CHAPTER VIII.
IN THE WINDY CITY.
Five days later the automobile travelers were in Chicago. No seriousaccidents had occurred on the road, and they finished the first part oftheir trip in good shape. All the boys thought of was whether they wouldbe allowed to proceed farther West.
Andy Rush was obliged to leave them, for he had promised to visit arelative of his mother. He did not relish being separated from his chums.
"Tough!" he exclaimed. "Wish I could go along--bully fun--shootIndians--lasso the cowboys--kill the buffalos--ride a wild bull--break abucking mustang--chase over the prairies--lots of sport--whoop!"
"We'd like to have you come," said Jerry, "but your folks said you couldgo no farther, and we have agreed to leave you here and take Mr. Nestor.So we have to keep our word."
Andy agreed that this was right, but the galvanic youth certainly didhate to part from his friends. The three chums put up at the GrandHotel, and Mr. Wakefield, after some parting words of advice, leftthem, as he had some business to transact. He said he did not expectto see them again before he returned to Cresville, and wished them allsorts of good luck.
"What's the first thing to do?" asked Bob, when the boys foundthemselves alone in their hotel rooms.
"Wire home that we are safe and ask if we can go farther West,"suggested Jerry. "But don't say anything about the miner. He may notshow up, and they'll laugh at us if they find that we have been fooled."
The wires were soon busy with messages from each of the three boys.
A day of anxious waiting ensued. Then, on the second afternoon thebellboy brought three yellow envelopes to their rooms. With tremblingfingers the boys tore the missives open.
"Hurrah! I can go!" cried Jerry.
"So can I!" exclaimed Ned.
"Me, too!" put in Bob.
The boys executed an impromptu war-dance in their delight.
"Ho for the West and the gold mines!" cried Ned, trying to hug Jerry andChunky at the same time and finding it was too much of a contract.
There came a knock on the door.
"I guess that's some one to tell us to stop our noise," remarked Jerry."I thought you chaps were cutting up too rough."
"As if he didn't make as much of the row as any of us!" exclaimed Ned.
Bob opened the door. A well-dressed man, with iron-gray moustache andhair, entered.
"Here I be!" he announced, "an' I see you boys are right on deck!"
"I guess you've made a mistake," said Jerry, gently.
"Ain't this the Grand Hotel, where I was to meet the boys thatbefriended old Jim Nestor?" the man asked.
Then the boys saw it was their friend, the miner. But he had so changedin appearance, with a new suit of clothes, and with his hair andwhiskers trimmed, that they did not recognize him. They greeted himheartily.
"I got well quicker than I expected," went on Nestor, "an' I couldn'tstand New York any longer. Mr. Wakefield left me a tidy sum. Hegrub-staked me, so to speak, an' I come West. Got a quick train an' madeChicago 'most as soon as you boys did in your auto wagon."
"We're glad to see you," remarked Jerry.
"No more than I am to see you," put in the miner. "Now let's git rightdown to business. That's my way. No beatin' around the bush for JimNestor.
"I told your friend, Mr. Wakefield, that I'd put you boys up againsta good big proposition. Now I'm goin' to do it. Can you go as far asArizona in that wagon of yours?"
"Farther if need be," replied Ned.
"Good! Now will your folks let you go?"
For answer the boys held out their telegrams.
"Good, again I see it's all right. Now I want you boys to know I ain'tso poor as I looked to be when you found me. I'm rich, that's what I am,only I can't git at my money.
"The long and short of it is that I discovered down in the southern partof Arizona a rich gold mine. It assays high. In fact, if you saw thegold I had in the hut, you saw some of the yellow stuff that came frommy mine. It's a lost mine."
"A lost mine?" exclaimed Bob, blankly. "Then what good is it?"
"It was lost, but I found it again," explained Nestor. "There's millionsin it. It's up in the mountains, about a hundred miles from Tucson. Thegold is there, but it's hard to reach.
