guilty with you and Levitt, and we could be arrested and sent -to prison.” - -A tolerant smile crossed the colonel’s face. - -“Suppose I assure you that there is not the remotest possibility of -any of us going to prison,” said he; “will you give up that report and -letter?” - -Matt hesitated, not because his determination was wavering, but because -he wanted to put his thoughts in the right words. - -“It means a fortune to McGlory,” urged the colonel; “and what kind of a -fellow are you to euchre a friend out of a fortune?” - -“It’s not an honest fortune,” declared Matt, “and Joe can’t afford to -accept it. Besides, what good would it do him if he found himself in -the penitentiary for obtaining money under false pretenses?” - -The colonel was beginning to lose patience. - -“You’ve got less sense than any cub of your years I ever met up with!” -he cried irritably. “How much money do you want for that report and -letter? That’s your play, I reckon; and I’d rather shell out a hundred -or two than have any trouble with you. How much do I bleed?” - -The colonel measured Matt with wrathful and inquiring eyes. - -“You haven’t money enough to buy me!” declared Matt. - -“Aw, cut it short!” broke in Levitt savagely. “What’s the use of -fooling with him any longer? - -“Wait!” cautioned the colonel. “McGlory,” he went on, to the cowboy, -“what do you mean by lugging such a two-faced longhorn into a private -and important council like this?” - -“You’re wide of your trail, colonel,” said McGlory, with spirit. -“There’s nothing two-faced about Matt King, and you can spread your -blankets and go to sleep on that. He’s the clear quill from spurs to -sombrero, and the best pard that ever rode sign with me. Don’t you make -any mistake in taking his sizing.” - -“Well, what is he trying to rope down and tie your bright prospects -for?” - -“He’s got more sense in a minute than I have in a year, and you can bet -your boot straps he knows what he’s doing--even if I don’t.” - -“You’re far wide of your trail, Joseph. Matt King is committing an -illegal act this minute. He has property belonging to Levitt and -refuses to give it up. He could be jailed for a thief. But we’re not -going to jail him. We’ll just take that report and letter from him.” - -“Then you’ll have to walk over me to do it, colonel!” asserted McGlory. - -“By gad!” muttered the colonel. “You’ve got as little sense as he has.” - -“Brainwork never was my long suit, but I’ve seen enough of Pard Matt to -feel safe in banking on any notion that he bats up to me.” - -“Bah!” gibed the colonel. “I’ll talk with you later, McGlory, and take -pains to show you the error of your way. As for Matt King, he’s a false -friend. He’s jealous because you’re about to come into a fortune, and -he’s doing all he can to shift the cut and leave you stranded.” - -“That’s not true!” said Matt. “Joe knows me better than that.” - -“Sure I do, pard. Come on, and let’s get out of here.” - -The actions of the two men were threatening. McGlory started toward the -door; but happened to remember that it was locked, and that the colonel -had the key in his pocket. - -“Cough up the key, colonel,” said the cowboy. “Don’t force me to yell -and have up that fellow with the knee pants and the lilocks.” - -“It will be better for you youngsters,” growled the colonel, “if you -don’t raise a commotion. The surest way to see the inside of a lockup -is by calling for help. Are you going to hand over those papers?” And -he turned to Matt. “Last call.” - -“I’ll return them,” said Matt, “but not till after that meeting -to-night.” - -He slipped the manila envelope into the breast of his coat. Having -planned what he considered was the best move, the young motorist was -never more resolute in seeking to carry it out. Even though he was -retaining Levitt’s property, yet right and justice upheld him in doing -so. - -“By Jupiter,” murmured Levitt, his eyes flaming, “he’s intending to -take that private report to the Syndicate meeting to-night! If he -does----” He gulped on his words, finishing with a significant glance -at Billings. - -Matt was wondering how he and McGlory could get out of the room -without making too much of a scene. He understood very well that the -colonel could inaugurate a pursuit, in case he and his chum succeeded -in getting away with the envelope and its contents, and that, for a -time at least, any story the colonel and Levitt chose to tell would be -accepted. Temporary advantage was all on the side of the colonel and -the mining engineer. - -“He won’t show that paper at the meeting, Levitt,” gritted the colonel, -now thoroughly aroused. “We’re done fooling with him.” - -He stepped toward Matt from one side, while Levitt advanced from the -other. The cowboy tried to push closer to his chum, but the colonel -held him back. One of the colonel’s hands went groping in the direction -of a hip pocket. Matt guessed what the hand was after. - -“The window, Joe!” he called. - -Simultaneously with the words, the king of the motor boys whirled, -pushed through the window, lowered himself swiftly from the sill, and -dropped. - -The colonel grabbed at the hands on the sill, but they pulled out from -under his gripping fingers; then, looking downward, he saw the lithe, -agile form of Matt King lift itself from a flower bed and fade from -sight around a corner of the building. - -Two young fellows with golf sticks were crossing the lawn and had -witnessed Matt’s drop from the window. Naturally they were surprised at -the peculiar proceeding and stood looking up at the colonel. - -“Catch him!” bawled the colonel; “he’s a thief!” - -That was enough. The two members of the Country Club darted away after -Matt. - -McGlory was making preparations to drop from the other window, but the -colonel grabbed him at the critical moment and forced him into a chair. - -“Off with you, Levitt!” the colonel called. “You can catch that young -cub! And when you do overhaul him get the report and the letter at any -cost.” - -As he finished the colonel flung the door key toward the engineer. -The latter let himself out of the room and bounded excitedly down the -stairs. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. AN OLD FRIEND. - - -Matt hoped that McGlory would be able to follow him; but, if the cowboy -found this to be impossible, then Matt would do his best to prevent -the report from falling into the hands of the colonel and Levitt. That -report was the one thing of vital importance. On it alone hinged the -success or failure of the colonel’s gigantic swindling operations. Matt -must escape capture at any cost, in order to retain possession of the -report. - -The course of his flight carried him toward the rear of the Country -Club grounds. He heard the colonel’s shout to the young men just -in from the golf links, and he knew there would be a pursuit. Of -course Matt could explain the situation and perhaps escape legal -complications, but if caught he would be compelled to give up the -report. - -He darted across a tennis court, leaped the net, dodged behind a clump -of lilac bushes, and ran toward the edge of a grove that bordered the -Country Club grounds on that side. Between the lilacs and the grove was -a rustic pavilion. A flower bed was near the pavilion, and an old negro -was kneeling beside the bed, his back toward Matt, and industriously -pulling weeds. Matt had not much time to give to the negro, but hoped -that he was giving his whole attention to his work. As he came around -the pavilion Matt heard sounds which indicated that more pursuers -were after him--these coming from the direction of the garage and the -stables. - -To reach the timber without being seen seemed hopeless, and Matt looked -hurriedly around for some place in which he could secrete himself. - -The floor of the pavilion was elevated some two feet or more above the -surface of the ground. The opening between the floor and the ground -was filled in with panels of close latticework. One of the panels was -broken, and Matt dropped to his knees and crawled through it. - -This was not as secure a hiding place as he would have selected, if he -could have had his choice, but his emergency was such that he had no -time to look farther. - -Lying flat on the ground, so that his form would not be visible to his -pursuers, Matt watched and waited. - -The two young men with the golf sticks broke into view around the lilac -bushes. They were closely followed by three others, employees of the -club, evidently, for they wore overclothes. Matt recognized one of them -as having been in the garage when he and McGlory left the runabout -there. - -The old negro had lifted himself to his feet and was facing the five -pursuers. Freedom or capture for Matt depended upon what the old negro -knew. Scarcely breathing, the king of the motor boys listened for what -was to come. - -“Say, uncle,” panted one of the young men from the links, “did you see -a fellow running this way?” - -“Ah did, suh,” replied the negro. “Ah was as close tuh him as whut me -an’ yo’ is, boss.” - -Levitt at that instant rushed around the bushes. He was in time to hear -the negro’s answer to the question. - -“Which way did he go?” Levitt demanded. “He’s a thief, and we’ve got -to capture him and recover some stolen property. Which way did he run? -Quick!” - -The old darky turned and deliberately pointed away from the pavilion -and to a point in the encompassing timber which led toward the road, -well to the north of the clubhouse. - -“Dat’s de way he went, boss,” said he, “an’, by golly, he went jess -a-hummin’.” - -“This way, men!” shouted Levitt, leaping off in the direction indicated -by the negro. - -The six pursuers disappeared at a run, and left Matt gasping with -astonishment. Why had the old darky put them on the wrong track? It was -preposterous to think that the negro had himself been deceived. - -While Matt was turning the matter over in his mind, and puzzling his -brain with it, the negro began to whistle softly and to limp in the -direction of the pavilion. On reaching the broken panel of latticework, -he leaned against the railing of the pavilion. - -“How yo’ lak dat, Marse Matt?” he chuckled. “Didn’t Ah done send um on -de wrong track, huh? En yo’ all thought Ah wasn’t lookin’ at yo’, en -dat Ah didn’t know who yo’ was! Har, har, har!” - -The darky laughed softly as he finished talking. - -Matt’s wonderment continued to grow. - -“Great spark plugs!” he muttered, recognizing an old acquaintance. “Is -it--can it be--Uncle Tom?” - -“Dat’s who Ah is, marse! Hit’s been a right sma’t of er while since -Ah had de pleasuah ob seein’ yo’. De las’ time we was togedder was in -Denvah. ’Membah all dem excitin’ times we had in Arizony, dat time dat -Topsy gal en me was wif dat Uncle Tom’s Cabin comp’ny? Golly, I ain’t -nevah gwineter fo’git dat! Who’s been doin’ yo’ mascottin’ lately, huh? -’Pears lak no one had, f’om de ha’d luck yo’ is in.” - -Matt recalled Uncle Tom very vividly. The aged negro had belonged to -a stranded company of players, and Matt had helped them out of their -difficulties. But that had happened in the Southwest, and here was -Uncle Tom about as far East as he could get. The world is not so large, -after all, and many strange and unexpected meetings occur. - -“I’m more surprised than I can tell, Uncle Tom,” said Matt, “to run -across you, here on Long Island, and at a time when I certainly needed -a friend. It may be that you can help me even more, but----” - -“Ah’s pinin’ tuh do all dat Ah can fo’ yo’, Marse Matt,” interposed the -darky earnestly. - -“But,” went on Matt, “this is hardly a safe place for me. If the coast -is clear I guess I’d better crawl out and get into the woods.” - -“Yo’s right erbout dat, marse. Ah’s so plumb tickled tuh see yo’ dat I -come mighty nigh fo’gittin’ yo’s bein’ hunted fo’. Wait twell Ah take -er look erroun’.” - -Uncle Tom stepped away from the pavilion and swept a keen glance over -the grounds in that vicinity. - -“De coast am cleah, Marse Matt,” he announced, returning to the side of -the pavilion. “Yo come out an’ hike fo’ de woods, en Ah’ll foller yuh. -Den we can talk a li’l, en you can tell me whut mo’ de ole man can do.” - -Matt pushed through the broken lattice and gained the timber line at a -point opposite the place where his pursuers had vanished. Here, for a -time, he was safe, and he sank down behind a mask of brush. Uncle Tom -was not long in reaching his side. - -“Golly,” he beamed, looking Matt over, “but hit’s good fo’ sore eyes -jess tuh see yo’, marse. Ah nevah expected nuffin’ lak dis. Mouty -peculiah how folks meets up wif one anotheh sometimes, dat-er-way.” - -“How did you happen to wander in this direction, Uncle Tom?” Matt asked. - -“Mascottin’,” answered the old man gravely. “Ah be’n mascottin’ fo’ -er prize fighteh. Terry, de Cricket, is whut he called himse’f, en Ah -won a fight fo’ him in Denvah, en another in Kansas City; but in New -Yawk Terry, de Cricket, done ’spected me tuh do all de wo’k, en he went -down wif er chirp, en dey counted ten on him. Ah couldn’t help dat, -but Terry he ’low Ah was losin’ mah mascottin’ ability, en he turned -me loose. Topsy done got er job in er house in Hempstead, en Ah picked -up dis place at de Country Club. But Ah doan’ like hit, marse. Ah’s er -ole man, en hit’s backachin’ wo’k. Yo’ needs er mascot bad, en now’s de -time tuh take me on.” - -Uncle Tom was a humorous old rascal, and professed to believe that he -possessed mystical powers as a luck bringer. He declared that he had -helped Matt, and Matt humored him by letting him think so, giving him a -few dollars now and then to help him keep body and soul together. - -“I’m not in shape just now, Uncle Tom,” said Matt, “to hire a private -mascot of your abilities. You see, I’m mixed up in a bit of trouble -that I’ve got to work through alone.” - -“Bymby, Marse Matt, mebby yo’ all can make er place fo’ Uncle Tom?” -pleaded the negro. “Jess remembah whut Ah’s done fo’ yo’ in de past. -Ah nevah mascotted fo’ anybody dat Ah liked so well as yo’se’f. Dat’s -right. Has yo’ got a dollah yo’ can let go of wifout material damage to -yo’ own welfare?” - -Matt extracted a five-dollar bill from his pocket and pushed it into -the negro’s yellow palm. Uncle Tom’s gratitude was so intense it was -almost morbid. - -“Yo’s de fines’ fellah dat evah was,” he declared, grabbing Matt’s hand -and hanging to it. “Dat’s de trufe. Ah’d raddah wo’k fo’ you fo’ nuffin -dan fo’ some odders fo’ er millyun dollahs er day. Dat’s right. Yo’s de -same ole Marse Matt, en yo’----” - -“I haven’t much time to talk, Uncle Tom,” interrupted Matt. “When I -left the clubhouse I had to drop from a second-story window. I made -it all right, but I left a friend behind. My friend’s name is Joe -McGlory. Do you think you could get word to him?” - -“Shuah Ah can!” replied the old negro promptly. “What kin’ ob a lookin’ -fellah is dat ’ar Joe McGlory?” - -Matt described his chum’s appearance, and the darky listened closely. - -“Find out,” Matt finished, “whether McGlory is still upstairs in the -clubhouse. If he is I don’t suppose you can communicate with him, for -you will have to do it privately. Providing you can get word to him, -tell him to meet me in the grove at the roadside, a quarter of a mile -north of the clubhouse. Got that?” - -“Yas, I done got dat, marse.” - -“If you can’t get word to McGlory inside of an hour, then you come and -tell me, will you?” - -“Yo’ knows, Marse Matt, yo’ can count on Uncle Tom. Ah’ll do whut yo’ -say, en Ah’ll wo’k mah ole haid off mascottin’ fo’ yo’ while Ah’m doin’ -it.” - -The old darky slipped away through the edge of the timber, and Matt, -none too sanguine, proceeded to lay a course for the spot where he -hoped to be joined by his cowboy chum. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. THE COLONEL TRIES PERSUASION. - - -For a few moments McGlory struggled in the grasp of Colonel Billings. -He was excited, and angry over the way Matt had been treated, and -he would not have hesitated to do the colonel an injury if he could -thereby have escaped from the room and followed his pard. - -“Quiet!” ordered the colonel sternly. “You don’t understand this thing, -McGlory, or you wouldn’t be fighting to escape from me. I’m the best -friend you ever had, if you only knew it.” - -“Nary, you ain’t!” panted the cowboy. “My best friend just risked his -neck dropping out of the window. You’re trying to get me into trouble, -and Pard Matt is trying to keep me out. Take your hands off me, -colonel!” - -“I will, Joe, just as soon as you promise to sit still and hear what I -have to say.” - -McGlory reflected that it was too late to follow Matt, who was probably -doing his best to evade Levitt and the others who were hot on his -trail. The cowboy reasoned that he could find his chum later, and that -there could be no harm in listening to what the colonel had to say. - -“Go on,” said he curtly. - -“You’ll stay right where you are until I’m done?” asked the colonel. - -“Yes.” - -Billings drew back, dropped into a chair, and laid a friendly hand on -the cowboy’s knee. His voice changed, sounding the depths of friendly -interest and personal regard. - -“Joe,” he remarked, “ever since your father took the One-way Trail -I’ve sort of felt that I was responsible for your welfare. I knew your -father mighty well--better than any one else in Tucson, I reckon--and -him and me was bosom friends.” - -McGlory had no personal knowledge on this point, but he was willing to -take the colonel’s word for it. - -“If I can do anything for Joe,” the colonel went on, “I says to myself -that I won’t leave a stone unturned to do it. When the ‘Pauper’s Dream’ -proposition came under my management I knew I had the chance I wanted -to turn your way. I sold you a hundred shares of the stock at five -dollars a share, and we went on to develop the claim.” - -“And there wasn’t any more gold in the shaft,” spoke up the cowboy -dryly, “than there was in a New England well.” - -“That’s what everybody thought,” returned the colonel, “but I knew -better.” - -He got up, went to the table, and helped himself to a drink from the -decanter. - -“Better have a nip, son, eh?” he asked, as by an afterthought, before -leaving the table. - -“Not for me,” replied McGlory stoutly. “Pard Matt don’t believe in that -sort of thing, and I get along better when I make his notions my own. -I’ve found that out more than once.” - -The colonel sighed resignedly, but did not press the point. Returning -to his chair, he continued his persuasions. - -“I knew when I sold you that stock that there was a reef of rich gold -ore under the ‘Pauper’s Dream.’ I didn’t want it found until the right -minute. Those who had bought stock in the claim got scared. Some of -them sold their stock back to me for a song. When I’d got enough of the -stock to give me a controlling interest _I found the gold vein_.” - -“That was a double play,” said McGlory bluntly. “There wasn’t anything -fair about that, colonel.” - -“It was all fair. Some of the stockholders were trying to freeze me -out. By letting them think there wasn’t any gold in the ‘Dream’ I -turned the tables and froze _them_ out. It was simply a game of diamond -cut diamond--and I was a little too sharp for my enemies. That was all -right, wasn’t it?” - -McGlory thought the colonel had a fair excuse for acting as he had done. - -“When we laid open that gold vein,” pursued the colonel, “buyers -flocked around the ‘Pauper’s Dream’ like crows around a cornfield. They -wanted to buy. I saw a chance to deal with this New York syndicate for -big money, so I had the syndicate send out an expert to examine our -property. Levitt came. I asked him to make out a true report for the -syndicate and a private, false report for--other uses.” - -McGlory opened his eyes. - -“I see I’ve got you guessing,” laughed the colonel gently. “This is -how that private report came to be made out--that private report -on which your misguided friend has built such a fabric of unjust -suspicions. The men I had frozen out of the company began to threaten -legal proceedings. The proceedings wouldn’t have amounted to that”--and -the colonel snapped his fingers--“for those fellows hadn’t a leg -to stand on; but do you know what they could have done? Why, they’d -have tied up the mine for a year or two and prevented the sale to the -syndicate. In order to get around that I hired Levitt to make out that -fake report, and leave it where those soreheads could see it. Now -my hands are free. The sale can be made to the syndicate, and we’ll -all win a fortune--providing your misguided friend doesn’t take that -cock-and-bull story of his to the meeting to-night.“ - -“Couldn’t you explain the matter to the syndicate, colonel, just as you -have to me?” asked the cowboy. - -“I could, yes; but they’d shy off. A little thing like that sometimes -knocks a big deal galley-west. It’s best not to let any intimation of -that fake report reach the ears of the syndicate until we have the -syndicate’s money safely in our clothes. Young King means well--I’ll -give him credit for that--but he’s shy a couple of chips this hand, and -if he butts in we’re going to be left out in the cold. That’s all there -is to it.” - -“Why didn’t you explain this to Matt?” - -“The explanation is for our own stockholders, and not for outsiders. -A word, a whisper might leak through and reach the fellows who could -block the deal. We mustn’t allow that. My boy, my boy”--and here the -colonel became very gentle, very fatherly--“I’m doing the best I can -for you. I’m trying to hand you a fortune, and you’ve got to help -me--in spite of Pard Matt. It’s your duty to help me. You’ll never have -such a chance to pick out a brownstone front on Easy Street, and you -mustn’t let the opportunity slip through your fingers.” - -To say that Joe McGlory was not influenced by the colonel’s words would -be to say that he was not human. The cowboy wanted money, not for its -own sake, but for the great things he felt he could do with it. Not -the least of the cowboy’s desires was to help Matt in some of his -far-reaching aims in the motor field. He accepted Billings’ story, and -he reached out and gripped his hand heartily. - -“I’m with you, chaps, taps, and latigoes!” he exclaimed. “But say, -can’t I tell Pard Matt? If he knew----” - -But the colonel was afraid of “Pard Matt.” The king of the motor boys -had a brain altogether too keen. - -“Not a word, not a syllable,” adjured Billings. “All that I have said, -Joe, you must keep under your hat--until after the meeting to-night and -until after the ‘Dream’ is sold. You must buckle in and help me and let -Matt think what he will. Afterward, when the money is divided, you can -show Pard Matt where he was wrong, and he’ll be glad to think that he -did not interfere with us in our work.” - -“But he’s going to interfere,” murmured McGlory. “Whenever Matt King -sets out to do a thing he does it. That’s his style. He’s got the fake -report, and he’ll use it at the meeting to-night--thinking he’s doing -me a good turn.” - -“I believe that Levitt will catch him,” asserted the colonel. - -“You don’t know my pard as well as I do,” returned the cowboy -dejectedly. “I wonder if I couldn’t----” McGlory paused. - -“Couldn’t what?” urged the colonel. - -“Never mind now. I’m going out and see if I can’t do something.” - -Billings stared steadily at the lad for a moment. - -“All right,” said he, “go and do what you can. Remember I have -confidence in you, and you’re not to breathe a word regarding what -we have talked about. I shall have to get to New York before three -o’clock. The bank closes then, and I’ve got to get that bullion. I’ll -have to start in a fast car by one. Come back and report to me before I -leave.” - -“I’ll do it,” replied the cowboy, hurrying out of the room. - -The colonel chuckled, threw himself back in a chair, and lighted a -cigar. - -“Easy, easy, easy!” he muttered. “I can wrap McGlory around my fingers -and not half try. Now, if King is captured, and if I can be sure he -won’t meddle with me to-night, everything will be serene.” - -The resourceful colonel accepted his worries calmly. He had too much -dignity to take part in a foot race, so he remained in a comfortable -chair by the window and waited for news. - -McGlory was back in ten minutes. His face was glowing. - -“Matt King dodged Levitt and all the rest who were trailing him,” he -reported. - -“What!” The colonel arose excitedly from his seat. - -“Don’t fret, colonel,” grinned the cowboy, “it’s not so bad as that. -An old darky who works around the club grounds helped Matt make his -getaway. Matt asked him to tell me to meet him in the woods at the -roadside, a quarter of a mile north. That’s where I’m going now. You’ll -hear from me before one o’clock, colonel.” - -“What are you going to do?” rapped out the colonel. - -“Something that will make the deal a sure go. I haven’t time to talk -much. _Adios_, for now.” - -McGlory was away again like a shot, leaving the colonel wondering--and -fretting a little. - -A few minutes later Levitt came gloomily into the room. - -“That young cub gave us the slip,” said he savagely, “and I never had -such a run in my life. The fat’s in the fire, Billings.” - -“Not so, my friend,” returned the colonel, his quick wit grasping -something that looked like an opportunity. “Can you get hold of a man -who will help you? Are you acquainted with any one about the club -grounds who can be trusted to do a little brisk work and then keep -quiet about it?” - -“Well, yes. The man in the garage is known to me, and he’s out for -anything that’s got a dollar in it. But what of it?” - -The colonel’s plan was based on the information just communicated to -him by McGlory. He went into the matter swiftly, but exhaustively, and -when he had done the gloom had vanished from Levitt’s face. - -“It will work, it will work,” murmured the mining engineer, rubbing his -hands. - -“Then go and work it,” said the colonel briskly. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. WHAT AILS M’GLORY? - - -Matt King, in a clump of bushes a quarter of a mile north of the -Malvern Country Club, watched the road and waited for his chum. He had -not much hope that McGlory would join him, for he believed that the -cowboy would be held a prisoner by the colonel. - -What Matt was doing, in this particular matter, was all for his friend. -McGlory had become entangled with a gang of confidence men, who were -playing boldly for big stakes. Whether the dishonest game won out or -failed, Joe McGlory must have nothing to do with it. If he profited -by the crime he would be called on to suffer at the hands of the law; -and, even if the law never reached him, his conscience would make -him miserable all his life for the part he had played in such a huge -swindling scheme. - -Matt, at any cost to himself, meant to keep McGlory clear of Billings -and his criminal work. What is a friend for if not to stand shoulder to -shoulder with a chum and save his good name? This touched upon one of -Matt’s principles--one of his rules of conduct long ago formulated and -steadily adhered to. And it was a code which had played a big part in -his many successes. - -Minute after minute slipped away, and then Matt’s heart bounded as he -heard a crunch of footsteps around a turn in the wooded road. It might -be Uncle Tom who was coming, however, with a report of his failure to -deliver the message to McGlory. Peering through the bushes, hoping -against hope, Matt’s fears suddenly subsided and an expression of -thankfulness escaped his lips. - -McGlory was coming! - -Matt gave a low whistle. The cowboy answered it, and was soon at his -friend’s side, gripping his hands. - -“Bully for you, old chap!” exclaimed McGlory. “I’d like to see the gang -that could lay _you_ by the heels when you make up your mind to get -away.” - -“You saw Uncle Tom, then?” - -“Sure, or I shouldn’t be here. Old Ebony-face thinks you’re about -the whole works, from the way he talks. A lot of queer things have -happened to-day, but the queerest is your meeting Uncle Tom in this -out-of-the-way corner of Long Island.” - -“Wrong, Joe. The queerest--and the best--thing that’s happened is the -way we picked up that private report of Levitt’s. We have to thank the -crazy runabout for that.” - -McGlory, although of a different opinion on that point since listening -to the colonel’s persuasions, did not allow Matt to think that he -disagreed with him. - -“How did you make it?” the cowboy asked. “Uncle Tom didn’t tell me -much about that. Principally he worked his bazoo letting me know what -a great mascot he was, and how he used to pull luck your way down in -Arizona.” - -Matt, briefly as he could, told about the pavilion in the rear of the -club grounds, and how Uncle Tom had sent his pursuers on the wrong -track. - -McGlory laughed delightedly. He was playing a part with an important -point in view, and it was necessary to pull the wool over Matt’s eyes. -A despicable part it was, for one who had benefited at Matt’s hands -as had McGlory; but the cowboy was filled with the colonel’s specious -arguments and crafty explanations, and believed that, when the dust of -the affair had settled, and Matt knew everything, he would thank his -cowboy chum for preventing him from making a big mistake. - -“The colonel is a schemer, Joe,” declared Matt. - -“You bet your spurs he is,” chuckled McGlory. “That’s the way they -raise ’em out in Tucson. The only way to keep a fellow from getting -ahead of you is to get ahead of him first.” - -Matt did not approve of these sentiments, nor of the hearty admiration -the cowboy seemed to have for them. - -“Billings is scheming the best he knows how,” went on Matt, “to get -himself into trouble, Joe, and he’s figuring to drag you into it.” - -“But you’re figuring the other way,” answered McGlory, “and I’ll back -your headwork against the colonel’s any old time. What are you planning -to do now?” - -“I’ll have to know, first, what the situation is at the clubhouse as -regards yourself. How is that you happen to be at large?” - -“Well, pard, the colonel couldn’t do anything with me, so he let me go. -You’ve got the report, you know.” - -The cowboy was weaving a tangled web. The farther he went in his -deceptions the more he was obliged to misstate the facts. - -“You can go and come around the clubhouse,” continued Matt, “without -being in any danger from the colonel and Levitt?” - -“That’s the way of it.” - -“Then our next move is to get back to Manhattan. And, of course, we’ll -have to use the runabout.” - -“Why, Matt, we may run off the other end of Long Island if we try to -use that chug cart!” - -“We’ve got to use it, just the same, and you’re the one to get it from -the garage. The quicker we start on the return trip the better.” - -“You’re going to be at that meeting to-night?” - -“We’re both going to be there. You’re to offer the private report in -evidence, and tell all about our adventures this morning. I guess that -will spike the colonel’s gun and block his little game of wholesale -robbery.” - -“Then my fortune will go glimmering,” said Joe, but not with much -concern. - -“Better to let a questionable fortune go glimmering, pard,” answered -Matt earnestly, “than to do a dishonest thing that would bother you -all your life. And perhaps,” he added solemnly, “it might get you into -jail.” - -“Wow!” shivered the cowboy, feigning trepidation. “That’s an elegant -prospect--I don’t think.” - -“What’s more,” went on Matt, driving his suspicions home, “the -colonel’s such a schemer that I doubt whether, if he should swindle the -syndicate out of a lot of money, he ever turned over a penny of it to -you or to any of the other original stockholders.” - -This caused the cowboy an inward tremor. But he allowed the fear to -pass. Colonel Billings was his father’s friend--he had said so himself; -and the colonel felt a responsibility for his welfare--which is also -what the colonel had said himself. In the light of the colonel’s -persuasions the cowboy was taking his word in everything. - -“Well,” remarked the cowboy, “the colonel is up against the real thing -now. He’s due for such a slam as he never had before. We’re the boys to -do it; eh, Matt?” - -“We’ll make a stand for the right,” said Matt, “and work shoulder to -shoulder to win out. The colonel talks about a fortune. You and I can -make plenty of money, Joe. I think we have proved that. The motors are -mighty good friends to tie to, whether they’re hitched to submarines, -automobiles, or aëroplanes. We’ll pin our faith