CHAPTER IX.
AN UNEXPECTED MEETING.
Motor Matt came nearer being utterly cast down, at that moment,than ever before in his life. Weak and sick as he was, perhaps hisdiscouragement was not to be wondered at. Sinking down at the foot ofthe boulder against which he had been leaning, he began finding faultwith himself.
It was all right to pick up the stranded actors and carry them on toFairview. That was merely a kindness for which no one could blamehim. But to jump into their troubles, at a time when he was engagedin work for Mr. Tomlinson and was not, strictly speaking, his ownboss, that gave the affair another look. Now, because of his desire tohelp Legree, Eliza, and the rest, there he was, hung up in the hillsseventy-five miles from Fairview, with the Red Flier in Brisco's handsand pointed for the scrap-heap.
Mr. Tomlinson would be perfectly justified in laying the destruction ofthe car to Matt's own disregard of orders. And it was Mr. Tomlinson whohad selected Matt to take the Red Flier to Albuquerque because he wassatisfied the car would receive better care in his hands than in anyother!
There was enough in these reflections to make Motor Matt dissatisfiedwith himself. But he was not, and never had been, a "quitter." And theone cry of his soul had always been for Fate to keep him from joiningthe ranks of the "quitters."
As a matter of fact, Motor Matt was a self-reliant American boy, andthere was never the least danger of his going over to the useless crowdof mistakes and failures. Naturally, he might make a misplay now andthen--running behind just enough to keep him "gingered up" for ultimatesuccess in the big things.
While he crouched at the foot of the boulder, the cool air clearing hisbrain and the sick feeling leaving him, he fell to planning for turningthe tables against his enemies.
What was there he could do, afoot and seventy-five miles from town?
At first, the prospect seemed utterly hopeless; but Matt knew that abrave heart and a firm will had time and again snatched victory fromseeming defeat.
He would start for Fairview. Possibly, although the road was not muchtraveled, he might have the good luck to encounter some freighter whowould give him a lift.
Without losing a moment longer, he got up and started off in thedirection taken by Brisco and Spangler.
He wondered, as he swung along, what Carl would think when he came tohimself and found the car missing--and Matt gone with it. And whatwould Legree think? And Eliza?
But what those in Fairview might think was a minor consideration. Thegreat point was the recovery of the Red Flier before the car's captorscould wreck the machine.
Brisco was the only one of the two scoundrels who could run a car, andeven Brisco's knowledge was superficial. An hour's instruction, fromthe driver of Nugent's runabout, was all Brisco had had.
Brisco now had two stolen cars and he could run only one ofthem--unless, indeed, the third man he had picked up knew somethingabout motors.
Matt, perhaps, had walked a mile through the gloomy hills, when heheard a noise as of some one in the road ahead. He halted, half-fearingthat Brisco and Spangler were coming back.
But that could not be, he reasoned. If they had wanted to come back,they would have used the car--and the noise Matt heard was of footsteps.
He listened, straining his ears and eyes. Only one man was coming. Hecould not see, but hearing alone told him there was but one.
Backing into the deep shadow of a nest of boulders, he continued towait.
The man, whoever he was, was coming hurriedly. Sometimes he ran, andoccasionally he stumbled. As he drew closer, Matt saw that he was asmall man, and as he came closer still the figure resolved itself intothat of a mere boy.
"Hello!" called Matt, stepping out into the road again.
The figure gave a startled jump.
"Chee!" it cried. "Say, who's dat?"
Matt's pulses quickened, and a glow of hope ran through him.
"Hello, kid!" he shouted. "What're you doing here?"
"I'm a jay if it ain't Motor Matt!" came delightedly from the boy as hedashed forward. "How's dis f'r a come-off? Say, it sure knocks de windout o' me! Where'd yous come from, yerself? Was yous on dat automobilewid Brisco an' Spang?"
By then the boy was close enough to grab Matt's hand and give it ashake.
"Yes," answered Matt; "I was on the car with them and they let me outand turned back."
"How'd de mutts come t' git yous on de mat, hey?"
Matt explained how he had been spirited away.
"Well, on de level," breathed the boy, "dat's de rummest move I everconnected wit'. Raw? Oh, sister!"
"Now tell me something about yourself," said Matt. "Why did you getinto that car? And where have you been since you left Fairview?"
"Easy, cull! T'ings is bein' pulled off in such a bunch it's hard t'straighten dem out. Le's do de ham-restin' act, right here on dis nicebunch o' rocks, while we chin a little."
They sat down, side by side.
"You must have had some reason, Eva, for hiking out with Brisco likeyou did, and----"
"Cut out de 'Eva.' Fergit de styge name. I was on'y dat back o' de tinlamps, an' no more of 'em fer mine. Call me Josh. Not dat I'm a josher,understan', 'cause I ain't. An' here's somet'in' else I'm battin' up t'yous: Dere's a few t'inks rattlin' around in me block dat I can't letyous in on. Not bekase I ain't willin' meself, but bekase it ain't onde program. See?
