Motor boy

“ The boys who want to learn something from what they read, as well as to be interested by it, will never find another publication that will satisfy them so well as MOTOR STORIES. "Motor Matt" is not an impossible boy character. He is simply a youth who has had considerable training in a machine shop where motors of all kinds were repaired, and who is possessed of a genius for mechanics. ”

“ No, but the horrid little jeering boys, who run beside the car at their best speed when we're forging up perpendicular hills on our lowest. These are the creatures I would wipe out of existence with one fierce wish, if I had it in me. To think that they—they—should have the power to humiliate us. I don't get back my self-respect till we're on a level, or my joie de vivre until we're shooting downhill, and can hold our own with a forty horse-power motor, to say nothing of a one-horse, Italian village boy. ”

“ At last I am able to give you the third volume of “The Motor Boys Series,” a line of books relating the doings of several wide-awake lads on wheels, in and around their homes and in foreign lands.
The first volume of this series, called “The Motor Boys,” told how Ned, Bob and Jerry became the proud possessors of motor-cycles, and won several races of importance, including one which gave to them, something that they desired with all their hearts, a big automobile touring car. ”

“ American boys, rather than vying with one another in tennis or swimming vie with one another in the number of motor cars they own or sail-boats or saddle-horses, as the case may be. They would scorn the pony that is the English boy’s delight, but it is true that many young Americans at the tender age of twelve own their own motors, which they drive and discuss with the blasé air of men of the world. In like fashion the little girls, from the time they can toddle, are consumed with the idea of outdressing one another ”

“ When the boys enlisted these batteries were declared to be about to be “motorized,” but at present the motor power is being supplied by a particularly unresponsive set of French cart horses, whose daily care is the greatest trial of the boys’ lives. Last night we had a movie-show; one reel gave the story of a discontented boy on the farm—showing him at one moment disgustedly grooming Dobbin. For a full minute it seemed as if the roof of the hut was going to be lifted right off. ”

“ But the others were after him, the five cars bunched together, that of the motor boys a little behind the other four.
“We’ve got to catch him, Jerry,” whispered Bob.
“Easier said than done,” replied Jerry, as he shoved the gasolene lever over a trifle, and advanced the spark, thereby increasing the speed of the car. “Noddy’s got a powerful machine.”
“They should have had a handicap on this race,” said Tom Jennings, the young man whom the hotel clerk had asked to be a fourth passenger in the motor boys’ car, so that the conditions of the contest would be met. ”

“ A quick shift in a part of the slide had sent them head over heels into a gully, and then had thrown down on top of them this mixed mass.
For several seconds there was ominous silence, and an onlooker in a place of safety might reasonably have supposed it was all over with the Motor Boys.
But, as if in a daze, Jerry gradually found himself breathing. Then, though there was a strange sense of an oppressive weight, he managed to move and found that he was gradually freeing himself. ”

“ As he turned up a cross road, that would take them to Blairtown Ned, glancing up suddenly, cried out:
“Look out, Jerry! Where are you steering? You’re heading right for that other car!”
A big machine, coming from the opposite direction, and at high speed, was headed directly for the auto of the motor boys. But it was on the proper side of the highway, whereas Jerry was on the left.
“Look out!” Bob cried, springing to his feet. “We’re going to have a smash, sure!” He leaned forward to open the side door, as though he would leap out. ”

“ Down the hill thundered the fire engine, the man on the back step keeping the whistle going. Behind the steamer came the powerful automobile containing Ned, Bob and Jerry, and after them came a crowd of men and boys, while a car or two, not having the speed advantage of the motor boys’ vehicle, trailed after. ”

“ The three boys hastened their pace, and Jerry headed for one car, around which most of the rescuers were grouped.
“Here’s work for us, fellows!” he cried.
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“That’s right!” shouted a brakeman. “Get busy!”
The motor boys could see the havoc wrought by the wreck. The engine lay on its side, down a slight embankment, and one car—a combined mail and express coach—had followed. The other cars were on the track, with the exception of one, which had fallen on its side, and was partly smashed. ”

