CHAPTER XVII
A FRIEND IN NEED
The Speedwell boys went home in no very pleasant frame of mind.Heretofore they had experienced sufficient trouble through Chance Averyand his brother to know that the superintendent of the Darringford shopswas quite capable of giving Chance great help in his attempt to “geteven” with anybody whom he disliked.
And neither Chance nor Francis Avery could ever forgive the Speedwellboys for beating Chance in the manufacturers’ motorcycle races held atthe Riverdale Baseball Park not long before. Chance had been picked bythe superintendent of the Darringford shops to ride a Flying Feather,and carry the colors of the local shops to victory. But at the lastmoment Dan Speedwell, likewise riding one of the Darringfords’ machines,had beaten out the field and left Chance sadly in the rear.
“And they are going to make it impossible—if they can—for us to doanything to Chance and Burton in this endurance test of autos that Mr.Briggs is financing,” grumbled Billy. “Oh, pshaw, Dan! What makes folksso mean?”
“I don’t know. We’ll ask Doc Bugs,” laughed Dan, referring to one of theacademy instructors who was very much inclined to harp upon the microbetheory, and bacilli. “There’s something mean got into Chance, and hisbrother’s caught it. That’s all I know about it.”
“But we’re not going to let them beat us so easy,” growled Billy.
“Not so’s you’d notice it,” agreed the older brother.
“What will we do?”
“First we’ll go over to the shops to-morrow and find out just where westand.”
“But if they won’t fix the auto there, what will we do? We can’t cartthe machine clear to Compton, and it would cost a mint of money to havemen from the manufacturing plant come here to make repairs.”
“We’ll see,” said Dan. “Let’s sleep over it.”
That was like Dan; he always thought a thing out by himself. Billy, moreimpulsive and ready to discuss a point, found his brother sometimesexasperating. It kept him “guessing,” he complained; he never knew justwhat Dan would finally do.
He was not surprised, however, the next afternoon after the secondsession, that Dan should head for the Darringford shops instead oftaking wheel for home. They came to the small gate in the stockade-fencethat surrounded the machine shops, spoke to the gate-keeper, and went into the repair department. When Mr. Hardy saw them in the doorway helooked slightly discomposed. In truth his somewhat smutted face changedcolor.
“Sorry, boys,” he said, hurrying toward them; “we haven’t had a chanceto touch your machine yet. Hurried to death.”
“Of course, your outside jobs take their regular turn, don’t they, Mr.Hardy?” asked Dan, smoothly.
“Oh, of course! Er—that is—it’s the general rule.”
“Then no other outside job has been put in ahead of ours?”
“Why—now——”
“What do those fellows want?” asked a sharp voice suddenly, and Dan andBilly turned to see the superintendent of the shops eyeing them withdisfavor.
Mr. Hardy waved the boys toward Mr. Avery.
“You’ll have to talk to him, boys,” he said. “I haven’t anything to dowith it.”
“What are they bothering you about, Hardy?” demanded the superintendent.
“We have been waiting some days for our automobile to be fixed, Mr.Avery,” said Dan, firmly.
“And you’ll wait a few days longer, I guess,” said the man,unpleasantly.
“But we are in a hurry, and the understanding was——”
“With whom did you have any understanding when you brought that carhere?” interrupted Avery.
“Mr. Hardy.”
“And if he told you that he could put aside our regular work for outsidejobs, he overstepped his bounds.”
“He told us nothing of the kind,” said Dan, quickly. “He only said ourcar should have precedence over other outside work that might come in.”
“Well, it will,” said Avery, with a laugh.
“It hasn’t,” exclaimed Dan, sharply.
“What’s that?”
“Since our machine was brought here Burton Poole’s has been repaired andrepainted. Ours hasn’t been touched.”
“Look here, young saucebox!” exclaimed Avery, in a passion, “Who toldyou to come here and tell me my business? Your car will wait its turn——”
“You gave its turn to Poole’s car,” declared Dan, stubbornly. “You knowyou did. You do not mean that our car shall be repaired.”
Somebody had stopped quietly behind them. A stern voice said:
“What’s the matter, Avery?”