to the explosive -engine, and one of these days it will land us honestly in Easy Street.” - -The colonel, McGlory remembered, had mentioned “Easy Street.” But -not as Matt had done it. The longer the cowboy talked with his chum -the more he hated himself for the part he was playing. If he talked -with Matt too long McGlory was sure his purpose would slip from him, -and that he would let out everything about the inner history of the -colonel’s manipulations of the “Pauper’s Dream.” - -“I’d like to look inside that manila envelope once more, pard,” said -McGlory. “There’s a part of that private report I didn’t sabe, and I’d -like to read it over again.” - -Matt King promptly drew the envelope from his pocket and passed it to -his chum. - -“It’s evidence of the rascality of two men, Joe,” remarked Matt, -“and----” - -McGlory sprang up quickly and stepped out into the road. He paused -there, flashing his eyes up and down. Apparently he was looking for -somebody or something, but really he was fighting with himself. He -had reached the point where he must play up his scheme for all it was -worth, or else turn his back on Billings and a fortune. - -The cowboy felt sure he was about to do the right thing, but to put -himself in a wrong light with his beloved pard for only a few days was -proving a harder task than he had reckoned on. Abruptly he clinched his -resolve. Slipping the manila envelope into his pocket, he turned to -look at the apprehensive face of Matt among the bushes. - -“What is it, Joe?” queried Matt. “Some one coming?” - -“Some one going,” replied the cowboy, “and it’s me. You don’t -understand this, pard. Don’t think too hard of me until you know -everything.” - -Thereupon McGlory whirled and took to his heels, racing in the -direction of the clubhouse. - -Matt was so amazed he could not move or speak. What ailed McGlory? What -did he mean? - -“Joe!” he shouted, starting up from the bushes. - -But the cowboy was already around the turn in the road and lost to -Matt’s astounded eyes. - -While Matt King stood there, his mind nearly a blank, staring down the -road and wondering, a sharp voice came from behind him. - -“Quick on it, Kelly! Now’s your chance!” - -It was Levitt’s voice. Matt turned, only to be confronted by the burly -individual from the club garage. In a flash the man grabbed him and -hurled him crashing to his back among the bushes. - -“Steady, my lad!” threatened Kelly. “I don’t want ter be any rougher -with ye than I have ter, but orders is orders--an’ they say you’re a -thief.” - - - - -CHAPTER X. IN THE GARAGE. - - -Matt was so bewildered on account of McGlory’s actions that he offered -little resistance to Kelly and Levitt. Anyhow, the manila envelope had -been taken from him, and Levitt--as Matt reasoned--had nothing to gain -by the capture. - -“Here’s the rope, Kelly,” said the mining engineer, coming close. -“Better put it on him.” - -“You don’t have to tie me,” protested Matt. “I’m not a thief, Levitt, -and you know it. I’m willing to go, and go quietly, wherever you want -to take me. I guess I can explain the affair to the authorities so that -I’ll soon have my liberty.” - -Levitt gave him an odd look. - -“We’ll see about that,” he answered. “Tie his hands, anyway, Kelly,” he -added. - -Matt lay quietly while the rope was placed around his wrists. He -was wondering why Levitt didn’t search him for the report. To all -appearances the engineer wasn’t giving a thought to the document. - -“I haven’t that manila envelope, Levitt,” said Matt. “If you’ve made -a prisoner of me just to recover that you’re having your trouble for -nothing.” - -“I knew you didn’t have the envelope,” was the surprising answer. -“McGlory got that. Kelly and I were close enough to hear him talking -with you and to see him when he ran down the road. He fooled you that -time, and no mistake.” - -There was growing bitterness in Matt’s heart as he listened. - -“You knew McGlory was to take the private report from me?” he asked. - -“Well, Billings told me the cowboy had put up a deal of some kind.” - -“So McGlory had planned the scheme with Billings, had he?” - -“Yes.” - -“And McGlory took the report to Billings?” - -“That’s where he went with it.” - -The breath hung in Matt’s throat. His chum’s treachery had been -deliberately planned and executed. McGlory was playing into the -colonel’s hands, and bringing about his own undoing. Naturally Matt -inferred that his friend thought more of his prospective fortune than -of his comradeship. Choosing the dishonest wealth, he had turned his -back on his friend. - -Sad and disheartened, Matt allowed Kelly to pilot him through the -woods. With head down, the young motorist stumbled onward, more -concerned with his sorrowful reflections than he was over the place to -which he was being taken. - -Suddenly Matt’s forward movement was stayed, and he heard Levitt -speaking: - -“I’ll look out for him, Kelly, and you go ahead and make sure that -there’s no one around.” - -Matt lifted his eyes. They were at the edge of the woods, immediately -behind the garage. - -While Levitt took charge of him, the prisoner saw Kelly cross the -open space separating the timber line from the garage, and enter the -building by a rear door. He came back presently, leaving the door ajar. - -“Not a soul there, Levitt,” said he. “Come on with him, and come -quick.” - -Matt was hurried over the intervening space and into the garage. There -were only two cars in the garage--the runabout and a large touring -car--and not another person in sight. - -Matt, pushed to the foot of a stairway leading to the second floor, was -told to climb upward. He obeyed. At the top of the flight there was a -door. Kelly pushed it open, drew Matt inside, and Levitt came after -them. - -“Are you sure you understand just what you’re to do, Kelly?” inquired -Levitt, in an anxious tone. - -“Sure I do,” answered Kelly. “There wasn’t so much of it that I can’t -remember it all.” - -“Do your work faithfully and you’ll never regret it.” - -Levitt drew back out of the room and closed the door behind him. - -“Lay down on that bunk there, my lad,” said Kelly, pointing to a cot at -one side of the small room. - -It was a room set apart for the man in charge of the garage, and was -rudely but comfortably furnished. - -Matt, still cast down by his cowboy chum’s treachery, was as yet taking -but little interest in what happened to him. He stumbled over upon the -cot, glad of an opportunity to rest with some degree of comfort while -his mind regained its normal powers and allowed him to think clearly of -McGlory’s case. - -Kelly secured his feet with an end of the rope that bound his hands. - -“I’m going to be as considerate of ye, King,” observed Kelly, “as I -can. No harm is intended to ye--if there was I wouldn’t be helpin’. -But ye’ve got to stay here for a while, an’ orders is that ye’re to -remain quiet. The garage is more or less of a public place, an’ yer -confinement is to be private. If people happened to be below ye might -yell. That wouldn’t do, now, would it? I’m going to tie this piece of -cloth over yer mouth jest to make sure ye don’t say anythin’ so loud it -can be heard downstairs.” - -“Wait a minute, Kelly,” said Matt. “Do you know anything about my chum, -Joe McGlory?” - -“Never a thing. He’s the boy who came with ye in that runabout?” - -“Yes.” - -“Well, he’s not known to me at all. You’re the lad that gave us that -chase, and Levitt says you’re a thief. Ye don’t look it, now, but -orders is to hold ye, an’ that’s what I’m doin’.” - -“You’re helping Colonel Billings and Levitt carry out a big swindling -game by this work, Kelly.” - -“So? Well, lad, I can’t look out for other people. Number One--which is -Kelly, d’ye mind--is enough fer me to take care of.” - -“If I’m a thief, why doesn’t Levitt take me to Hempstead and have me -locked up by the police?” - -“Levitt doesn’t want to disgrace ye by such a move. Bein’ locked up by -the police gives a lad a bad record. Ye’re far an’ away better off with -me here. We’re to be together three days, and----” - -“Three days!” - -“The same--no more, no less. We’re going to get along like old cronies, -if ye only behave. Now for the gag.” - -Matt submitted while the cloth was put in place. Barely had Kelly -finished when a car was heard puffing into the big room below. - -Kelly jumped to a round opening in the floor, near one end of the room. -It was a stovepipe hole, but the pipe was missing. - -“One of the members, my lad,” said Kelly, turning away from his -observation of the room underneath and speaking in a guarded voice. -“I’ll have to go and look after the car. But ye won’t get lonesome -against the time I come back. Ye’ve plenty to think of, I take it, an’ -that will use up yer time.” - -Kelly went out, slamming the door, and Matt could hear him hurrying -down the stairs. - -Three days! Matt was to be kept in the garage for three days! - -That, no doubt, was to prevent him from interfering with the colonel’s -plans in New York. - -The colonel had won McGlory over, and there would be no interference -from him. But perhaps, even without that “private report,” Matt could -do something with the syndicate. It might be that he could save the -cowboy in spite of himself. - -Matt had noticed, while he and the cowboy were in the clubhouse -talking with the colonel, that the trickster from Arizona had a -powerful influence over McGlory. The colonel had made good use of that -influence, and had succeeded in turning the cowboy against his best -friend. - -The people who had brought the car into the garage had left. A mumble -of talk had floated up through the stovepipe hole, and the prisoner was -able to keep the general run of events that took place in the garage. - -He could hear Kelly tinkering with the car that had just arrived. In -the midst of the sounds he heard footfalls, and then a voice, lifted -high: - -“Hello! Where’s the man that runs this place?” - -That was the colonel. Angry blood leaped in Matt’s veins as he listened. - -“Here, sir,” responded Kelly. - -“Is that big touring car of Griggs’ in shape for the road?” - -“Fit as a fiddle, sir, an’ full up with oil and gasoline.” - -Then followed cranking, and the sputter of an engine picking up its -cycle; and, after that, the moving off of the car. - -“The colonel’s away to New York,” thought Matt darkly. “He’s gone to -get the two bars of bullion before the bank closes. That’s step number -one in the big robbery. I wonder if Levitt and McGlory are with him?” - -For an hour or two longer Kelly was alone and busy in the garage. A tin -clock hung on one wall of the bedroom, and from where Matt lay he was -able to watch the moving hands. - -“If I accomplish anything,” Matt thought, “I shall have to reach New -York by eight o’clock. How am I to get out of here and to the nearest -railroad station?” - -That was his problem, and it looked as though he would have to work it -out unaided. - -He tried to free himself of the ropes, but Kelly had tied them too -securely. In order to work at them to better advantage, he swung his -bound feet over the side of the cot and sat up. But the ropes defied -every effort he made to release his hands. - -With the idea of watching what took place in the garage, he slipped to -his knees on the floor and then straightened out at full length. By -rolling carefully, he succeeded in reaching the stovepipe hole. - -His view was limited, but it commanded the broad doors leading into the -big room. Kelly was working somewhere in the rear, and could not be -seen. - -Matt was about to roll away, when two figures appeared in the door. One -was McGlory and the other was Levitt. - -“Kelly!” shouted Levitt. - -“Here!” answered Kelly, coming forward. - -“Got a car we can use for a trip back to the city?” - -“Only the runabout this young fellow came in.” - -“I’m a Piute,” growled McGlory, “if I want to fool with destruction by -ridin’ in that.” - -“I feel the same way, McGlory,” said Levitt, “but we’ve got to get to -New York. If there’s no other car we’ll have to chance that one.” - -“Sufferin’ trouble!” groaned McGlory. “It takes Pard Matt to get any -kind of service out of that old flugee. You can’t handle it, Levitt. I -saw the kind of work you made of it. Can’t we get a rig to take us to -the railroad station?” - -“There are no rigs here,” answered Levitt. “It’s either the -runabout--or travel afoot.” - -“I’m a cowpuncher, and a cowpuncher ain’t built right for footwork. -Well, let’s chance old Death and Destruction. We’ve got to be at that -meeting, and we’ve five hours to get there. If the runabout don’t go -backward more than it does ahead, I reckon we can make it.” - -Levitt seemed as dubious over the attempt to ride in the runabout as -was McGlory. - -“Sure,” remarked Kelly, “she looks like a nice, easy-ridin’ little car. -I’ve cleaned her, and oiled her, and pumped her full of fuel, and she -ought to travel.” - -“She ought to, that’s a fact,” said Levitt, “but I’m afraid she won’t. -However, we’ve got to take a chance. Hop in, McGlory.” - -Levitt speeded up the engine and threw in the clutch. The runabout -moved quietly out of the garage. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. UNCLE TOM AGAIN. - - -Why hadn’t McGlory and Levitt gone to the city with Colonel Billings? - -This is the mental question Matt put to himself, and he was at a loss -for a logical answer. - -If McGlory and Levitt were hand and glove with the colonel in working -out his nefarious scheme, then there was no reason in the world why -they should not be traveling together--unless the big touring car used -by the colonel had been loaded to its capacity. This did not seem -possible. - -Nor could it be that Levitt and McGlory were taking the runabout to get -it out of Matt’s way. They didn’t want to use the car, and they had -asked Kelly for another. - -Matt, with his curiosity still unsatisfied, was on the point of rolling -back to his cot, when some one else appeared in the doorway. Hope -leaped within him when he recognized Uncle Tom. - -Uncle Tom! Matt had forgotten all about the old negro. - -“Marse Kelly, sah,” piped Uncle Tom, “where is yo’?” - -“Here,” answered Kelly, coming forward. “What do you want?” - -“Marse Partington, whut jess come in on his car, wants tuh speak wif -yo’ er minit, Marse Kelly. He done sont me tuh fotch yuh.” - -“What does he want?” - -“He didn’t say, suh. He jess say, ‘Tom, yo’ lazy niggah, run tuh de -garage an’ tell Kelly Ah wants tuh see him right off.’ Dat’s whut he -say, an’ ev’rybody knows Ah’s de hardest wo’kin’ man about de place. -Lazy! Ah ain’t so spry as I uster be, but, by golly, Ah’s----” - -“Where is Mr. Partington, Tom?” interrupted Kelly. - -“Jess sta’tin’ fo’ de golf links, suh.” - -Kelly started, and Uncle Tom started with him. Matt’s heart sank. If he -could only have attracted the old negro’s attention there would have -been some one to help him in making an escape. - -While Matt lay on the floor, again furiously working at the ropes, -Uncle Tom slipped stealthily back into the garage. His old rheumatic -legs carried him with unusual rapidity out of sight toward the rear of -the room, and Matt could hear him, a moment later, clambering up the -stairs. - -Brave old Uncle Tom! He knew of Matt’s plight, and was coming to help -him. - -The door of the bedroom was unlocked, and the darky came hurriedly -into the room. He was shaking with excitement, and lost not a moment -hurrying to Matt’s side. - -“Marse Kelly would kill me daid ef he knew whut Ah was doin’,” muttered -the old negro. “We’s got tuh hurry, Marse Matt. Marse Partington didn’t -want Marse Kelly, en dar’s gwine ter be ructions when Kelly gits back.” - -With trembling fingers he plucked away the gag. - -“Don’t be scared, Uncle Tom,” said Matt reassuringly. “Just get my -hands loose and I’ll take care of Kelly if he tries to interfere with -us. I’ll look after you.” - -“Ah’s done lost mah job, Motah Matt,” quavered Uncle Tom, as he worked -at the rope around Matt’s wrists. “Ah’s done got tuh git away f’om dis -club place er dat ’ar Kelly will prove de def ob me.” - -“You can go away with me,” said Matt. - -“But dey all owes me fo’ dollahs fo’ wo’k!” - -“I’ll pay you five times that, Uncle Tom, for what you’re doing.” - -“Golly!” and the old negro’s courage seemed to return; “five times fo’ -is fifty. Whatum Ah gwine tuh do wif fifty dollahs? Ah won’t hab tuh -wo’k no mo’ fo’ six mont’s.” - -Uncle Tom’s multiplication was of a weird variety, but Matt did not -correct his mistake. - -Finally the knots were loosened so that Matt could slip his hands from -the encompassing coils, and he was but a minute more in freeing his -feet. - -“Now, then, Uncle Tom,” cried he, “this way--as fast as you can come!” - -He sprang to the door, Uncle Tom lurching after him. - -“Doan’ yo’ git too fur away, Marse Matt,” pleaded the negro. “Ef dat -Kelly meets me alone by mahse’f, Ah’s gwine ter be a daid niggah. Stay -by me.” - -Matt lessened his pace so that Uncle Tom could follow him closely out -of the room and down the stairs. They started to leave by the front of -the garage, but, as ill luck would have it, Kelly, red and wrathful, -leaped through the door directly in front of Matt. - -“Fo’ de lan’ sakes!” wailed Uncle Tom, staggering limply back against -the wall. - -“Clear out by the rear door, Uncle Tom!” shouted Matt, picking up a -heavy wrench from the floor. - -Uncle Tom scrambled for the rear of the garage at a remarkable rate of -speed. - -Kelly swore. - -“So this was that nigger’s game, was it?” he growled. “I knew something -was up when I found Partington, and he said he hadn’t sent fer me! I’ll -skin that black villain alive!” - -“You’ll deal with me first, Kelly,” said Matt. - -“Oh, you!” grunted Kelly. “Git back upstairs. It won’t take more’n a -minute to wind up your clock!” - -The garage man drew a revolver. That he happened to have the weapon -spoke volumes for the responsibility he felt as the jailer for Motor -Matt. - -“Put up that revolver!” ordered Matt sternly. - -“Here’s the way I put it up,” answered Kelly, lifting the weapon and -pointing it full at Matt. “Up them stairs with ye, an’ no more ifs nor -ands about it.” - -“Look here, Kelly,” expostulated Matt, “you’re getting yourself into -mighty deep water, and----” - -Matt was talking for a purpose--and the purpose was to give him an -opportunity to use the wrench. Suddenly he found his chance, and the -heavy instrument shot forward and struck Kelly on the wrist of his -lifted arm. A cry of pain escaped the man, and he reeled back, dropping -the revolver. - -Matt tried to spring past him, but Kelly, writhing with pain though he -was, pulled himself together and struck out viciously with his left -fist. Matt dodged quickly and evaded the blow. The next instant he had -used his right fist with terrific force, hurling Kelly out of his way -and depositing him on the floor in a heap. - -How long Kelly sat on the floor, piecing together his scattered train -of thought, he did not know; but when his faculties returned to him, -Matt was gone. - -Kelly, muttering to himself and with both hands groping about his -bruised forehead, staggered to the door and looked away in the -direction of the road. - -There was no one to be seen. Greatly shaken, Kelly stumbled back to a -chair near a workbench and deposited himself in it. - -“Felt like a batterin’-ram,” mumbled Kelly. “If I had been kicked by -a mule it wouldn’t have knocked me out more’n what it did. Who’d have -thought that lad had so much ginger in him? Whisht, now, while I think -what’s to be done.” - -Matt King’s escape, Kelly knew, ought to be communicated to Levitt, in -some way, but how was it to be done? Levitt was between the clubhouse -and New York in an automobile. - -Ah, Kelly had it! He would call up Krug’s and tell some one there to -lay for Levitt and bring him to the telephone. - -Kelly, alert and eager to undo some of the damage that had been caused -the plans of Levitt by Matt’s escape, hurried to the phone in the rear -of the garage, and was soon connected with Krug’s. - -“Any one there who knows Hannibal J. Levitt?” he asked. - -“I’ll find out,” answered a voice from the other end of the wire. - -“Well, hurry up!” implored Kelly. “I’m in a tearing rush.” - -In about a minute--an hour it seemed to the impatient Kelly--another -voice floated back along the wire. - -“I know Mr. Levitt,” said the voice. “He was here this morning, but -he’s not here now.” - -“Sure he’s not there?” responded Kelly. “This is the garage at the -Malvern Country Club--get that? Levitt left here in a runabout an hour -ago, bound for New York. He ought to pass your place in a little while. -Lay for him. If you can, get him to the phone and have him call up -Kelly--Kelly at the Malvern Country Club garage, understand--it will be -worth a fiver to Levitt. Have somebody watch for the runabout an’ flag -Levitt. Will you?” - -“Yes.” - -Kelly, highly pleased with himself, hung up the receiver. Then he -waited--waited an hour, two hours, three hours--waited until nightfall, -till 7 o’clock, 8 o’clock, 9 o’clock came, but no call arrived from -Krug’s. - -The reason was that Levitt did not pass Krug’s Corner. It was the only -route from the Malvern Country Club to New York--but, nevertheless, -Levitt did not pass. - -The white runabout passed, however, and it had two passengers. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. A STARTLING MYSTERY. - - -Matt, on leaving the garage, gave a hasty look around for Uncle Tom. -The old negro was not in sight. Matt could not spend any time looking -for him, in that particular place, and ran for the road, hoping to find -Uncle Tom waiting for him farther on. - -In this he was not disappointed. Well toward the place where Matt had -had his memorable interview with his cowboy pard, the negro pushed out -of the undergrowth. - -“Marse Matt,” he chattered, “Ah’s been er-waitin’. Ah ’low’ed ye’d come -dishyer way. Whut done happen tuh dat Kelly?” - -“I got away from him,” Matt answered. - -“By golly, Ah got away, too. Nevah run so fas’ en mah life. Five times -fo’ is fifty. Yo’ all ain’t er-fo’gittin’ dat, is yuh?” - -“No, Uncle Tom; I’m not forgetting anything.” - -Matt had nearly a hundred dollars in his pocket, and if he had not -thought he was going to need considerable extra money for his trip back -to the city he’d been given the negro nearly the whole of it. - -“There’s your fifty, Uncle Tom,” said Matt. “You go to Hempstead and -stay with Topsy until you can find another job.” - -“Ah doan’ want no job twell Ah git out ob money, marse, en den Ah’s -hopin’ ye’ll be ready tuh take me on as yo’ private mascot. Ah tells -yuh, marse, yo’s monsus short on luck, seems lak. Yo’s had a powahful -bad streak to-day. Where’d yo’ hab been ef it hadn’t been fo’ Ole Tom? -Golly, Ah’s afeared tuh guess!” - -“How did you know I was up there over the garage?” - -“Ah seed yo’ when yo’ was brought intuh de garage, marse. Marse -Whitmore, at de clubhouse, done sent me tuh ask Kelly somethin’, en -Kelly wasn’t erroun’ de place. Ah waited; den Ah seed yo’ come in froo -de back do’, yo’ han’s all tied lak dey was, en Ah jess scrooched down -behin’ a car an’ waited twell yo’ was took to Kelly’s room. Den Ah -went off tuh think whut all Ah was gwine tuh do tuh help yo’. Ah clean -fo’got ’bout Marse Whitmore. Went tuh hunt him up, but he had done lef’ -de place where he was. De idee got intuh mah ole haid dat Ah could git -Kelly away fom de garage by tellin’ him somebody else wanted tuh see -him, en Ah wo’ked hit out, yassuh. En she wo’ked, didn’t she? Yo’ knows -’bout dat. Say, marse, is five times fo’ fifty er skiventy? ’Pears lak -Ah ain’t jess right en mah ’rithmetic.” - -“It’s nearer fifty than seventy, Uncle Tom. If I could spare any more -money, though, I’d give it to you.” - -“Yo’s allers gen’rous lak dat, en dat’s de reason Ah likes tuh mascot -fo’ yo’. When does yo’ all think yo’ll need me?” - -“I can’t tell that for a while, Uncle Tom. You go to Hempstead and stay -with Topsy. That’s the place for you. You’re getting altogether too old -to work.” - -“Huccome yo’ lef’ Denvah? Whar yo’ all been, huh?” - -“I’ve been in a good many places, Uncle Tom, since I left Denver. I’m -certainly going to do something for you, Uncle Tom,” answered Matt; -“but I can’t say just when.” - -“Ah’s got fifty-five dollahs, marse, en hit’ll las’ me er long while, -yassuh, but doan’ yo’ git de notion hit’ll las’ too long. When hit -plays out Ah wants tuh wo’k fo’ yo’.” - -“I’ll have to hurry, Uncle Tom,” said Matt. “You can stroll along to -Hempstead and take your time; but I’ve got important business in New -York.” - -“Yo’s allers doin’ somethin’. Nevah seed sich a fellah fo’ bein’ -evahlastin’ly on de go. Ah’m gwine tuh root fo’ yo’, marse. ’Deed Ah -is. When good luck come yo’ way, jess yo’ ricollect hit’s Uncle Tom -mascottin’. But Ah can do a heap bettah at dat ef Ah’m ’long clos’ tuh -yo’. Dishyer long-range mascottin’ done li’ble tuh wind up on er snag. -’Membah dat, too.” - -“I’ll remember everything, Uncle Tom,” said Matt. “You stay in -Hempstead with Topsy. Good-by.” - -“Good-by, Marse Matt.” - -Matt shook the darky’s hand warmly, turned and hurried on along the -road. - -Uncle Tom was a grafter, but nevertheless Matt had a warm place in his -heart for the old fellow. His peculiarities were all on the humorous -side, and Matt could have enjoyed his talk if circumstances had been -different. - -While Matt was striding onward, his thoughts keeping pace with his -swift gait, he heard suddenly the hum of a motor in the distance. - -All motors have the same sort of music. The tempo changes with work at -the throttle, but a trained ear can follow the shifting gears; and, now -and then, there’s a man who will recognize his car by the croon of the -engine alone. - -It seemed to Matt that there was something familiar in the sound he -heard. - -The road, for a long distance at that particular point, lay in a -straight stretch. - -The car was coming toward Matt, but the trees on either side of the -road made the approaching machine indistinct. Their boughs dropped -low, and the deep shadows of the westering sun lay heavily across the -thoroughfare. - -Suddenly Matt caught a glimpse of white flashing in the gloom. - -The runabout! ran his startled thought. - -Yes, undoubtedly it was the strange hoodoo car that was approaching. - -What did it mean? - -Were Levitt and McGlory returning to the Country Club? Had they found -the car more than they could manage, and were they taking it back to -the garage? - -This did not seem a satisfactory explanation, and yet Matt could think -of nothing else. - -At a halt in the middle of the road Matt waited for the car to draw -near. If McGlory was in the machine, that was as good a time as any for -a meeting and an explanation. - -But the cowboy was not in the car, nor was Levitt, so far as Matt could -see, or anybody else. - -The car was on the reverse, and backing down the road, most marvelously -keeping a straight line, although now and then lurching sideways a -little and narrowly escaping the trunk of a tree at the roadside. - -Here was a startling mystery! - -What had happened to McGlory and Levitt? - -While Matt wondered, he was making preparations to board the car and do -his best to get it under control. - -It was coming at a slow rate of speed, and to leap aboard would not be -difficult. - -When within a dozen feet of the young motorist, the car seemed to -recognize an enemy and to attempt to turn aside. - -Matt ran forward, stopped, executed a flying leap and gained the -running board. Another moment and he was in the driver’s seat and had -brought the car to a halt. - -The reverse gear was engaged, so the runabout had ample warrant for -crawfishing along the road. - -There was nothing in the car, however, that offered any clue to the -mystery of what had become of the two who had taken the runabout from -the Country Club garage. - -Matt got down and made a hurried examination. The car was in as good -condition as ever, and rebuffed his efforts at getting clues. - -There was something uncanny about the machine. Matt admitted it to -himself. It acted in a way that defied all explanation, at times, and -that alone was enough to get on a chauffeur’s nerves. - -Perhaps Billy was right, and that the “double hoodoo,” in some -incomprehensible manner, was accountable for the car’s tantrums. - -So far as McGlory and Levitt were concerned, there was a possibility -that the car had misbehaved so outrageously that they had put on the -reverse and cast it adrift, to go where it would. - -But there were other travelers in the road to think of. Levitt and -McGlory would scarcely take chances of wrecking some other machine, or -of running down a carriage, or some pedestrian. - -Matt was deeply puzzled. - -“Well,” he thought, “I want a way to return to New York, and here -it is. It meets me on the road, and I should be foolish not to take -advantage of it. Quite likely Joe and Levitt have found other and -more satisfactory means for reaching the city. I don’t blame them for -changing to another car, if they had the opportunity, or for taking a -railroad train if they happened to be conveniently near one. There’s no -railroad very close to this place, though, and the runabout couldn’t -have come far, with no one in control.” - -There was enough gas in the cylinders so that the motor took the spark. -The runabout leaped ahead, perfectly obedient to Matt’s hand. - -As he swept along he looked and listened for some signs of McGlory and -Levitt. He came upon the two missing passengers suddenly--and what he -saw caused him to jam down hard on the brakes and leap from the car -before it was fairly at a stop. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. IMPORTANT DISCLOSURES. - - -Joe McGlory was kneeling beside the road, tying a handkerchief bandage -around the forehead of Levitt. The latter was sprawled out limply on -the ground, his clothing torn and disarranged. - -“What’s the matter, Joe?” asked Matt. - -The cowboy’s face was pale, and the set lines of it indicated that he -was himself in pain. - -“That’s you, is it, pard?” he asked huskily. - -For a useless question McGlory threw a good deal of feeling into it. - -“Yes.” - -“I might have known you’d come pounding along if I was in trouble. -Levitt is badly hurt. He’s been unconscious ever since he dropped in -the road. I can’t bring him back to his senses--but I haven’t been able -to do much, being about half knocked out.” - -Matt went down on his knees, laid a hand over Levitt’s heart, and then -felt of his pulse. - -“He’ll do, I think, Joe. Is he hurt anywhere else except in the head?” - -“I don’t think so. He was thrown headfirst against the tree there.” - -Matt lifted the bandage and surveyed the wound. The light was none too -good, and he asked his chum to strike a match. - -“It may be a fracture of the skull,” said Matt, replacing the bandage. -“We’ve got to get him into the hands of a doctor.” - -“Hempstead’s the nearest place, I reckon. It can’t be more than a mile -from here.” - -“We’ll go there.” - -Riding on two seats, with an unconscious and wounded man to look after, -was not going to be child’s play for Matt and McGlory--particularly as -the cowboy was not in very good condition himself. Then, too, cramped -as he was going to be, Matt would have to look after the runabout. That -might be an easy matter, and it might not. It all depended on how the -runabout was going to act. - -“Can you help me get him into the car, Joe?” asked Matt. - -“I’m not good for much, Matt,” was the response; “but I’ll do what I -can.” - -“What’s the matter with you?” - -“Just shaken up, I reckon. I’ve had a good many falls, but never one -like that before.” - -Matt, when Levitt was lifted, contrived to carry most of the burden. -McGlory groaned when the limp form of Levitt was in the car, and -grabbed at the car seat to support himself. - -“Something has happened to you, old chap, besides a mere shaking up,” -averred Matt. “I guess I’ll have to leave you at Hempstead with Levitt.” - -“Nary, you don’t. I’ve got to get to that meeting.” - -Matt made no answer to this. It brought up a subject which he was not -yet ready to discuss. - -“Get into the car, Joe,” said he. “Hold Levitt’s head up between your -knees, if you can. I won’t be able to help support him--the car will -take all my attention.” - -“If this infernal contraption goes off the jump again,” scowled -McGlory, “it’s liable to do for all of us.” - -In a few moments they were loaded. The cowboy, braced