“what is it? have we arrived?” cried professor snodgrass, who had been dozing on the rear seat and had been jolted awake.
“we hit something, didn’t we?” asked bill cromley.
“i’ll say we did!” ruefully murmured ned, rubbing his head that had come in contact with one of the upright supports of the windshield.
by this time the three boys were out in the rain, standing on the muddy road and looking at the tree they had struck. it lay almost squarely across the highway—a dead sapling which had broken in two at the crash of the front wheels of the car.
“um! not as bad as i thought,” murmured jerry when, in the light of a powerful searchlight he carried, he had seen that neither front wheel was damaged. “not even a puncture.”
“the tree was rotten, or it might have been worse,” said bob.
ned had gone forward to walk around the[75] obstruction and what he discovered caused him to exclaim:
“that tree was brought here and left across the road on purpose. some one tried to wreck us!”
“then it was nixon’s crowd!” asserted bob. “they knew we would have to come this way to get to newton, and they put this tree here. there’s where they dragged it from!” he added.
he pointed to a place alongside the highway from which, it was evident, the dead sapling had been brought.
“a dirty trick!” murmured bill cromley. “wait until i get my hands on that noddy nixon!”
“he’s far enough off by now,” said jerry. “well, fellows, if we can get the tree out of the way we can go on, i guess. we don’t seem to be damaged any.”
a hasty inspection of the car showed this to be true, and the boys, with the help of the old miner, soon pulled the two pieces of tree out of the way and well to one side, where no other motorist would be put in danger.
the boys pulled the two pieces of tree out of the way.
all this time the professor sat in comfort in the rear of the car, going over some of his notebooks in the light of a small lamp which was fastened to the back of the front seat. the scientist had turned it on.
[76]
the boys, knowing his ways, did not ask him to help them, and he was so deeply interested in the bugs he had caught in the hay that he paid little attention to what was going on around him.
once more, through the storm and darkness, the motor boys proceeded and succeeded without further incident in reaching newton. there they went to a hotel for the night. they soon discovered that noddy and his fellow conspirators were not at this place, and they surmised that their enemies had gone on.
somewhat to the surprise of the boys, the morning broke clear. though the storm kept up all night, the rain ceased about sunrise. with cheerful spirits the travelers filed into the dining room, led, as was usually the case, by the substantial bob baker.
“let’s sit over there,” he suggested, pointing to a table near which hovered a rather pretty waitress, albeit she was very stout.
“what’s the idea? do you know her?” asked ned, in a low voice.
“no. but she looks good-natured,” chunky replied. “she won’t mind getting me a couple of extra plates of wheat cakes and she’ll give me plenty of maple syrup.”
“oh, then there’s a method in your madness,” laughed jerry. “all right, old scout, go to it.”
the fat but pretty and jolly waitress welcomed[77] them to her table, and she seemed to give special attention to bob, somewhat to the latter’s embarrassment.
professor snodgrass caused a little disturbance when, after looking at the bill of fare, he asked the girl:
“do you have any lymexylon navale?”
“er—wha—what’s that, sir?” she asked, reaching for the bill of fare.
“i say have you any lymexylon navale out here?”
“i—i don’t believe we have any for breakfast this morning, sir. but i’ll ask in the kitchen.”
“dear me, it isn’t anything to eat!” exclaimed the professor, with a laugh. “i was referring to the serricorn beetle, which is allied to the elaterid? and the buprestid?. it is called lymexylon navale because of the damage its grubs caused in the swedish dockyards at the time of linn?us. it is very destructive to oak trees, and as i noticed some oak trees in front of the hotel, i thought you might have seen some of the lymexylon navale bugs.”
“no—no, sir,” and the girl moved away from the little scientist. “but we have some navel oranges, if that’s what you mean.”
“oh, no, my dear! never mind! bring me some soft-boiled eggs!”
with a look of relief on her face at having[78] received an order which she could understand, the girl hastened toward the kitchen, followed by the smiles of the boys.
“i’ll say you picked a good one, chunky,” remarked jerry, after a most bounteous breakfast. “best little waitress we ever struck.”
“i’m coming here again on our way back,” bob said. “she gave me more maple syrup than i ever had with cakes before.”