“Mr. Robert!” exclaimed Billy.
Robert Darringford stood there, his automobile coat thrown back, hisNorfolk jacket unbelted, and cap and goggles pushed back from hispleasant face. He was just drawing off his gauntlets.
“What’s the matter, Mr. Avery?” he repeated, as the flaming face of thesuperintendent was turned toward him.
“These young rascals have become impudent!” declared the superintendent.“I’ve told you before, Mr. Robert, that I consider your attitude towardthese Speedwells as utterly wrong——”
“Come, come,” said the younger Darringford, good-naturedly enough, yetwith a tone of voice that halted Avery in his headlong speech. “Let’sget at the trouble. Of course, Dan and Billy are my friends. I have toldyou that several times.”
“And they presume upon your notice of them,” declared thesuperintendent. “Your undignified treatment of them gives them a licensewhich they abuse.”
“And how have they abused my kindness now?” queried Darringford,gravely.
“They have brought us an old, ramshackle car here to be patched up. Youknow Hardy’s department is working overtime. All outside work must takeits chance. We cannot do this now.”
“And the boys are impatient, are they?” demanded Darringford, smiling,however, quite kindly upon Dan and Billy.
“When we brought our car here, the shop was not so busy,” said Dan,interrupting. “Mr. Avery knows that. He has had a car repaired heresince ours has stood on the floor.”
“How is this, Avery?” asked Mr. Robert, sharply.
“The boy tells an untruth,” snapped the other. Then, thinking better ofit, he added: “Or, at least, I know nothing about it. I only know thatBurton Poole had a machine here to be fixed, and I ordered Hardy to getit out of the way.”
“And why not this one?” queried Mr. Robert, pointing to the drab car.
“Well——”
“Chance is driving Poole’s car, isn’t he?” asked Mr. Robert, with markedemphasis.
“Well, sir! You know yourself we are over-driven here!” cried Avery, indespair of clearing his skirts completely of the ugly charge offavoritism.
“Quite true. We will excuse you, Mr. Avery. I will attend to theSpeedwells’ car,” said the young proprietor of the shops.
He turned his back on his superintendent—not without a little bow,however—and said pleasantly to Dan:
“Now, young man, as spokesman for you and your brother, tell me how youcame in possession of a Breton-Melville car, this year’s type, racingrig, and apparently one that has been misused, at that?”
Dan laughed. Mr. Robert’s keen eye was not to be mistaken. One would nothave thought that he had more than glanced casually at the wreck ofMaxey Solomons’ automobile.
But between them (for Billy was bound to put in a word here and there)the Speedwells told him of their good fortune in obtaining possession ofthe wrecked car. Mr. Robert grew more and more interested. He began totake off his coat, and his cap and auto-goggles followed. Mr. Averywaited in the near distance, covertly watching the “young boss.”
“It’s a great chance for you, boys!” declared Mr. Robert. “Why, do youknow, I’m going to enter for Briggs’ endurance test myself. I believeI’ve got a car that can even beat out a Breton-Melville,” and his eyestwinkled. “But it would be too
bad if your car wasn’t ready in time, sothat we could find out just how good a machine it is.”
“We mean to get it repaired somehow,” said Dan, firmly. “If not here——”
“And why not here?” demanded Mr. Robert. He glanced quickly around andbegan to strip off his Norfolk jacket. “Hey, Hardy! Have you got anextra suit of overalls anywhere about? I want ’em.”
“Sure, Mr. Robert,” declared the foreman, coming briskly forward.
“What Mr. Avery says is quite true, boys,” declared young Darringford,seriously. “This department is driven to death. But then—I’m sort of anoutsider and I’m not driven to death. I’m going to shuck my coat, andget into these duds—that’s it, Hardy! thank you—and then we’ll see whatis the matter with the vitals of that machine. Mr. Avery,” he added,with a humorous twist of his lips, “won’t mind if I use the tools hereto repair your machine. I am rather a privileged character myself aboutthe shops. But you know, Dan and Billy, we always back up our foremenand superintendent; and it is quite true that the men are too busy to doyour work at present.”