in the seat, -supported the upper half of Levitt’s body between his knees. This left -Matt elbow room for running the car. - -The runabout started off cleverly enough, and Matt believed it would -act well for the short trip to Hempstead. - -“How did the accident happen, Joe?” he asked, when they were well away. - -“I wish somebody would tell me,” answered McGlory. “We were going along -at not more than twenty-five miles an hour when, without any warning, -it buck-jumped, and stopped dead. Levitt was thrown out sideways -against the tree. I missed the trees, but took the roadside on my head -and shoulders, as near as I can recollect. I was dazed for a couple -of minutes, and when I rounded up my wits I saw Levitt unconscious, a -dozen feet from where I was lying. That’s all. I was trying to tinker -him up when you came along. Where did you pick up the car?” - -“A little way back on the road. It was on the reverse, and moving -slowly.” - -“How did it get on the reverse?” - -“I don’t know.” - -“Nor I. Sufferin’ brain twisters! The same thing happened on the -Jericho Pike this morning, you remember.” - -Matt was silent. Before either he or the cowboy could speak Levitt -began to talk. - -“Play the game, Billings! If you’re going to hocus the syndicate, -you’ve got to pay me money enough to make it worth while. A quarter of -the proceeds, Billings, or I give Random & Griggs my private report. -That will cook your goose.” - -McGlory gasped. - -“He’s delirious,” said Matt. - -“He--he thinks he’s talking with Billings,” said McGlory. “Speak to me -about that!” - -“It’s just as I told you, Joe,” went on Matt quietly. “Your colonel is -out to make a big winning, and to make it dishonestly. If he----” - -Levitt began again. - -“You didn’t know I had that private report, did you?” A weird laugh -came with the words. “I’m a bit foxy myself, colonel. The ‘Pauper’s -Dream’ isn’t worth what it cost to put down the shaft. You haven’t any -vein. There was a pocket, but the pocket has been worked out. You’ve -got to come across with a pile if you make me suppress that private -report.” - -“I’m the biggest blockhead that walks the face o’ the earth!” declared -McGlory. “I----” - -Levitt interrupted him. - -“Keep your eye on Matt King, Billings! If lightning hits us, that cub -will be back of it!” - -There was something grewsome about that limp form with its bandaged -head, swaying between McGlory’s unsteady knees and mumbling villainous -revelations. - -For a while Levitt was silent, and the runabout glided through the -outskirts of Hempstead and Matt inquired the way to the nearest doctor. - -The car continued to remain on its good behavior, and carried its -passengers steadily and safely to the walk in front of the doctor’s -office. Some bystanders helped carry Levitt in, and he was laid on -a couch, very white and weak and continuing to mumble his delirious -disclosures. - -“What’s the trouble with him?” inquired the doctor. - -“Automobile accident,” answered Matt briefly. - -“They’re always happening,” commented the medical man grimly. “Who is -he?” - -“Hannibal J. Levitt. We’ll have to leave him in your care, doctor. My -friend and I have got to hurry on to New York to attend a meeting at -eight o’clock to-night.” - -The doctor, busily examining Levitt, turned up a suspicious face. - -“You’ll have to tell me a little bit more about this man before you -go,” said he. “He may have been hurt in an automobile accident, or he -may have been hit on the head with a sand bag.” - -“Sufferin’ hold-ups!” muttered McGlory. “Do you take us for strong-arm -men?” - -Just at that moment a policeman entered. - -“Heard there was an injured man brought in here, doc,” said he. - -The doctor explained--not only about the injured man, but about Matt’s -hurry to get away to New York. - -The policeman also became suspicious. Matt, however, took him apart -and went into a somewhat lengthy explanation. He told who he was, and -managed to convince the officer of his identity. The name of Matt King -was not unknown to the bluecoat, and he was prepared to take all that -Matt said in good faith. - -“It’s all right, Doc,” said the officer, as soon as Matt had finished -talking; “these young fellows didn’t have anything more to do with that -man’s condition than you or I. We’ll look after Levitt. Badly hurt?” - -“Yes.” - -“Seriously?” - -“Not dangerously, if that’s what you mean.” - -“Then we’re free to go, are we, officer?” asked Matt. - -“Sure. Skip whenever you’re ready. If I want you or your friend I’ll -phone your New York hotel.” - -Matt and McGlory, followed by the troubled eyes of the doctor, went out -to the runabout. Before starting, Matt got the lamps to going. - -“Now for Manhattan,” said he, climbing to his seat. - -“Or the ditch,” added McGlory. “The way I feel now I don’t care much -what happens to us.” - -“That’s a funny way for you to feel, Joe,” said Matt quietly. - -The car moved off in fine order--an exhibition which made Matt feel -like congratulating himself. - -“I’m entitled to my feelings, pard. For what I’ve done to-day you ought -to cut me out of your herd.” - -“You made a mistake----” - -“A big one; and there was no excuse for it.” - -“Yes, there was, Joe. There must have been.” - -McGlory mumbled to himself and fell silent. - -“You hadn’t got far along the road from the clubhouse,” said Matt, -“when the accident happened. But you must have been gone an hour. If -your pace was twenty-five miles an hour, how----” - -“The car bothered us like Sam Hill,” cut in McGlory. “If it wasn’t -one thing, it was two. Neither Levitt nor I was as good a hand at -tinkering as you, and we had to hunt quite a spell before we located -the troubles.” - -“You found something wrong?” - -“A dozen things!” - -“That’s strange! When this runabout gets to acting up, it usually seems -to be without any cause whatever.” - -“Well,” finished the cowboy, “that explains how we were going -twenty-five miles an hour, at the time the accident happened, and -didn’t get any farther from the Malvern Country Club.” - -After this there was another silence between the chums. McGlory was -getting ready to explain, and Matt patiently waited. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. M’GLORY’S LESSON. - - -“Pard,” said McGlory finally, “I’ve connected with a lesson this -afternoon that’s made the biggest kind of an impression on me.” - -“What sort of a lesson, Joe?” asked Matt. - -“The kind that hits you plumb between the eyes like a bolt of -lightning. Did you ever think you were smart, and then wake up and find -yourself the biggest fool in seven states? No, I don’t reckon you ever -did. That’s not the way Pard Matt is built.” - -“That’s where you’re wrong, Joe. I’ve been there. We all of us take a -wrong course, now and then. We wouldn’t be human if we didn’t.” - -“Sufferin’ horn toads! Why, I thought all along I was starring myself, -and that I’d laugh at you in a few days for being the one who’d made -the bobble.” - -“The trouble with you was, Joe, Colonel Billings had too much influence -over you.” - -“He’s got an oily tongue, Matt, and a brain that’s a wonder. After -you dropped from the window, the colonel nailed me and pinned me down -in a chair. I was as mad as a hornet, and ready to give him a right -hook to the jaw, or any other kind of a right-hander that would make -him take the count. That’s how I felt for about a minute--red-hot and -boiling. But only for a minute. The colonel started his tongue, and I -fell on his neck and shed tears of joy because he had singled me out to -help feather-finger the kicks of the plutocrats. Not in those words, -however. The colonel made it look like a just and warranted proceeding. - -“The colonel allows Pard Matt is a blockhead, and that he’s taken a -few facts and used ’em as signboards for the wrong trail. The colonel -admits hiring Levitt to make a bogus report; but the bogus report, -according to the colonel, was the one we found, and not the other -gilt-edged prospectus submitted to the syndicate.” - -“Why did he hire Levitt to make a report saying that the mine was no -good?” inquired the amazed Matt. - -“He didn’t, pard; he only said he did. I find there’s some sort of -a difference between what the colonel really does and what he tells -people he does. He knew the ‘Pauper’s Dream’ was rich, long before he -sold me my stock. Then some of the stockholders who knew the same thing -tried to freeze the colonel out. But the colonel was too wise. He sank -the shaft without finding any gold--just to fool the stockholders who -wanted to get rid of him. These fellows immediately sold out to the -colonel, so that the colonel got hold of the majority of the stock. -That means, of course, that he had the entire say about everything -connected with the mine. - -“As soon as he has the ‘Pauper’s Dream’ cinched, Billings begins to -hit the simon-pure, ne-plus-ultra gold-bearing vein. Buyers flock to -the scene. The colonel picks out this syndicate of Random & Griggs’ -as the boys to get the mine. Levitt comes out to examine the mine for -the syndicate. The stockholders who have been frozen out begin to grow -restive, and to threaten legal complications. Then Billings shows his -fine Italian hand by hiring Levitt to make out that report, saying -the ‘Dream’ is a pocket, and that the pocket is empty. That’s for the -soreheaded stockholders to see, and they see it. So, in that way, legal -complications are sidetracked while the colonel is selling the mine to -the syndicate.” - -McGlory relapsed into silence for a mile, while the runabout behaved -beautifully and drove long shafts of light from the search lamps into -the growing dark. - -“That,” continued the cowboy, stirring, “is the yarn the colonel put -up to me. I swallowed it. But, pard, I wanted to tell you. The colonel -said you mustn’t know a thing until after the deal was closed and the -proceeds divided. As I figure it now, I reckon the colonel was afraid -you’d jab a little horse sense into his yarn and puncture it. Anyhow, -the truth remains that he made me believe I’d lose a fortune by telling -you the truth about that private report. ‘Tell your friend about it -later,’ says the colonel, ‘and then have a good laugh with him over the -way he was fooled.’ So I smoothed down my rising feathers, laid low, -and planned to sneak the private report on you all by myself. - -“You know how I did that. You trusted me, and asked the old darky -to tell me where you were. As soon as Uncle Tom had delivered your -message, I rushed right off to the colonel and repeated it to him. -Then I met you, executed my brilliant play, got the report, and -delivered it to my good friend the colonel. He now has it in his -pocket, or else he has burned it. Anyhow, you can bet a million against -the hole in a doughnut that he don’t show that report to the syndicate. -The question is, pard, will those syndicate people believe you and me?” - -“It won’t matter much,” answered Matt, “whether they do or don’t. By -jumping in there and telling them the truth, we’ll be placing ourselves -on record.” - -“I see. Then, if they’re skinned, we can read our titles clear and -they’ll have only themselves to blame. But, pard, what have you been up -to since I worked through that brilliant trick and left you staring at -me from the bushes?” - -“I’ve been a prisoner in the loft over the garage,” answered Matt. - -“A prisoner?” echoed McGlory. “How was that?” - -Matt told him the details. - -“Oh, speak to me about that!” growled the cowboy. “Hannibal J. Levitt -never mentioned the fact of your capture to me. If I’d known what had -happened to you, pard, I’d have torn loose from the whole combination, -fortune or no fortune. Why,” sputtered McGlory, as reflection brought -the hidden details more and more before him, “Levitt never could have -made that play if I hadn’t told Billings where I was to meet you! They -got their heads together and worked it out.” - -“Why didn’t you and Levitt ride into town with the colonel, Joe?” - -“He thought it would be better for us to come by ourselves. He was ’way -ahead of time, you know, and had to go to the bank before closing hours -for the bullion. It wasn’t necessary for Levitt and me to be around -until time for the meeting. Oh, I’ve had a fine run for my auburn chip, -and no mistake. I’ll resign, here and now, from our partnership. The -place for me is the range. Cattle punching is about the scope of my -ability, and it ought to be the height of my ambition. Consider my -resignation handed in, pard.” - -“Then,” said Matt, “consider it declined. I won’t accept it.” - -“Don’t make any misplay now, old chap,” begged McGlory. “I’m about as -dependable as this crazy runabout. Sometimes I answer the control, but -you’ve just seen how I can take the bit in my teeth and play hob with -everything. I don’t think you can trust me, pard.” - -“I don’t know any one I can trust better, Joe,” answered Matt. - -“If you mean that, shake.” - -Their hands clasped for an instant, and McGlory stifled a groan and -clutched at his side. - -“Say,” demanded Matt, “what’s wrong with you?” - -“All jarred to pieces. That fall did it. When you shook my right hand I -thought I was coming apart.” - -“I wish,” said Matt, “that I’d had the Hempstead doctor look at you.” - -“Look at me? Well, I reckon he did. He looked at me as though he -thought I was a sandbagger. And he came pretty near having it right, at -that.” - -“You know what I mean, Joe.” - -“Sure, I do. But we didn’t have time. We may be late for the meeting as -it is. The colonel has showed his bullion, and flashed that affidavit -about its coming from the ‘Pauper’s Dream’ as the result of a week’s -run, and perhaps the syndicate has been stampeded. We may be too late.” - -“We’ll not be too late to go on record,” declared Matt. - -“Tell me this, pard,” said the cowboy: “Why were you piking for New -York at the time you met the runabout backing down the road with no one -aboard?” - -“I had started for the meeting in Random & Griggs’ office,” said Matt. - -“You were going there just the same, eh?” - -“Of course.” - -“While I was doing everything I could to help the colonel get me into -trouble, you were still hustling to keep me out of it?” - -“I knew Billings had influenced you in some way, Joe.” - -“That’s the sort of a fellow for a pard! Of course you’re the lad to -tie to. The wonder is that you’re still willing to hang onto me.” - -“Random & Griggs must be as badly deceived in the colonel as any one -else,” observed Matt. - -“He can pull the wool over any one’s eyes, that fellow!” - -“He was stopping at Griggs’ house, and the broker had put him up at the -Country Club.” - -“That’s right! And how the colonel has used that Country Club! The -members of the club will be tickled to death if they ever find it out. -You can do something to that tinhorn, Kelly, if you want to.” - -“I don’t want to. He was working for Levitt----” - -“Just as I was working for the colonel, eh? Maybe he was as badly -fooled, too.” - -For some time McGlory leaned back in his seat and kept quiet. Matt was -worried about him. - -“How do you feel now, Joe?” he asked. - -“I was just thinking,” answered McGlory, “that this hoodoo car is -trying to make up for the tough times it has given us. It’s about the -worst combination of cylinders, rubber tires, and spark plugs that -was ever put together, but, for all that, if it hadn’t cut up a few -tantrums on the Jericho Pike this morning we’d never have found out a -thing about the colonel’s crooked work.” - -“That’s so. It’s an ill wind that blows nobody good, pard.” - -“While the car’s running good, Matt, crowd the speed limit. Let’s get -to Liberty Street as soon as we can.” - -Matt proceeded to follow out his chum’s suggestion. - - - - -CHAPTER XV. HURLING A BOMB. - - -Half a dozen men were gathered in the private conference room of Random -& Griggs’ palatial brokerage offices in Liberty Street. One of these -half dozen was the colonel. Another was Joshua Griggs. The remaining -four were capitalists. - -Colonel Mark Antony Billings was in his element. He had never looked -more impressive than he did then. Levitt and McGlory had failed to -arrive in time for the meeting, but they might come later. In any -event, their presence was not of supreme importance. - -In front of the