“ They rescue another boy in a wrecked motor-boat and take him to their home only to discover later that the stranger has lost his mind and cannot remember who he is or where he comes from. Adventures follow each other in rapid succession, and the Racer Boys finally solve the mystery in a manner that only our author, Mr. ”

“ Then, when the motor meter showed by the shortness of its red column that the engine was sufficiently cool, they started again. Tinny had not exaggerated the stiffness of the trail, and at times the Motor Boys were given a thrill as they climbed.
But Mallison was a careful and expert driver and there was no real trouble, though when they at last emerged on a level stretch steam was again coming from the radiator.
“But she’ll soon cool off now,” said the mine owner. “I can run down to my shack with the motor cut off,” and this he did. ”

“ No man showed himself, however, and the car flung past the wrecked gates and bore away northward.
“Miles and Barney are welcome to catch us—if they can,” exulted McGlory, who was riding in front with Matt.
The wind of the motor boys’ flight whistled and sang in their ears, and the engine continued to hum merrily and steadily. There was a good deal of rattling, for the mudguards and footboards were loose, but the motor itself was working as well as the day it had come from the factory.
“Sanders must have gone with Tibbits and Dimmock,” remarked Matt. ”

“ It could not be expected that such lads as the motor boys could be kept from this field of activity, and with the assistance of an old balloonist of experience, Rupert Glassford, Bob, Ned and Jerry built a motorship. ”

“ Certainly the man at the side of the road, standing in the full glare of an arc electric light, ought to have heard the rattle of the runaway engine, even if he did not see it, though the place was well illuminated, and there was then no other vehicle in sight, save the automobile of the motor boys. There was something familiar about the odd figure, but neither Ned, Bob nor Jerry had time just then to look closely enough to make out who it was. ”

“ THE MOTOR BOYS ON THE BORDER
CHAPTER I
QUEER ACTIONS
“What’s the matter, Bob, can’t you crank an auto yet?”
“I sure can!” exclaimed a stout lad, who was bending over in front of a big car, laboriously grinding away at the starting handle.
“Then do it,” advised a tall youth at the wheel. “Turn it over good and hard.”
“Yes, go ahead,” put in a good-natured looking chap in one of the rear seats. “We don’t want to stay here all day, even if it is a nice place.”
“All—right—here—she—goes!” panted stout Bob Baker, as he again turned the crank. ”

“ There was a confused shouting from the spectators, and Bob could distinguish cheers for the red auto.
“We’ve just got to win!” he cried. “Win, Jerry! Win!”
Try as he did, by “nursing” the engine, Jerry could not gain an inch on Noddy’s car. The red machine was fifty feet behind the green one, both going at top speed. Only an accident, it seemed, could make the motor boys win.
As they swung into the last lap Ned cried:
“Noddy isn’t going to slow down for the turn!”
“Neither are we!” cried Jerry fiercely. “Quick boys! All of you get out on the inside step! Crouch down! ”

“ My, how the mud and water splashes! And, say! Good land! Who do you suppose is in the car?”
“The President?” answered Jerry, sozzling his face in the water.
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“It’s Noddy Nixon, Jack Pender and Bill Berry!”
“No!”
“Yes, it is!”
The others crowded to the windows to look. Sure enough, there were the three enemies of the Motor Boys. They ran their machine up under the shed where stood the red auto, and then Ned lost sight of them.
“Well, it’s a free country,” observed Nestor. “It looks as if they were following you, but there’s no law to prevent it. ”

“ This was decided on, and soon, in the care of the physician, the bully was taken away. He had not recovered sufficiently to thank his rescuers, but the motor boys felt that the less they had to do with Noddy the better for them. They had done their duty, and were content to let it go at that.
“Think we can go up against the current?” asked Ned of Jerry.
“I’m not going to try it. The river will soon go down, for the water in the mill pond will all be out by night. We’ll just leave our boat tied up here. No use taking any chances on hitting a floating log, and stoving a hole in the Dartaway. ”