"First off, Matt, I crowded into dat car becase de idee looked good t'me. Dat's all yous is t' know about dat f'r now. I rode t' w'ere Briscostopped de car an' took on Spang--about de place w'ere dad an' yous hadde set-to on account o' dat box.
"Den we moved on ag'in, me still under de coat an' wonderin' how long Icould keep shy o' de lamps o' dem two dubs. You can bet yer lid, Matt,I didn't breathe on'y when necessary. I was de sly boy, all right.W'en we pulled up ag'in, we was clost t' t'ree horses, all saddled an'bridled, an' wit' a beer-faced guy on one o' dem.
"De runabout was backed into de brush, an' Brisco an' Spang got ontotwo o' de horses an' all t'ree o' dat strong-arm bunch pulled deirfreight back down de road. It was right den I wished dat I knowed howt' work dem cranks an' t'ings so'st I could make dat car go w'ere Iwanted. But I didn't know de tail lamp from de carburetter, so I jesshad t' lay low an' wait.
"W'en dem jays got back, dere was yer Uncle John right under de coat,same as usual, an' still holdin' his breat'. If one o' de mugs liftedde coat, I was plannin' to work me pins an' head right into de weeds,like anot'er bear was on me trail.
"But dey didn't look under de coat, none of dem. Dey was too mad. Chee!but dey was r'iled! Blatter, blatter, blatter, dey went, swearin' likea plumber wot's burned hisself wit' his torch. Say, de air was blue ansmelt like de odder place. If dey'd piped me off den, dey'd have tookme skelp, all right.
"From de spiel dey was givin' each odder, I hooked onto de infermationdat dey'd got de box an' dat dere wasn't not'in' in it--w'ich I knowedall de time. Dey was crowdin' all deir swear-words onto Motor Matt.Yous had fooled dem, dey said, an' dey was goin' t' saw off even if ittook a leg.
"Brisco give de mug on de horse his orders to go t' some place w'ereBrisco an' Spang would go foist an' wait. Wid dat we started upag'in--me on de job an' still sayin' me prayers back'ards, for'ards,an' sideways. I couldn't see where we went, but we was goin' f'r ahunderd years, seemed like, I was dat worked up t'inkin' I might gitnabbed. Den we stopped, backed t'roo some brush, an' stopped ag'in, dattime t' stay.
"I had drawn into me shell, listenin' w'ile Brisco an' Spang wasrammin' around de place w'ere we was. After a w'ile, deir bazoos seemedt' move off, an' I stuck out me coco an' piped de layout.
"We was in a well. Anyways dat's how it looked. De well was aboutfifteen feet acrost, steep rocks all around an' on'y one place w'eredere was a break. De break was choked up wit' brush, an' I'm wise rightoff dat we'd backed t'roo it w'en we come into de well.
"I see anot'er nice little clump of brush off t' de right, an' itlooked so invitin' dat I slipped out from under de coat a
n' ducked f'rit.
"I was in dat clump w'en de odder bloke, who dey called Klegg, blowedin t'roo de break wid de hosses; an' I was still dere w'en night comedown, an' de t'ree of dem lighted up de runabout an' went away w'id it.
"Couldn't git in de back seat den, kase Klegg was dere, so dey bumpedoff into de night an' left me in de well wit' de t'ree horses.
"I kinked me thinker all up t'ryin' t' guess whedder I'd better stayright dere or borry one o' dem horses an' ride some place. Well, Ididn't ride, not knowin' any good place t' ride to. Couldn't even makea guess which way de town was.
"I went out t'roo de brush an' moseyed around in de dark till_chugetty-chug!_ along come dat runabout ag'in an' backed t'roo debrush into de well. But dere was on'y one man in it, an' it was Klegg.W'ere was Brisco an' Spang? Dat was wot fretted me. W'ile I wasfrettin', along comes dat red tourin'-car. I made out Brisco in front,an' Spang in de rear--an' dere was some odder mug in de rear wot Icouldn't get next to. De tourin'-car went on past de well.
"Chee, but I was rattled! Wot was happenin', I says t' meself, an' w'ywas it happenin'? De tourin'-car come back ag'in an' in it was Briscoan' Spang, but de odder guy had been left somew'ere. De tourin'-car wasbacked into de well, w'ere de runabout had gone, an' I started dis wayt' see wot I could find. Say, Matt, I was knocked stiff w'en I foundyous! Great, ain't it, how luck takes a shoot, once in a w'ile? Ifdat---- Wot's de matter w'id yous? W'ere yous goin'?"
Matt had jumped up, grabbed Josh by the arm and was pulling him downthe road.
"Come on!" said he. "We haven't got any time to lose!"