colonel, on the mahogany table, sparkled the two bars -of yellow bullion. They caught the gleams from the incandescent lights -and reflected luring rays into the eyes of the capitalists. - -The capitalists seemed greatly impressed. Griggs--the brokerage firm -was to receive a very large commission if the mine was sold--wore a -broad and amiable smile. The colonel was plausible and full of tact, -answering questions promptly. - -In the midst of the deliberations the quiet of Liberty Street was -disturbed by the sputter of an automobile. For the most part, Liberty -Street, in the vicinity of the brokers’ offices, was a deserted cañon -at that hour. - -But if the automobile disturbed the quiet of the street, it did not -disturb the deliberations of those in Random & Griggs’ offices. It took -a rap on the outer door to do that. Mr. Griggs himself answered the -summons. - -“McGlory and Levitt, colonel,” he called. - -Mr. Griggs had made a slight mistake. Hearing the name McGlory, and -understanding that Levitt was expected with him, the broker had jumped -at conclusions. - -“The expert, gentlemen,” smiled the colonel, addressing the -capitalists, “whom you sent to investigate my little property. A very -painstaking person, and reliable to the last degree. McGlory is one of -our original stockholders; a young man--a mere lad, in fact--but sharp -as a steel trap.” The colonel lifted his voice. “Have them come right -in, Mr. Griggs,” he called. - -Matt King and McGlory did not stand on the order. Supporting his chum -by the arm, King and the cowboy passed into the conference room and -stood under the astounded eyes of the colonel. - -“Why,” said Mr. Isidore Sleipnitz, one of the moneyed men, “dot ain’t -der expert, Levitt. Neider of ’em is Levitt.” - -“But I’m McGlory,” said the cowboy, steadying himself by leaning -against a table. Although his face was white, his eyes glowed with -resolution and steadfast purpose. “Mr. Levitt was thrown from the -automobile and injured. He’s now in a doctor’s office in Hempstead. -This is my chum, Matt King. If he hadn’t picked me up I’d never have -got here.” - -The colonel, to put it colloquially, “smelled a rat.” Something was -wrong, and he knew it. - -“This meeting, gentlemen,” said he, “is not for outsiders. Mr. King -is not a stockholder in the ‘Pauper’s Dream,’ nor, so far as I am -informed, is he one of your syndicate. I think he had better withdraw.” - -“I’m not going to withdraw,” said Matt, “until I tell these gentlemen -of your crooked transactions in the matter of the mine you are trying -to sell them. McGlory and I have come here for that purpose, and----” - -“Silence!” roared the colonel, starting menacingly toward Matt. “Do you -think, for a minute, you can blow in here and blacken my character in -the eyes of these gentlemen?” Billings struck a pose, and shoved one -hand into the breast of his long coat. “I am too well known,” he went -on, “to suffer from the maunderings of a cub like you!” - -“I’d like to put in a few maunderings of my own, colonel,” said -McGlory. “I’ll have to hurry, too, for I got badly shaken up in that -accident that knocked out Levitt. There were two reports----” - -“Silence!” thundered the colonel. “Get out of here, McGlory! Clear out, -I say, and take that other young scoundrel with you. If you don’t, I’ll -call the police!” - -Hiram McCormick, another of the capitalists, got up from his chair and -raised his hand. - -“This isn’t one of your Southwestern ‘rough-houses,’ colonel,” said he, -“so please remember that. Roar less and listen more, will you? I am -interested in hearing what these young men have to say.” - -“If that’s the way you stack up,” clamored the colonel, grabbing his -slouch hat and his gold bullion from the table, “I’ll make myself -absent. I didn’t come here to be insulted.” - -He started for the door. Before he could reach it the door of a -telephone booth opened and a blue-coated man, with a star flashing on -his breast, stepped in front of him. - -The appearance of the policeman was a surprise to the colonel, Griggs, -Matt, and McGlory. The four capitalists did not seem to think it -anything out of the ordinary. - -“Where--where did that man come from?” inquired Griggs. - -Inasmuch as he was a member of the firm that occupied the offices, it -might be supposed that he would have had knowledge of any policeman -secreted about the premises. But it was plain he had not been informed -of the presence of this particular officer. - -Hiram McCormick was still on his feet. While the colonel was glaring -at the policeman, Mr. McCormick observed calmly: - -“Mr. Griggs, we shall have to ask your pardon for the presence of the -officer. He slipped in, by my request, before the colonel came, and -while you were in the board room.” - -“What’s he here for?” inquired Griggs. - -“That will appear later. Just now he is going to keep the colonel with -us while these young men relieve their minds.” - -Colonel Billings understood that he was face to face with disaster--a -disaster so comprehensive that he could not readily grasp it. Heeding a -motion of the officer’s hand, he dropped defiantly into a chair. - -“Now, my lad,” said McCormick to the cowboy. - -McGlory jumped at once into his recital. Beginning away back in his New -York experience, he told of the trouble he and Matt had had on account -of the bullion; then, after showing the telegram which had been sent -to him over the signature of “Joshua Griggs,” he began narrating the -adventures which had fallen to him and Matt on that eventful day. The -colonel’s double-dealing was shown up in all its ugly brazenness, and -the cowboy finished by regretting that he had not the private report of -Hannibal J. Levitt to offer in evidence. - -“Perhaps,” suggested Matt, “the colonel can show it to you, if it has -not already been destroyed.” - -“The colonel,” spoke up that gentleman witheringly, “is not here to be -bossed by a fellow of your stripe. Your wild and woolly stories seem to -have made a hit with the representatives of capital, but they’re fakes, -and everybody here will know they’re fakes, before many days.” - -“Gentlemen,” put in Mr. Griggs, whose faith in the colonel was dying -hard, “is it right to take the word of these boys against a man so well -known throughout the Southwest as Colonel Billings?” - -Colonel Billings waved his hand gently but firmly toward Mr. Griggs. - -“Never mind me, sir,” said he. “The kid element seems to predominate -in the meeting, and men of experience and reason are relegated to the -background. Don’t disturb yourself on my account, I beg. There are -other bidders for the ‘Pauper’s Dream.’ The mine will be snapped up -before the week is over.” - -“Mr. Griggs,” went on Hiram McCormick, “these young men have come -here--one of them with everything to lose and nothing to gain by -blocking the sale of the mine--and told us a most remarkable story -of guile and duplicity. I may say, however, that neither I nor my -associates are surprised. We have already had cause to suspect the -colonel of double-dealing. Two experts were sent by us to examine the -‘Pauper’s Dream.’ In matters of this sort, it is best not to place all -your faith in one man. Levitt went to the mine, made himself known to -the colonel, and examined the prospect under his supervision. Perhaps -it is not to be wondered at that the colonel bought him. But the second -expert reached the mine in laborer’s clothes, and was hired by the -colonel to ‘salt’ the breast of the ‘Pauper’s Dream’ tunnel. I have -that man’s report here in my pocket. It only arrived to-day, but my -friends of this projected syndicate have all read it. For this reason -we feared we might have trouble with the colonel, and so we smuggled -the policeman into the telephone booth. - -“Colonel Billings,” and McCormick turned and leveled a hard look at -the Arizona man, “your rascally game would not have succeeded, even -had these lads not come here and told us of your knavery. We had you -spotted. From now on you will be blacklisted in this town, and you -will try in vain to float any other mining proposition on New York -capital. Mr. Griggs was deceived in you, and he and his partner have -our sympathy, and have not lost a particle of our good will; but as for -you, if you are not out of the city within twenty-four hours we shall -try and see just how much responsibility the law can put upon you for -this day’s events. There is the door; close it from the outside.” - -The colonel got up. Calmly he drew a canvas bag from his pocket, and -deliberately placed his gold bars within it; then, holding the bag in -one hand, he allowed the other to dart toward his hip--a move young -King had seen before. - -“Look out for him!” warned Matt. - -The officer grabbed a revolver out of the colonel’s hand in just the -nick of time. There was a brief struggle, but the colonel got the worst -of it. - -“I’ll play even with that cub of a Matt King,” the colonel was heard to -breathe, “if it’s the last thing I ever do.” - -“Take him out, officer,” said Hiram McCormick, in undisguised contempt, -“and, of course, you’ll confiscate the weapon. This is not Arizona.” - -None too gently the policeman hustled Colonel Billings out of the door. -Hardly had they left when McGlory staggered, tossed his hands, and fell -heavily into Matt’s arms. - -Instantly there was a flurry of excitement in the office, Griggs, -McCormick, and the others all hurrying forward to be of what assistance -they could. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. LOST--A FORTUNE. - - -Joe McGlory drifted back to conscience amid surroundings that were -entirely new to him. He was in a white iron bed. On one side of the bed -stood a woman in a white cap and apron, and on the other side was a -man in black. Over the foot of the bed leaned Matt, his anxious face -clearing a little as McGlory opened his eyes. - -“Ah!” murmured the doctor. - -“Where am I?” inquired the cowboy. - -“In the emergency ward of the City Hospital,” answered the doctor. - -“I’ve got about as much right here as a maverick steer in a watermelon -patch. Sufferin’ sister, what a jolt!” - -A smile sneaked over the doctor’s face. The nurse turned her head. Matt -laughed, highly delighted. - -“He’ll be all right, don’t you think so, doctor?” Matt asked. - -“A lad who can come out from under the influence of a narcotic with -such a flow of spirits,” averred the doctor, “is bound to be all right.” - -“What’s the matter with me?” the cowboy asked. - -“A couple of broken ribs.” - -“I thought I’d busted something! Say, Matt!” - -“What is it, Joe?” - -“The last I remember I was in the office of Random & Griggs. When was -that?” - -“Last night.” - -The cowboy turned his head so he could see the sunlight coming through -the window. - -“And now it’s this morning?” - -“Yes.” - -“When will I get out of here, doc? This afternoon?” - -“If you get out of here in less than two weeks you’ll do well,” said -the doctor. - -“Speak to me about that!” muttered McGlory. - -“It’s all right, Joe,” said Matt. “I’ll be here every day to see you.” - -“Sure you will. I couldn’t stand it if you stayed away. The old -runabout got me, after all!” - -“You were lucky to escape as well as you did,” spoke up the doctor. -“You took a long automobile ride, after you were hurt,” he added -severely, “and did a number of other things that were entirely -unnecessary, and which aggravated your condition.” - -“Correct, doc,” grinned McGlory; “I was aggravated a whole lot, and no -mistake. Where’s the hoodoo car now, Matt?” - -“Billy’s got it in the garage.” - -“I wonder that Billy would have it there, considering how he feels -about it.” - -“Billy’s not the boss of the garage, Joe,” laughed Matt. “If he was, -probably he’d refuse to give the car storage.” - -“Hear anything from Hempstead?” - -“Well, yes. Levitt is coming along as well as can be expected.” - -“I don’t think you had better talk any more, my lad,” interposed the -doctor. - -“I’ll die if I don’t, doc,” declared McGlory. “Give me a little more -rope, can’t you?” - -“A little.” - -“Where’s the colonel, Matt?” went on McGlory. - -“No one knows, Joe. He was ordered out of town, and I guess he’s gone, -or going.” - -“He played hob with me, all right. How’s the syndicate?” - -“You’d feel highly complimented if you could hear what they said about -you.” - -“What did they say about _you_?” - -“I don’t remember.” - -“Sure you don’t. You never remember what’s said about you, but whenever -any one tips you off concernin’ a pard you keep it right on tap. What -are you going to do for the two weeks I’m laid up?” - -“Just hang around and wait for you to get well, I guess,” Matt laughed. - -“Don’t hike out of town, will you?” - -“No; I’m going to stay right here.” - -McGlory looked at the doctor. - -“He’s my pard, doc,” said he. “Matt’s his label, and he’s the clear -quill any way you take him.” - -“You both seem to stand pretty high in each other’s estimation,” smiled -the doctor. - -“I’m standing higher in his than I deserve.” - -“Cut that out, Joe,” said Matt. - -“I’ll cut it out and paste it in my hat so I won’t forget it. It’s the -best lesson I ever had, and I’m going to profit by it. Lost--a fortune! -That’s me. I was promised a place on Easy Street, and here I am in the -hospital.” - -McGlory chuckled. - -“You may have lost a fortune, Joe,” said Matt, “but you’ve won -something a whole lot better.” - -“I have--two busted ribs and a couple of weeks’ lay-off. Oh, I’m a -lucky dog!” - -“Don’t fret about the ribs or the lay-off, Joe,” counseled Matt. “If -you get to worrying, you may have to stay here longer than two weeks.” - -“Funny how I shut my eyes in Random & Griggs’ office,” remarked -McGlory, leaping from one subject to another with the abruptness of a -person whose brain is still a little befogged, “and open ’em here. That -was sure a hard ride from Hempstead in. I don’t know how I managed to -hang on. I reckon it was my wish to play even with the colonel that -held me up.” - -“The colonel got his deserts, Joe,” said Matt. - -“The syndicate was next to him all the time. Our chasing in to tell -what we knew didn’t make such a terrible lot of difference.” - -“It put us on record, that’s all. It’s mighty important, sometimes, to -let people know where you stand.” - -“Correct, again. But listen. Didn’t Colonel Billings pull a gun on -you, Matt, before he left the office? Seems to me I remember that.” - -“He pulled a gun, Joe; but I don’t know what he intended to do with it.” - -“Then I’ll put you next, pard. He intended to play even with you.” - -“Or you,” answered Matt. - -“Not me,” insisted Joe. “The colonel knows I haven’t got sense enough -to make him much trouble. But he’s afraid of Matt King. Look out for -him, pard.” - -“The colonel has his orders to leave town, and----” - -“That doesn’t mean that he’ll go. During the two weeks I’m holding down -this nice little bed here, you keep both eyes skinned for Colonel Mark -Antony Billings. He’s liable to show his hand when you’re not thinking -he’s within a thousand miles of you. Pretty sudden, the colonel is. He -sprang a surprise on us when we got to the Country Club and found him -there to meet us instead of Joshua Griggs. That’s a sample of the way -he does things, Matt. You look out for him.” - -“That will do now,” said the doctor authoritatively. “You’ve talked -more than you ought to.” - -“When’ll you blow in here again, pard?” added McGlory, reaching out his -hand. - -“This afternoon.” - -“That’s you. I’ve lost a fortune, pard, but I didn’t let you get away -from me. We’re pards, same as per usual, and in spite of what happened -at the Country Club?” - -“Sure we are. That couldn’t make any difference, Joe.” - -“It would have made a big difference with some fellows, but Matt King’s -of a different calibre.” - -“That’s what pards are for, Joe,” whispered Matt as he let go his -chum’s hand, “to stand by each other.” - -“Like you hung to me,” returned the cowboy, “and not the way I stood by -you. Well, I’ve had my lesson, and we’ll let it go at that. _Adios!