CHAPTER VI.
HIGGINS TELLS WHAT HE KNOWS.
Higgins seemed to be the only member of the club about the place. Theinner doors were open, and the racket which Carl stirred up by hisattack did not draw any one through them.
Higgins was very much surprised. Carl's attack was so suddenly madethat he was thrown from his feet.
"Vas it you dot wrode dot ledder," fumed Carl, "und saidt in it dot Ivas a 'Wienerwurst?' Ach, blitzen, I make you t'ink I peen a volganomit an erubtion. I bed someding for nodding you don't fool some moreDutchmans!"
Higgins, unable to protect himself from the frantic Dutchman, beganbegging for mercy.
"That will do, Carl," said Matt. "Leave him alone. We seem to have himall to ourselves and it's a good chance for a little heart-to-hearttalk."
Matt sat down on a chair beside the open alley door and Carlappropriated an empty beer keg. It was evident that the members of theDrivers' Club were of a convivial nature. Higgins, nursing the back ofhis head and a bruise on the side of his face, leaned against the walland peered sullenly at Matt and furiously at Carl.
"Where's the rest of the gang, Higgins?" asked Matt.
"What's it to you?" flared Higgins.
"That's your mood, is it?" said Matt. "Carl, go and get a policeman. Wecan put this fellow in jail for what he did last night."
Carl got up and started for the door.
"On der chump!" said he, knowing well enough that Matt was bluffing inthe hope of drawing Higgins out and making him more communicative.
"Wait a minute!" called Higgins. "What do you want to mix the police inthis thing for? You'll only be making trouble for yourselves, and youcan't bother me very much."
"I know what we can do," answered Matt sternly. "Go on, Carl."
"Here, hold up!" begged Higgins, showing signs of alarm. "Can't westraighten this out somehow?"
"We might, Higgins, if you want to talk."
"What is it you want to know?"
"When will the rest of your gang be here?"
"Not before three weeks or a month."
"Where are they?"
"Gone to Kansas to get ready for the race."
"Ach, vat a luck!" groaned Carl.
"When did they leave?" went on Matt.
"Nine o'clock this morning."
"Who went?"
"Patsy Grier, Tobe Martin, Balt Finn, Ralph Sercomb, Harry Packard andJoe Mings."
"They all belong to the club, eh?"
"Yes."
"Who's the club's boss?"
"Grier."
"Are all those you named going to take part in the race for the Bordencup?"
"Yes."
"Do they all drive for Stark-Frisbie?"
"I should say not! Sercomb, Mings, and Packard are the onlyStark-Frisbie men."
"Who do the others drive for?"
"Bly-Lambert."
"Where's Slocum?"
"He went with the rest."
"Is he working for Bly-Lambert, too?"
"No, he's working for Slocum."
"Who was it got Slocum to call on me last night?"
"I don't know anything about that," answered Higgins shiftily. "I wasthe last member to join the Drivers and they don't put me wise to verymuch that's going on."
"It's plain," said Matt, "that you don't intend to talk. You'd bettergo on, Carl," he added to his Dutch chum, "and get the officer."
"Wait!" clamored Higgins. "I'll make a clean breast of everything.Sercomb put up the deal with Slocum. I don't know what the deal was,nor how it was worked, but Sercomb was the fellow behind it. I'm new inthe club, as I said, and you wouldn't have caught me here this morningif Sercomb hadn't asked me to come and pack up some of his traps to goby express."
"The outfit went to Ottawa, Kansas?" pursued Matt.
"Yes. That's where Borden lives, and----"
"I know about that." Matt got up. "We've found out enough, Carl," saidhe, "and let's go. As for you and your friends," and here Matt turnedsternly on Higgins, "tell them to be a little careful. I know theirgame, and I'm going to fight it right from the drop of the hat."
With that Matt turned on his heel and left the basement. When he andCarl had reached the street Carl expressed his doubts as to whetherHiggins had told the truth.
"I'm pretty sure he gave it to us straight, Carl," answered Matt. "Thegang, almost to a man, will drive in that race, and it's high timethey were on the ground. Sercomb probably went direct to the railroadstation after he left Colonel Plympton's office this morning."
"Vat you going to do, hey?"
"I'm going to Kansas, too."
Carl began to get excited.
"Und me?" he asked; "vere do I come in?"
