CHAPTER V.
THE MOTORCYCLE SQUAD.
NOBODY spoke for several seconds; but those of the scouts who were inthe crowd looked at each other with gathering frowns. They saw instantlythat, according to the rules of the game, if one of the contestantsaccepted a chance to ride, or even was induced against his will to becarried over a part of the course in an auto, a wagon, or any conveyancewhatever, he would invalidate his chances.
"It's a rotten shame, that's what!" declared Larry Billings who belongedto the Beaver Patrol, and pinned his faith on either Matty Eggleston orRed Huggins carrying off the prize, for party faith was strong in thetroop.
"Just what you might expect from Fairfield!" cried another disgustedone.
"Hold on, don't say that!" said Elmer, holding up his hand. "There aredecent fellows over there, just as there are in Hickory Ridge; and inboth places you can find some mean ones. Didn't you hear Toby and Natsay that this contemptible game didn't crop up in the ranks of thescouts of Fairfield, but some rank outsiders, who think they are doingtheir mates a good turn, when in fact it's the worst thing they couldhatch up? Even if they win the prize it will always be tarnished; andpeople will say it would have come to Hickory Ridge troop only for foulplay."
A clamor of many tongues broke loose. Everybody seemed to want to airhis or her views; and the girls were just as indignant as any of theboys in denouncing the outrage.
"Here, you'll have to let up on that, friends, or else I'll take theboys inside the church to talk with them," called Elmer, waving hiscampaign hat with a show of authority.
"Keep still, everybody!"
"Give us a chance to think!"
"Let Elmer run it; he knows what to do!"
"Sure; and he'll do it, too, you bet. I'm sorry for them four Fairfieldbullies. They're going to be up against it good and hard, right quicknow!"
Gradually the racket ceased, and Elmer could talk again. Those who wereclose enough leaned forward to listen, eager to understand just whatplan the young assistant scout master would engineer in the absence ofMr. Garrabrant, with the idea of frustrating the clever if unscrupulousscheme of the enemy.
It was a time that called for prompt action, as Elmer well understood.If one of the Hickory Ridge scouts was well in the lead, doubtless thosefour schemers in the automobile would, by the time night came on, startoperations. Whether the victim was Lil Artha, or any one of the others,he could not successfully hold his own against four stout fellows. Andhaving once dragged him into the car, they meant to carry him many milesalong the route; dumping him out after they had "played hob," as Natexpressed it, with all his chances.
Elmer thought fast. He had his motorcycle ready, and knew that in allprobability he could readily head off the game, unless it was rushedthrough without waiting for night to fall.
The only thing that bothered him was the fact that he would be just oneagainst four; and in such a case he might suffer the same fate it wasintended to mete out to the leader in the race.
If only the machines of Nat and Toby could be depended on now, there wasnothing to prevent his taking the boys along; and he felt confident thatboth of them were in a humor to accept at the drop of the hat. Filledwith indignation at the mean nature of the trick which those Fairfieldfellows had up their sleeve, and which they doubtless considered smart,Toby and his mate would be only too glad of the chance to accompany thescout leader on his mission of rescue.
"How about your gas?" he asked, turning to the boys; and it would seemas if they understood just what the question implied, for a look ofdelight took the place of the frown that had marked both faces.
"Heaps!" cried Toby, grinning.
"Filled mine just this morning, enough for seventy miles, and I haven'tgone more than thirteen!" declared Nat, also newly excited at the joyousprospect.
"Then let's get a start away from here," Elmer called, for the noise hadbegun again, and it was difficult to carry on any sort of a conversationwith comfort. "Anyhow, we can drop out of town a few miles, and thenstop to consult."
"Wow! That's the ticket, Elmer!" exclaimed Toby, making a rush for hismachine.
"Bully! Bully all around! I'm on deck, Johnny on the spot. Won't we do'em up brown though, if we only ketch 'em," cried Nat, rather forgettingthat as a scout fighting was only to be resorted to as a last thing, andthen in defense of another rather than himself.
When the crowd saw the three getting ready to mount, they went fairlywild; and every imaginable sort of exhortation was shouted. The news hadcirculated like wild-fire, and everyone knew in some sort of hazy waythat the bullies of Fairfield were aiming to break up the great hike.
"Get 'em, Elmer!"
"Oh, you Fairfield crowd, we're sorry for you!"
"Pinch 'em, Elmer! Knock the skunks into the middle of next week!"
"You can do it, Elmer, we know you can! Give the rascals the bestlicking they ever had! It's been a long time coming; hand 'em theinterest that's due!"
Evidently these last remarks did not come from any fellow in khaki,since they had been learning other things from the day they signed theroster of the scouts. But even Elmer himself was thrilled withindignation; it seemed so mean and contemptible in those Fairfield boysto want to spoil the greatest hike contest that had ever been started.
The machine that had been loaned to him was in good trim; and, moreover,Elmer knew considerable about managing a motorcycle, though he had neveras yet owned one.
He started his engine without the least difficulty, and then jumped intothe saddle with the grace of one who had long since mastered the art.The crowd opened up before him, and Elmer sped along the road.
"Oh, you Indian, I bank on you!" called one of the enthusiastic townfellows.