_” - -Matt turned and left the ward, and the hospital. There were a lot of -people in New York, but it seemed like a mighty lonesome place now that -McGlory was laid up for repairs. - -The colonel, being a wise man, considered it good policy to get away -from New York, and head for his favorite stamping grounds in the -Southwest, for neither Matt nor Joe ever saw him again. - -When Joe got well Matt had found something in his favorite line of -motors to engage their attention, and with such a team of hustlers to -drive things, the business could not be anything but a success. - -THE END. - -The next number (364) will contain “Pluck Beats Luck; or, Tom Talbot’s -Trials and Triumphs.” By John L. Douglas. - - * * * * * - -BRAVE AND BOLD WEEKLY - -NEW YORK, December 4, 1909. - -TERMS TO BRAVE AND BOLD WEEKLY 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.= - - - - -THE MISSING BOATS. - - -Reflecting the hues of the sunset sky lay Lake Menatee like a huge -mirror. - -Not a ripple stirred its placid surface. - -The fading sunlight lent to its crystal depths the silver of its dying -glory. - -While along its shores the forest like an over-reaching shield -outstretched its giant arms to cast weird, fantastic figures first on -the white beach, and then out, out over the transparent bosom of the -waters, going farther, faster and faster, deeper and darker, until the -veil of twilight concealed the beautiful scene. - -In the background the rugged Adirondacks kept watch and ward over the -treasures below, and on their seamed and time-scarred forehead lingered -the touch of sunlight long after the shadows of gloom had robbed Lake -Menatee of its beauty. - -Not a living creature was to be seen to give life to the solitude of -nature. - -Three boats drawn up on the white sand lay side by side, or at least -within a few feet of each other. - -They were merely common, flat-bottom rowboats. - -There was nothing remarkable about them. - -The water may have reached to the stern of one, but to not more than -barely touch it. - -Still a close observer might have seen it move, slightly it is true, -but yet a movement perceptible. - -Gradually it neared the water’s edge, moved by an unseen power. - -So slowly did it move that fully an hour must have passed before it had -gained a foot. - -Then the wind, which had died down at sunset, began to sweep across the -lake. - -Gently, at first, it stirred the water’s tranquil surface, as if -fearful of disturbing its repose. - -Anon it grew stronger. - -From the mountains it mustered its powers. - -The sleeping waters were awakened. - -In angry waves they beat the shores. - -The rising tide lent its aid to the mysterious force urging the boat -into its embrace. - -Thus the boat was carried more rapidly away, and yet in the next two -hours’ time scarcely three feet was added to the space gone over. - -It must have been past midnight, when, with a last quivering shock--a -dying struggle, it seemed--and the boat swung clear from the sand. - -A minute later it floated slowly away. - -At this moment a crash in the thick bushes, growing a few rods from the -shore, broke the calm and peaceful stillness of the night. - -An instant later and the form of a man uprose from the gloom of his -covert. - -The moon was just peeping above the Adirondacks’ dark crest, and it was -light enough in the forest for one to have seen that the man was past -the prime of life, though his stalwart form had borne the burden of -years without losing its erectness. - -He was somewhat roughly clad, and his long hair and flowing beard were -unkempt. His eyes flashed brightly, but a puzzled look rested on his -sun-bronzed face. His words, that fell involuntarily from his lips, -furnished the key to his thoughts. - -“Waal, I hev got to believe it now. But if that don’t beat all nater, -then my name an’t Jarius Bede. See the thing swim along, and there an’t -been a living creetur near it since long afore sundown! I can swear to -that, for I an’t let my eye off on’t in all that time. It is queer.” - -As he finished his soliloquy the speaker went down to the shore, but he -did not step upon the sandy beach. - -“I won’t do that,” he muttered, “for like as not I should find myself -in the midst of that pond afore I could say Bob Bungles.” - -There was nothing to explain the mystery he had witnessed. The other -boats had not moved. - -“Waal, waal. I’ll trundle off hum,” concluded the mystified Jarius -Bede; “but as long as I stand up I know I shall never see the beat of -that!” - -Throwing his gun over his shoulder, for he was armed with a long, -single-barreled old queen’s arm that had evidently seen its share of -service, he left the place with long, loping strides, in the direction -of home. - -Ever and anon he glanced uneasily back, as if expecting that he was to -be followed by some mysterious foe. - -“Makes a feller feel queer. Hello! the boys are looking for me, I bet. -I’m glad to see that light ennyway.” - -A light was indeed visible in one of the valleys, and after ten -minutes’ walk he came to a rude house, or cabin, around which could be -seen a few acres of cultivated ground. - -It was the house of one of the few settlers who had located in that -wild, out-of-the-way region. - -Entering without knocking, half a dozen persons sprang to their feet to -greet him. - -This family consisted of Jabez Bede, brother to Jarius, his wife, three -strapping sons, and a buxom daughter of eighteen. - -“Why, it’s only ’Rius!” exclaimed Dame Bede, with a look of relief, as -if she had feared some danger. - -“But where have you been all night, Jarius?” cried Jabez. “We were -gettin’ a-worrited ’bout yer.” - -“Jabez, I hev made a diskivery!” - -“What?” chorused the listeners in a breath. - -“I told yer I shouldn’t kem back till I had l’arnt sumthin’, and I -an’t, that, sure.” - -“It is about Ralph, I know it is!” exclaimed Mary Bede, springing to -his side with a glad look on her fair countenance. “What have you -learned, uncle? Tell me, quick.” - -“I can prove that he didn’t steal the boat,” was the triumphant reply. - -“I knew that he didn’t. But tell us what you have learned.” - -“Waal, waal, it’s cur’us, but it’s true. You know that the three boats -were left down on the shore as usual. Waal, I hev been watchin’ them -ever since an hour afore sundrop.” - -“Why, Jarius Bede, and we here a-waitin’ and a-worritin’ ’bout yer.” - -“Waal, it’s worth the time, I can tell yer.” - -While Jarius Bede is telling what he has witnessed we would say that -considerable excitement had been occasioned among the few settlers in -that vicinity by the frequent disappearance of boats from the shores -of the lake. No one could tell where they had gone, but they were as -effectually lost as if the water had swallowed them up. - -Finally, Mary Bede’s lover, Ralph Horn, was accused of stealing, or -destroying them, which amounted to the same thing, so long as they were -irretrievably lost. - -We can understand now something of the eagerness with which she -listened to Jarius’ story. When he had finished all were agape with -wonder. - -“Waal, I never!” exclaimed Jabez. “Who’d a-thought it?” - -“And they will believe Ralph now?” asked Mary anxiously. - -“They can’t help it, only we have got to prove it to them.” - -“Yes, yes,” said her father. “How’ll we do that, ’Rius? It’s an orful -story to believe.” - -“Let them see fer theirselves. Guess if they hed been with me they’d -a-thought somethin’ ’sides Ralph Horn was ’round movin’ that boat. But -I must catch a wink of sleep now. In the mornin’ we’ll all go down and -clear up the mystery.” - -A few minutes later the light was extinguished, and the Bede family -were in slumberland, though there may be a doubt in regard to one -member. But we won’t call any names. - -They were all astir early the next morning, and immediately after -breakfast Jarius spread the news of his discovery. - -It required no urging to get half a dozen to accompany him to the lake, -besides the three Bede boys. - -To the surprise even of Jarius, the boat he had seen leave the shore so -mysteriously the night before was nowhere to be seen either upon the -lake or on the shores. - -The other two were just as they had been left. - -“Let’s put one of them jest where the runaway was and then watch it.” - -The idea was acted upon, and the entire party withdrew into the cover -of the growth to await the result. - -A long, tedious watch followed, but to the disappointment of all, as -well as the chagrin of Jarius, the boat remained as motionless as a -rock. Not a first move was noticed. - -“Wait a leetle longer,” whispered the puzzled Jarius; “I thought I seed -it wink jest a bit then.” - -Half an hour passed, and still the object of their vain watch had not -been seen to stir. - -“It’s cur’us,” muttered the leader; “but that other took an orful long -time to start. Why I was here nigh ’bout six hours all told.” - -“Mebbe it has to be night for it to move,” suggested one. - -Be that the case or not, they watched until noon, when they abandoned -the fruitless task, and the mystery of the missing boats was more -unfathomable than ever. - -Some vented their disappointment upon Jarius Bede, and others were -silent, not knowing what to say. - -Jarius was completely dumfounded, and well he might be. - -“Tan’t any use to watch longer,” growled one. “We’ve been a set of -fools. The idea of a boat’s moving! Jarius is mad, and we are fools. -Come, we shall be the laughing-stock of all who hear of it. I’ll bet my -gun Jarius got us down here on purpose for some game. If I thought he -had----” and a latent look shone in his flashing eyes. - -Jarius did not reply. He had enough to think of besides. Dropping upon -his knees, he looked the boat over and over, and around it. He moved -it, but it lay a dead weight upon the earth. - -“It’s queer,” he muttered. “I can swear to what I saw with my own eyes, -but I don’t understand it.” - -He had regained his feet, and was about to leave the place, when -suddenly something seemed to catch his attention and hold it. - -Pointing to the edge of the water a moment later, he exclaimed: - -“Look there, boys! See that sand move! There’s something under it! I--I -have diskivered the mystery!” - -Seizing one of the boat’s paddles, Jarius quickly cleared away the sand -where he had seen it move, when a large turtle was disclosed to their -gaze. - -Upon further search another was found buried deeper than its mate. - -“Waal, waal, it’s plain as daylight now. They were under that boat and -moved it! T’others were moved in the same way. But we didn’t get this -one over the critters.” - -“Who’d a-thought!” ejaculated his brother, while the others were -speechless with amazement. - -“But where do they go to?” asked one, at last. - -“I’ll tell yer!” cried Jarius, as a new idea suddenly entered his head; -“they drift down to the outlet and into Mad River. You know an empty -boat would fare hard there; and we an’t never looked there for them.” - -Mad River found its way through a narrow, rocky defile where few had -ever penetrated, but an exploration into the wild region was rewarded -by discovering the wrecks of two boats. Though the others were never -found their disappearance was no longer a mystery. - -Of course, Ralph Horn was cleared of all suspicion in the affair, and -that fall there was a happy wedding at the Bede farm. We need not tell -who the bride was, and we can’t tell of “the years of happiness that -followed,” as story-tellers are wont to say, for it was only last week -the marriage vows were spoken. - - - - -ESKIMOS TAKE TO REINDEERS. - - -A letter from Alaska in the New York _Sun_ recently has the following -interesting facts: - -Of the twenty thousand reindeer under government supervision in Alaska -about two thousand are above the Arctic Circle where the climate is -much more severe than in their old feeding grounds in Siberia, from -which they were carried by the United States revenue cutters some years -ago. The reports of the local superintendents of reindeer herds will be -forwarded in this, the second mail to leave the Arctic this year. These -reports will show a very small increase in the herds. - -The mortality among the fawns this last year was very great, owing to -the blizzards which swept over the tundras in April and May when the -fawning season was on. Newly born fawns, unable to stand up in the -blinding storms and help themselves to nourishment, froze to death by -hundreds within ten minutes after birth. Wolves and half-wolf dogs also -killed many in some of the herds. - -At present the herds are kept out on the open tundra near the sea, -where there is no protection from the cutting blasts. District -Superintendent A. N. Evans has arranged to have the deer taken inland -next spring at least as far as the foothills, where the peculiar white -moss on which the creatures feed is abundant, and where there is ample -protection from the winds. It is hoped that this will save the fawns -and prevent the heavy loss of the present year being repeated. - -An encouraging feature of the work here, far from markets and utterly -shut out from any considerable contact with white men, is the fact -that the native is slowly but certainly coming to recognize the great -possibilities of the reindeer industry. While every effort has been -made to give as many natives as possible an interest in the herds by -direct ownership of some of the deer, the owners of deer are still a -very small minority. - -So valuable has a government apprenticeship come to be considered that -it has often been the deciding factor in determining the outcome of the -dusky love affairs. “When you get some reindeer I will be your wife,” -says the Innuit maiden with the tattooed chin. These wise young ladies -know that the ownership of deer carries with it as a usual thing three -or four years of first-class government rations and piles of cloth and -clothing which Uncle Sam throws about in the Arctic with a generous -hand. So among the natives there is developing a sort of reindeer -aristocracy quite at variance with the old democratic, communistic -ideas of the others who hold no property worth while, and who have not -been favored by the government. - -As only a limited number can be appointed apprentices every year, -and thus draw government rations, many are now trying to get deer -from other natives without waiting for government favors. In this few -have succeeded, for the owners, recognizing their great value, are -running the price of female reindeer skyward. With the destruction of -the country’s game and the rising standard of life among the natives -the population will come more and more to depend upon the reindeer -industry, which will doubtless develop rapidly. - -Living in a savage state of society with no other domestic animal than -the half-tamed malamoot dog, the process of teaching the Eskimo how -to take care of deer has been slow. Severe measures have had to be -resorted to in many cases to compel the natives to keep their dogs from -the deer camp. - -Also it has been found difficult to prevent those who have no deer from -shooting the unfortunate animals that stray away from the herd. These -are considered legitimate prey and until recently were hunted the same -as caribou. This year, however, a great many of these stray deer have -been picked up and put back into the herds which they had deserted. - -It has thus been found necessary to put the native herder through -a course of training. Those who get their deer directly from the -government serve an apprenticeship of four years. They are bound by a -written contract, the strict terms of which they cannot violate without -peril of losing their annual allotment of reindeer and suffering -discharge from the service. - -During the first three years of their apprenticeship they receive in -addition to the reindeer a generous supply of food free of charge. -Cloth, clothing, traps, guns, and ammunition are also given to the -fortunate apprentice, who soon becomes a person of consequence in the -community. For these governmental favors the apprentice is supposed to -take care of his own deer and to assist in caring for the government -deer. - -The work of the herder in a reindeer camp is not arduous, and seems to -be especially attractive to the carefree native. Ordinarily the deer -have a way of taking care of themselves that suits the native. Every -day an apprentice drives the herd to some feeding ground, where they -feed while the herder saunters about or