“yes, and you’ve got a generous sample of it on your face now!” teased ned, as the fat lad made hasty use of his napkin.
they settled their bill at the hotel and were again on their way. inquiry gave them information about concrete roads where they could make good time and not be in danger of being mired because of the mud.
there was no trace of the nixon crowd, and for this the boys were glad, though jerry said no one could tell when the bully might bob up on their trail.
the plan of the motor boys was to proceed to albany, and then take the mohawk valley trail to buffalo. from there they would go to cleveland and so to chicago.
this program was followed, and aside from the usual incidents and accidents of travel—once getting a puncture and again getting on the wrong road—little of moment occurred until they[79] reached buffalo. there jerry found something wrong with the motor of his car, and they had to lay over a day until repairs could be made.
it was in buffalo that they again got a trace of noddy nixon. they stopped at the statler hotel and, as a special favor, professor snodgrass promised not to ask the waitresses or waiters about any strange specimens he might desire.
“it’s all right in the country hotels,” jerry said to the scientist, “but in a big city one they wouldn’t understand you.”
“i see, jerry,” was the answer. “but there’s no harm in my looking for bugs, is there?”
“oh, no, look as much as you like,” returned the tall lad.
jerry went to the garage to get his repaired car. on his return to the hotel he saw noddy in the lobby talking to bill cromley.
“i’ll make it worth your while to come with us,” he overheard noddy say to the old miner.
jerry hesitated, wondering what the answer would be. but if he had any doubts as to the loyalty of mr. cromley, they were soon dispelled.
“come on,” urged the bully, taking hold of the old miner’s arm. “i’ll buy you a cigar and we can talk it over.”
“no, you won’t buy me any cigars!” cried the miner, shaking himself free as noddy tried to[80] draw him toward the cigar counter. “the kind you smoke must be made of skunk cabbage! get that? skunk cabbage for skunks!”
noddy grew red in the face and hastily moved away followed by the laughter of several men who had heard what was said.
“i guess we can depend on bill,” remarked jerry to bob.
“we sure can. noddy got an earful that time!”
the motor boys did not get another view of the bully’s crowd for some days, though once there was evidence that noddy was not far ahead. one afternoon, when nearing cleveland, they went through a small town. on the outskirts they saw that several bottles had been smashed in the road, the jagged bits of glass offering choice chances for punctures.
“some more of their work!” exclaimed ned, as jerry carefully avoided the danger. the car was stopped and the glass removed to protect others who might follow.
the boys remained two days in cleveland to rest, where they enjoyed the sights, including wade park and the lake front. then they began the last leg of their auto journey, into chicago.
from here they sent a message to tinny, letting him know on what train they were starting west. jerry sold his car for a fair price, as the lads[81] did not know when they could come back, or even whether or not they would reach chicago again. and to store the machine, or hire some one to run it back, would cost more than it would be worth. professor snodgrass had decided to continue on for a time with his friends. he said he felt much better.
“well, we’re fairly on our way at last!” remarked bob that night, as they took their places in the sleeping car. “we’ll be in montana in a few days.”
“yes, and i think we’ve given noddy and his crowd the slip,” commented ned.
“it looks so,” affirmed jerry.
they had five lower berths in the middle of the car, and after seeing to the stowing away of their valises, the boys began to prepare for sleep, for they had had a hard day.
“aren’t you going to turn in, professor?” asked jerry, as he saw the little man, with notebook and pencil, making his way to the smoking compartment.
“i want to finish making a few entries, and then i’ll come to bed, jerry,” replied uriah snodgrass. “i won’t be long.”
the train slowly pulled out of the shed, followed a little later by the second section. until they reached livingston, montana, the boys would travel on the steel rails. in livingston[82] they would be met by tinny, who would have a car for them, since they were going into a part of the state inadequately served by railroads.
“and now for a good sleep,” sighed jerry, with relief, as he stretched out between the sheets. the steady motion of the train and the click of the wheels over the rail joints was lulling him to slumber when he was suddenly roused by the voice of the fat man in the berth above him.
jerry well remembered the fat passenger, who had tried in vain to get a lower berth from the porter. the colored czar of the sleeper had only said:
“no, sah. we’s done filled up. no lowers.”
with a sigh the fat man had resigned himself to his fate, and it was his voice that now echoed through the hitherto silent car as he cried:
“get out! get out! porter! conductor! i’m being robbed! help!”
“can this be a hold-up?” thought jerry, reaching out to part the green curtains.
at the same time he heard the voice of professor snodgrass in evident distress.