“ To those, however, who take up this volume without having previously read the ones that go before, I take pleasure in presenting my friends, Jerry, Ned and Bob.
They are booked for quite a long trip, this time; across the continent to the Pacific coast, where they are destined to have some stirring adventures, searching for a mysterious derelict.
Those of you who know the Motor Boys from their past performances know that they will meet emergencies in the right spirit, and that they will do their level best to accomplish what they set out to do. ”

“ The motor boys prepared to continue on their trip. Just as Jerry was adjusting the engine in readiness to start off, a man came running down the bank to the river.
“Hi; you boys!” he called.
“Well, what is it; more fire?” asked Ned.
“No, but Mr. Dudley wants to know if you won’t come up and stay to supper. He wants to thank you, and he’s asked the other fire department also.”
“The other fire department, eh?” remarked Jerry in a low voice. “They must count us as one. Shall we go up, boys?”
“If you leave it to me I say yes every time,” put in Bob. ”

“ Very often it happens that when we think we are done with a thing we have reckoned without taking account of a perverse fate. This was the case with the motor boys with reference to Tsan Ti and the Eye of Buddha.
While they were climbing the slope from the railroad station to their hotel, glad of the prospect of securing a little much-needed rest, only a few chance remarks by McGlory prevented them from having an encounter with Grattan, Pardo, and Bunce, who were lurking beside the walk. ”

“ The arrival of the lads and the mysterious craft had created no little astonishment in the town, and such a crowd assembled in and about the shed that the motor boys were forced to put up ropes, and hire a man to keep back the throng, so they would have room to work. ”

“ Jerry and his chums, as they looked through the hay, saw Dolt Haven rouse up from the rear after Jack had shaken him.
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“What’s matter?” mumbled Dolt sleepily. Evidently he had been up most of the night before.
“Wake up, Haven, and give Jack a hand at putting on the chains,” snapped out Noddy. “It’s raining cats and dogs and the roads will be a sea of mud soon. It’ll be as bad for the Motor Boys as for us, all the same. Jinks! I hope we can beat them at this game. They didn’t get away as they thought they did, though. I wonder where they are now?” ”

“ Rough was the trail followed by the Motor Boys and Mallison; not rough because of the landslide, for the effects of that had not reached thus far, but naturally rough because it was in a wild and mountainous region and little traveled.
“Good thing we didn’t try to bring your new auto here, Tinny,” remarked Jerry, as the horses scrambled over some perilous footing. “You’d have two broken axles, I’m thinking.”
“Very likely. Even an ore wagon wouldn’t be safe here. A horse or a mule is all that can be used. Noddy must have known what was ahead of him when he swapped his wagon for horses.” ”

“ It’s quite important.”
“Those motor boys are up to some new scheme, I’ll bet a lemon,” remarked Frank as he strolled on. “They’re always goin’ off somewhere, or havin’ a good time. I wish I was in their crowd.”
Which is what a number of other boys, not only of Cresville, but of other places, have also wished.
Jerry hurried on, but he did not catch sight of [88] either of his chums. He proceeded to Ned Slade’s house, and there, on the big front porch, comfortably swinging in hammocks, were the two lads.
“Well, I must say you’re taking it easy,” observed Jerry.
“Sure. Why not?” asked Bob. ”

“ They had had trouble enough on account of the Japanese while coming through the strait, and Matt thought that he and his friends were entitled to a respite, so far as the nefarious plots of the fanatical young Japs were concerned. [A]
[A] The adventures of the motor boys, in and around Magellan Strait, were set forth in No. 19 of the Motor Stories, entitled, "Motor Matt's Defiance; or, Around the Horn."
It was the responsibility for the safety of the Grampus that rested so heavily on the young motorist's mind. ”

“ Slade, the latter was announcing to his son Ned, that he could have the much-wanted machine. If there were two happier boys than Ned and Bob in Cresville that night, no one knew where to find them.
“We’ll have lots of sport,” said Bob. “I know of a dozen trips we can take, that would be too long for a bicycle.”
Three days later the two motor-cycles came, and the chums could hardly wait to unpack them. Bob’s and Ned’s machines were just like Jerry’s except in a few minor points. ”