hunts ptarmigan or other game -near at hand. - -If the moss is poor the deer may feed for six hours, at the end of -which time they are driven back to the vicinity of the camp and allowed -to remain there until the next feeding time, while the ease-loving -servants of the government sleep or whittle fine old ivory into -curios to be traded off on the ships for the tobacco which Uncle Sam -overlooked in ordering the shiploads of supplies which annually find -their way to the reindeer camps of Alaska. - -True, there is other work to be done. Every spring along comes fawning -season, and the deer herders have to stand watch day and night by -turns. Now and then the long, wild note of the Arctic wolf is heard -through the midwinter gloom and a constant watch must be kept by -well-armed men. The repeating rifle made wolves so scarce, however, -that dogs are by far the greatest source of danger. - -It seems utterly impossible to train the malamoot dog to herd deer. At -sight of a deer the tamest malamoot becomes as uncontrollable as though -he had never known human restraint and were once more a plain wolf. - -Besides guarding the herd occasionally from these dangers, there are -sled deer to be trained, and every June there is a kind of round-up, -when the young fawns are marked, along with all deer that have changed -owners during the year. In the ear of each government deer a little -aluminum button is riveted securely, but all private owners and herders -have a mark which must be registered with the local superintendent and -also at Washington. This mark is made by cutting the ear. - -So far the native in the Far North has made almost no use of the -wonderfully rich milk of the reindeer. This milk, which is as white -as the Arctic snows, is at least ninety per cent. cream. In fact, it -is practically all a rich, snow-white, sugary cream. It is the most -nourishing milk in the world, but the government has so far supplied -the camps with condensed milk, and the herders have preferred opening -cans to milking deer. - -Unlike the Laplander, the Eskimo does not make a pet of his favorite -deer. When he wants to milk her she is lassoed and thrown down. When -her legs are carefully tied with walrus skin strings and her horns are -safely held by some stout friend, the process of milking begins. When -the last drop is extracted the highly indignant animal is unlashed and -allowed to get up and go about her business. - -Sometimes a horn is knocked off or a leg broken before the struggling -reindeer understands that she is to be milked and not branded or -butchered. Under the circumstances the dairying feature of Arctic life -is not very prominent, and the milkmaid’s song is not welcomed by the -wise little animals that have undergone the torture of one milking. - - * * * * * - -☛LATEST ISSUES☚ - -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.= - -662--A Tragedy of the Bowery; or, Nick Carter and Ida at Coney Island. - -663--Four Scraps of Paper; or, Nick Carter’s Coney Island Search. - -664--The Secret of the Mine; or, Nick Carter’s Coney Island Mystery. - -665--The Dead Man in the Car; or, Nick Carter’s Hair Line Clue. - -666--Nick Carter’s Master Struggle; or, The Battle With the Man-monkey. - -667--The Airshaft Spectre; or, Nick Carter’s Shrewd Surmise. - -668--The Broken Latch; or, Nick Carter’s Single Clue. - -669--Nick Carter’s Sudden Peril; or, The Riddle of the Rutgers Street -House. - -670--The Man With the Missing Thumb; or, Nick Carter’s Chance Discovery. - -671--Feltman, the “Fence”; or, Nick Carter and the Hester Street Feud. - -672--A Night with Nick Carter; or, The Kid-gloved Case. - -673--In the Nick of Time; or, Carter Finishes the Feltman Affair. - -674--The Dictator’s Treasure; or, Nick Carter Nips the Honduran -Plotters. - -675--Pieces of Eight; or, Nick Carter Solves a Strange Enigma. - - * * * * * - -DIAMOND DICK WEEKLY - -The heroes of the stories published in this weekly are dear to the -hearts of 60,000 boys. Diamond Dick is a splendid Western character. -=High art colored covers. Thirty-two big pages. Price, 5 cents.= - -676--Diamond Dick’s Great Round-up; or, The End of the Reign of Terror. - -677--Diamond Dick’s Buccaneer Boy; or, The Ship of the Burning Sands. - -678--Diamond Dick’s Encouragement; or, A Runaway Boy at the Haunted -Ranch. - -679--Diamond Dick’s Shadow Dance; or, The Hunting of Grisly White. - -680--Diamond Dick in Arizona; or, The Mystery of the Missing President. - -681--Diamond Dick’s Power; or, The Affair on the Road from Flagstaff. - -682--Diamond Dick Solves a Mystery; or, On the Trail of Job. - -683--Diamond Dick in the Colorado Cañon; or, Frank’s Sight of Another -World. - -684--Diamond Dick on the Farm; or, The Mission of the Strangers. - -685--Diamond Dick and the Dummy Deacon; or, On a Silent Trail. - -686--Diamond Dick’s Chase; or, On the Track of Charlie. - - * * * * * - -BRAVE AND BOLD WEEKLY - -All kinds of stories that boys like. The biggest and best nickel’s -worth ever offered. =High art colored covers. Thirty-two big pages. -Price, 5 cents.= - -352--Right on Top; or, Yankee to the Backbone. By Cornelius Shea. - -353--A Clue from Nowhere; or, On a Phantom Trail. By Harrie Irving -Hancock. - -354--Never Give Up; or, Harry Holton’s Resolve. By John L. Douglas. - -355--Comrades Under Castro; or, Young Engineers in Venezuela. By Victor -St. Clair. - -356--The Silent City; or, Strange Adventures in an Unknown Country. By -Fred Thorpe. - -357--Gypsy Joe; or, The Young Nomad’s Triumph. By John De Morgan. - -358--From Rocks to Riches; or, The Copper Coterie. By John L. Douglas. - -359--Diplomat Dave; or, A Young Reporter on the Firing Line. By Harrie -Irving Hancock. - -360--Yankee Grit; or, With Stanley in “Darkest Africa.” By Harrie -Irving Hancock. - -361--The Tiger’s Claws; or, Out with the Mad Mullah. By Weldon J. Cobb. - -362--A Taxicab Tangle; or, The Mission of the Motor Boys. By Stanley R. -Matthews. - -363--A Hoodoo Machine; or, The Motor Boys’ Runabout No. 1313. By the -author of “A Taxicab Tangle.” - -_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, “ .............................. - - _Name_............................ - - _Street_.......................... - - _City_......................._State_.............. - - * * * * * - -BRAVE AND BOLD WEEKLY - -ISSUED EVERY WEDNESDAY BEAUTIFUL COLORED COVERS - -If the boys of ten or fifteen years ago could have secured such -thoroughly good adventure stories, of such great length, at five cents -per copy, the =Brave and Bold Weekly=, had it been published then, -would have had ten times its present large circulation. You see, in -those days, stories of the quality of those now published in the =Brave -and Bold Weekly= were bound in cloth covers or else published little by -little in boys’ serial papers, under which circumstances each story was -paid for at the rate of one dollar or more. - -Now we give the boys of America the opportunity of getting the same -stories and better ones for five cents. Do you not think it is a rare -bargain? Just buy any one of the titles listed below and read it; you -will not be without =Brave and Bold= afterward. Each story is complete -in itself and has no connection whatever with any story that was -published either before or after it. - -We give herewith a list of all of the back numbers in print. You can -have your newsdealer order them or they will be sent direct by the -publishers to any address upon receipt of the price in money or postage -stamps. - -50--Labor’s Young Champion. - -53--The Crimson Cross. - -56--The Boat Club. - -62--All Aboard. - -65--Slow and Sure. - -66--Little by Little. - -67--Beyond the Frozen Seas. - -69--Saved from the Gallows. - -70--Checkmated by a Cadet. - -73--Seared With Iron. - -74--The Deuce and the King of Diamonds. - -75--Now or Never. - -76--Blue-Blooded Ben. - -77--Checkered Trails. - -78--Figures and Faith. - -79--The Trevalyn Bank Puzzle. - -80--The Athlete of Rossville. - -81--Try Again. - -82--The Mysteries of Asia. - -83--The Frozen Head. - -84--Dick Danforth’s Death Charm. - -85--Burt Allen’s Trial. - -89--The Key to the Cipher. - -90--Through Thick and Thin. - -91--In Russia’s Power. - -92--Jonah Mudd, the Mascot of Hoodooville. - -96--The Fortunes of a Foundling. - -97--The Hunt for the Talisman. - -98--Mystic Island. - -99--Capt. Startle. - -100--Julius, the Street Boy. - -101--Shanghaied. - -102--Luke Jepson’s Treachery. - -103--Tangled Trails. - -106--Fred Desmond’s Mission. - -107--Tom Pinkney’s Fortune. - -108--Detective Clinket’s Investigations. - -109--In the Depths of the Dark Continent. - -110--Barr, the Detective. - -111--A Bandit of Costa Rica. - -112--Dacy Dearborn’s Difficulties. - -113--Ben Folsom’s Courage. - -114--Daring Dick Goodloe’s Apprenticeship. - -115--Bowery Bill, the Wharf Rat. - -117--Col. Mysteria. - -118--Electric Bob’s Sea Cat. - -119--The Great Water Mystery. - -120--The Electric Train in the Enchanted Valley. - -122--Lester Orton’s Legacy. - -123--The Luck of a Four-Leaf Clover. - -124--Dandy Rex. - -125--The Mad Hermit of the Swamps. - -126--Fred Morden’s Rich Reward. - -127--In the Wonderful Land of Hez. - -128--Stonia Stedman’s Triumph. - -129--The Gypsy’s Legacy. - -130--The Rival Nines of Bayport. - -131--The Sword Hunters. - -132--Nimble Dick, the Circus Prince. - -134--Dick Darrel’s Vow. - -135--The Rival Reporters. - -136--Nick o’ the Night. - -137--The Tiger Tamer. - -138--Jack Kenneth at Oxford. - -139--The Young Fire Laddie. - -140--Dick Oakley’s Adventures. - -141--The Boy Athlete. - -142--Lance and Lasso. - -143--New England Nick. - -144--Air-Line Luke. - -145--Marmaduke, the Mustanger. - -146--The Young Desert Rovers. - -147--At Trigger Bar. - -148--Teddy, from Taos. - -149--Jigger and Ralph. - -150--Milo, the Animal King. - -151--Over Many Seas. - -152--Messenger Max, Detective. - -153--Limerick Larry. - -154--Happy Hans. - -155--Colorado, the Half-Breed. - -156--The Black Rider. - -157--Two Chums. - -158--Bantam Bob. - -159--“That Boy, Checkers.” - -160--Bound Boy Frank. - -161--The Brazos Boy. - -162--Battery Bob. - -163--Business Bob. - -164--An Army Post Mystery. - -165--The Lost Captain. - -166--Never Say Die. - -167--Nature’s Gentleman. - -168--The African Trail. - -169--The Border Scouts. - -170--Secret Service Sam. - -171--Double-bar Ranch. - -172--Under Many Suns. - -173--Moonlight Morgan. - -174--The Girl Rancher. - -175--The Panther Tamer. - -176--On Terror Island. - -177--At the Double X Ranch. - -179--Warbling William. - -180--Engine No. 13. - -181--The Lost Chief. - -182--South-paw Steve. - -183--The Man of Fire. - -184--On Sampan and Junk. - -185--Dick Hardy’s School Scrapes. - -186--Cowboy Steve. - -187--Chip Conway’s White Clue. - -188--Tracked Across Europe. - -189--Cool Colorado. - -190--Captain Mystery. - -191--Silver Sallie. - -192--The Ranch Raiders. - -193--A Baptism of Fire. - -194--The Border Nomad. - -195--Mark Mallory’s Struggle. - -196--A Strange Clue. - -197--Ranch Rob. - -198--The Electric Wizard. - -199--Bob, the Shadow. - -200--Young Giants of the Gridiron. - -201--Dick Ellis, the Nighthawk Reporter. - -202--Pete, the Breaker Boy. - -203--Young Maverick, the Boy from Nowhere. - -204--Tom, the Mystery Boy. - -205--Footlight Phil. - -206--The Sky Smugglers. - -207--Bart Benner’s Mine. - -208--The Young Ranchman. - -209--Bart Benner’s Cowboy Days. - -210--Gordon Keith in Java. - -211--Ned Hawley’s Fortune. - -212--Under False Colors. - -213--Bags, the Boy Detective. - -214--On the Pampas. - -215--The Crimson Clue. - -216--At the Red Horse. - -217--Rifle and Rod. - -218--Pards. - -219--Afloat with a Circus. - -220--Wide Awake. - -221--The Boy Caribou Hunters. - -222--Westward Ho. - -223--Mark Graham. - -225--“O. K.” - -226--Marooned in the Ice. - -227--The Young Filibuster. - -228--Jack Leonard, Catcher. - -229--Cadet Clyde Connor. - -230--The Mark of a Thumb. - -231--Set Adrift. - -232--In the Land of the Slave Hunters. - -233--The Boy in Black. - -234--A Wonder Worker. - -235--The Boys of the Mountain Inn. - -236--To Unknown Lands. - -237--Jocko, the Talking Monkey. - -238--The Rival Nines. - -239--Engineer Bob. - -240--Among the Witch-doctors. - -241--Dashing Tom Bexar. - -242--Lion-hearted Jack. - -243--In Montana’s Wilds. - -244--Rivals of the Pines. - -245--Roving Dick, the Chauffeur. - -246--Cast Away in the Jungle. - -247--The Sky Pilots. - -248--A Toss-up for Luck. - -249--A Madman’s Secret. - -250--Lionel’s Pluck. - -251--The Red Wafer. - -252--The Rivals of Riverwood. - -253--Jolly Jack Jolly. - -254--A Jay from Maine. - -255--Hank, the Hustler. - -256--At War with Mars. - -257--Railroad Ralph. - -258--Gordon Keith, Magician. - -259--Lucky-stone Dick. - -260--“Git Up and Git.” - -261--Up-to-date. - -262--Gordon Keith’s Double. - -263--The Golden Harpoon. - -264--Barred Out. - -265--Bob Porter’s Schooldays. - -266--Gordon Keith, Whaler. - -267--Chums at Grandcourt. - -268--Partners Three. - -269--Dick Derby’s Double. - -270--Gordon Keith, Lumber-jack. - -271--Money to Spend. - -272--Always on Duty. - -273--Walt, the Wonder-Worker. - -274--Far Below the Equator. - -275--Pranks and Perils. - -276--Lost in the Ice. - -277--Simple Simon. - -278--Among the Arab Slave Raiders. - -279--The Phantom Boy. - -280--Round-the-World Boys. - -281--Nimble Jerry, the Young Athlete. - -282--Gordon Keith, Diver Detective. - -283--In the Woods. - -284--Track and Trestle. - -285--The Prince of Grit. - -286--The Road to Fez. - -287--Engineer Tom. - -288--Winning His Way. - -289--Life-line Larry. - -290--Dick Warren’s Rise. - -292--Two Tattered Heroes. - -293--A Slave for a Year. - -294--The Gilded Boy. - -295--Bicycle and Gun. - -296--Ahead of the Show. - -297--On the Wing. - -298--The Thumb-print Clue. - -299--Bootblack Bob. - -300--A Mascot of Hoodooville. - -301--Slam, Bang & Co. - -302--Frank Bolton’s Chase. - -303--In Unknown Worlds. - -304--Held for Ransom. - -305--Wilde & Woolley. - -306--The Young Horseman. - -307--Through the Air to Fame. - -308--The Double-faced Mystery. - -309--A Young West Pointer. - -310--Merle Merton’s Schooldays. - -311--Double-quick Dan. - -312--Louis Stanhope’s Success. - -313--Down-East Dave. - -314--The Young Marooners. - -315--Runaway and Rover. - -316--The House of Fear. - -317--Bert Chipley On Deck. - -318--Compound Interest. - -319--On His Mettle. - -320--The Tattooed Boy. - -321--Madcap Max, the Boy Adventurer. - -322--Always to the Front. - -323--Caught in a Trap. - -324--For Big Money. - -325--Muscles of Steel. - -326--Gordon Keith in Zululand. - -327--The Boys’ Revolt. - -328--The Mystic Isle. - -329--A Million a Minute. - -330--Gordon Keith Under African Skies. - -331--Two Chums Afloat. - -332--In the Path of Duty. - -333--A Bid for Fortune. - -334--A Battle with Fate. - -335--Three Brave Boys. - -336--Archie Atwood, Champion. - -337--Dick Stanhope Afloat. - -338--Working His Way Upward. - -339--The Fourteenth Boy. - -340--Among the Nomads. - -341--Bob, the Acrobat. - -342--Through the Earth. - -343--The Boy Chief. - -344--Smart Alec. - -345--Climbing Up. - -346--Comrades Three. - -347--A Young Snake-Charmer. - -348--Checked Through to Mars. - -349--Fighting the Cowards. - -350--The Mud-River Boys. - -351--Grit and Wit. - -352--Right on Top. - -353--A Clue from Nowhere. - -354--Never Give Up. - -355--Comrades Under Castro. - -356--The Silent City. - -357--Gypsy Joe. - -358--From Rocks to Riches. - -359--Diplomat Dave. - -360--Yankee Grit. - -361--The Tiger’s Claws. - -362--A Taxicab Tangle. - -363--A Hoodoo Machine. - -364--Pluck Beats Luck. - -365--Two Young Adventurers. - -366--The Roustabout Boys. - -=Price, Five Cents per Copy.= If you want any back numbers of our -weeklies and cannot procure them from your newsdealer, they can be -obtained direct from this office. Postage stamps taken the same as -money. - -=STREET & SMITH, PUBLISHERS, 79-89 SEVENTH AVE., NEW YORK CITY= - - * * * * * - -Transcriber’s Notes: - -Punctuation has been made consistent. - -Variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in -the original publication, except that obvious typographical errors have -been corrected. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Brave and Bold Weekly No. 363, A -Hoodoo Machine;, by Stanley R. 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