"You're going along, of course. While I hunt up Mr. Tomlinson and havea talk with him, you go to the hotel, pay our bill and get our grips.Meet me at the station."
"Hoop-a-la!" exulted Carl. "Ve vill carry der var righdt indo dem odderfellers' gamp, I bed you. Dot's der shduff!"
Mr. Tomlinson's wholesale jewelry establishment was on SeventeenthStreet. After leaving Carl, Matt made his way directly to the store.
To his intense disappointment he found that Mr. Tomlinson had beencalled out of town by the sickness of a relative and would probably notbe back for two or three days.
Matt had planned on telling Mr. Tomlinson all about what had happenedsince he and Carl had reached Denver; but that was impossible now, andhe would have to let Colonel Plympton do the telling. So far as theresult was concerned, Matt was not doing any worrying about the way Mr.Tomlinson would receive the news of Slocum's trickery. What the youngmotorist had wanted, however, was to point out to Mr. Tomlinson a factthat he had not mentioned to Plympton. This was, that, unless therehad been collusion between Slocum and Sercomb, the latter would nothave been able to secure the alleged agreement which Matt had signed.If Slocum had been acting in good faith for the Bly-Lambert people, hewould have hung onto the agreement; and if he had not been acting ingood faith, the whole affair at once resolved itself into a plot ofSercomb's.
Colonel Plympton, Matt had reasoned, was probably keen enough to seethat for himself. Just what effect it would have on him Matt could notknow, but even a shadow of suspicion, although unwarranted, would beenough to throw a driver out of the Borden cup race.
Matt had made up his mind that he could not race for Stark-Frisbie. Ifhe did, and lost, there might always be a feeling that there had beensomething in the Slocum business after all, and that he had thrown therace. The chances to drive a car for the Bly-Lambert people, on theother hand, did not seem at all flattering. They had taken three racesfrom the Stark-Frisbie firm, and quite likely the drivers who had beensuccessful in those contests would be the ones to drive in the presentrace.
Mr. Tomlinson, Matt had been thinking, might know some one connectedwith the other manufacturers who had entered cars, and could perhapshave given him a letter of introduction that would have been of use.Now Matt found himself thrown upon his own resources, and, strange asit may seem, felt easier in his mind. Being forced to rely wholly uponhimself, he marshaled all his grit and determination, and resolvedto see the game through for its own sake. There is a pleasure inaccomplishing things without the help of a "pull" or a "push," andMatt's blood was already tingling over the prospect of exciting eventsin Kansas.
At noon he was at the station, and had bought tickets for Carl andhimself. Carl was in the waiting-room with the grips.
"Vat dit Misder Domlinson haf to say?" the Dutch boy inquired.
"He's out of town, Carl," answered Matt.
"Tough luck!"
"I don't know about that. There's a pleasure as well as an advantagein going it alone, on your own hook. A fellow can't keep keyed up whenhe's leaning on somebody else; but when he's depending on himself, heknows he has to be fit and ready for whatever comes his way."
"Meppy dot's righdt. Anyvays, Matt, you vill make goot. I know dotpedder as I know anyt'ing. Dot Sercomb und his crowd vill be surbrised,I
bed you, ven dey see us come valking in on dem out in dot Gansasblace. Oof dey make some rough-houses, dey vill findt dot ve're fit undretty for dot, anyvays."
Just at that moment a voice boomed through the waiting-room announcingthat the east-bound train was ready.
Matt and Carl, picking up their luggage, started at once for thetrain-shed.
From the sidewalk Higgins had been watching them through a window. Asthe two chums left the waiting-room Higgins slid in, his eyes wide withastonishment.
"They're going East," he muttered. "I wonder if they can be on theirway to Kansas? What good will it do King to go there, after beingturned down by Colonel Plympton?"
This was too hard a nut for Higgins to crack. He tried to find out, atthe ticket window, what place Matt and Carl had booked for, but a goodmany people had bought tickets and the agent had not noticed Matt andCarl particularly.
Baffled in this move, Higgins stepped to a telegraph office anddespatched the following message:
"RALPH SERCOMB, on Limited Train No. 10, Dodge City, Kansas: King and his Dutch pal left Denver on east-bound train at noon. Unable to ascertain their destination. HIGGINS."
"That puts it up to Sercomb," muttered Higgins as he paid for themessage and turned away. "I'll bet there'll be warm doings in Kansasbefore long."