"Now what I want to know is, can you boys go there, or near there, inyour choo-choo cart? If you can, and we are successful, there's a chancefor us all to make our fortunes, for I'll give you boys a share apiecefor what you did for me when I was in trouble."
"I guess we can go," said Jerry.
"It'll be a hard trip, full of trouble an' some danger," warned theminer.
"We'll risk it," said Ned.
"When can you start?" asked Nestor.
"Let's go right now!" exclaimed Bob, with such earnestness that theother laughed.
"To-morrow or next day will do," said Nestor. "I have a few things toattend to. I'll meet you here, say day after to-morrow."
At the agreed time Nestor was on hand. In the meantime the auto hadbeen thoroughly overhauled, put in shape for a long, hard trip, andextra supplies purchased. It was a bright, sunny day when the start fromChicago was made.
"Let her go!" exclaimed Nestor, as he climbed into the rear seat withBob.
Jerry, who was steering, threw in the gear clutches and the machinemoved off on its long and what was destined to be eventful trip.
"Hold on!" cried Nestor, suddenly.
"What's the matter?" asked Jerry, stopping the car.
"Have you boys got guns?"
"Guns?" repeated Jerry, somewhat in bewilderment.
"Well, revolvers, then," went on the miner.
In answer, Ned rather sheepishly took from his valise three newdouble-action revolvers of excellent make.
"I thought we might need 'em," he said, "but I was afraid you'd laugh atme and say it was foolish."
"It's all right!" exclaimed Nestor. "I was going to tell you to gitsome. You see, you don't always need a gun in Arizona, but when you do,as the man in the story said about Texas, you need it mighty bad an'mighty sudden. So it's a prime thing you have 'em. I've got mine," andhe showed two big .45 calibre ones.
Well armed, as well as otherwise provided for, the little expeditionstarted off again, the automobile wending in and out through the busyChicago streets.
"We'll make as straight a course as we can for Tucson," said Nestor. "Iknow the roads pretty well, 'cause I traveled 'em in a stage years ago,when Chicago was only a village."
The machine was puffing along at a fair rate of speed and had almostreached the outskirts of the city when a policeman, mounted on amotor-cycle, dashed up.
"I'll have to take you in," he announced.
"What for?" asked Ned.
"Riding too fast in the city limits."
"But we were going slow," objected Jerry. "If you know anything aboutautomobiles you can see the lever is only on the first-speed notch, andthat only goes ten miles an hour at best."
"Can't help it," replied the officer. "I timed you and you went toofast."
"Dog-gone his hide, let me git my gun out an' I'll show him who he'sa-holdin' up!" exclaimed Nestor, in a whisper.
"No, no!" expostulated Ned, who overheard the miner's threat. "Thisisn't out West. Don't pull any guns!"
"Well," put in Jerry, speaking to the officer, "if you think we wereviolating the law I suppose we'll have to go back with you. Shall I turnaround and accompany you?" he asked, politely.
"That's what you better do. I don't want no fuss, but if you wanttrouble I'll make it for you."
The other boys wondered at Jerry's easy compliance with what they knewwas an unreasonable and unjust command. The steersman started themachine slowly ahead, and, as the road was wide, began to turn in acircle, to head back to Chicago.
But when the auto was half way around, and pointed in the direction ofthe Windy City, Jerry did not continue on the way the officer expected.Instead, the boy widened his circle, made a complete revolution andthen, throwing in th
e second speed, dashed away down the road, leavingthe discomfited motor-policeman to rage over the trick that had beenplayed on him.
"I wasn't going to submit to arrest when I knew we were not guilty,"said Jerry.
In a little while Chicago was left behind, and the auto dashed along apleasant country road and was making good time toward the West.
Suddenly there came a puffing from behind that told of another machinecoming. It passed the boys, who had slowed down a bit, and as it went bythe occupants of the Cresville machine had a good view of those in theother car.
"Did you see them?" cried Jerry, in amazement.
"Who?" asked Bob, who had not given much heed to the other auto.
"Noddy Nixon was in that machine, and with him were Jack Pender and BillBerry!"