"Hi! Get a move on you, Toby and Nat!"
"Give the old wrecks a poke in the slats, and make 'em be good!"
"There goes Toby! Good boy, you!"
"Now, Nat will you let that dare slip by? Hit her up, Nathan; that's theticket!"
"Whoopla! We're all off!"
In this fashion did they call out, with other remarks which space wouldnot admit of our printing. Nat had had a little trouble in making thestart, since his engine must have cooled down more or less; but after alittle fussing he managed to coax his battered old machine into emittinga few rattling volleys, and then suddenly launched forward.
Passing a mile or so down the road, Elmer threw up his hand in the waydrivers have of telling that they mean to either turn aside or elsestop, and which is a warning for those who may be following to looksharp.
Then, picking out a place where they could stand the heavy machines upagainst a rail fence, he came to a halt, stepped off, and awaited thecoming of the others.
"What happened?" exclaimed Toby, as he, too, reached the spot anddismounted.
"Had a puncture, or spark gone back on you?" demanded Nat, when he, too,came booming along, to make a sudden halt and straddle his balky machinewhile he talked.
"Nothing happened," returned Elmer; "but before we start off we want tomake sure it isn't going to be a wild-goose chase."
"But we heard that talk, and we don't think they could have beenkidding; because you see none of 'em dreamed we were near by," Tobydeclared, vehemently.
"That may be all true enough," Elmer said, "and at the same time, unlesswe know just what we aim to do, we may make a bad mess of it. Now, didyou learn anything that would tell just where they expected to hold ourfellow up, in case he was in the lead?"
"Why, no, of course not, Elmer," replied Toby. "You see, that would haveto depend altogether on how far the race had gone. It might be thirtymiles away from the start, and it might be less."
"Right. And we'll have to follow along the course in order to get ahead.Here, we can put in a few minutes to good advantage studying my map.I've got an idea that by taking the Glenville short-cut road we can savefive miles easy. Perhaps there may be some other ways of cutting thedistance down. We looked after that when we arranged the stations."
"Look here, Elmer, don't you think it might be a good idea for us to goright along to the first station, and see if there has been any latenews from the front?" asked Nat.
"Gee, that sounds like we were in a regular battle!" declared Toby, hisface aglow with eagerness, as he awaited the scout leader's reply.
"A fine suggestion, Nat, and we'll do it, just as soon as we've glimpsedthis map again," observed the one addressed, as he sat down by theroadside and drew a folded package from his pocket.
Elmer had made these road maps himself from one he found in the house.They were rather cleverly done, and showed every road, with thedistances properly marked, all the way to Little Falls. Besides, theyhad the various taverns, where stations had been established, carefullymarked in red ink, so that no one could complain that he lackedinformation.
Running a finger along the route, Elmer quickly showed where in twoplaces they could, if they wanted, leave the main road and takeadvantage of short cuts that must save them quite a number of miles.
"But after all," he said, shaking his head, as he glanced at themotorcycles of his comrades, "it might be a case of saving at the spigotand wasting at the bunghole."
"How's that, Elmer?" asked Toby, perplexed.
"Well, we don't know what shape these side roads may be in after thatheavy rain night before last," he answered, folding up the map.
"That's a fact!" ejaculated Toby; "and neither of us thought about thatfor even a minute. Say, Nat, those roads are only dirt ones, and notmacadamized a single bit. Perhaps we wouldn't have a warm old timejolting along over 'em, eh? I can just imagine your old omnibus goingout of commission before you made a quarter of a mile."
"Well, I admit that's so; but that would be about twice as far as yourrattlebox would carry you, Toby," the other remarked, with a sting inhis words.
But, then, when together they usually occupied much of their time, whennot engaged in waiting to make repairs, in poking fun at each other'smotorcycle; so that there was little venom to the sting. It had all beenthreshed out time and time again.
"Do we tune up now, Elmer?" asked Toby, as he prepared for a flyingstart, that would make his companion turn green with envy.
For answer Elmer took hold of his machine, manipulated the lever, and asthe engine started to throb, jumped into the saddle, much to the envy ofboth the others, who could never depend on doing anything as theyplanned.
However, they managed to get moving, though Elmer had to slow up at thenext bend in order to let them come along. He believed he would needthe assistance these two stout scouts were capable of affording; and butfor that must have been tempted to put on speed and leave them far inthe lurch to wrestle with their various troubles as best they might.
So they sped along. Now and then something would happen to one of theold machines and cause a delay. Thanks to the presence of Elmer, whoknew more about machinery than either of the others, even though theyhad owned motorcycles for years, these troubles were adjusted in anunusually short time. Had it been otherwise, Elmer must have feltcompelled to abandon his running mates, since minutes were valuable tohim just then.
They presently came in sight of a road house, which Elmer understood wasthe first on the list of stations. He also remembered that one of thescouts had been detailed to remain at this place, to use the phone as asort of relay station, and transmit any message from farther up theroad.
"We'll hold up here a little while, boys," he remarked, as he shut offpower and prepared to bring his machine to a full stop. "Perhaps thenews from up the road may be worth listening to. Pull in and jump off.There's Hen Condit in the doorway right now, beckoning to us."