CHAPTER VI.
ROBBERY.
Motor Matt made as graceful an ascent and as pretty a flight in thea?roplane as any he had ever attempted. Archie Le Bon, swinging belowthe machine on a trapeze, put the finishing touch to the performance bydoing some of the most hair-raising stunts. Loud and prolonged were thecheers that floated up to the two with the _Comet_, and there was notthe least doubt but that the a?roplane had successfully diverted theminds of the spectators from the recent trouble with Rajah.
After the _Comet_ had fluttered back to earth, and the crowd haddrifted away toward the side show, Matt and McGlory left a canvasmanin charge of the machine and dropped in at the cook tent for a hurriedmeal. There was now nothing for the two chums to do until the nextflight of the day, which was billed to take place at half-past six.
"Did you ever have a feeling, pard," said the cowboy, as he and Mattwere leaving the mess tent and walking across the grounds toward thecalliope "lean-to," "that there was a heap of trouble on the pike, andall of it headed your way?"
"I've had the feeling, Joe," laughed Matt.
"Got it now?"
"No."
"Well, I have."
McGlory halted and looked skyward, simultaneously lifting hishandkerchief to test the strength and direction of the wind. Watchingthe weather had become almost a second nature with the cowboy since heand Matt had been with the Big Consolidated. A?roplane flights are, toa greater or less extent, at the mercy of the weather, and the morewind during an ascension then the greater the peril for Motor Matt.
"Think the weather is shaping up for a gale this afternoon, Joe?"queried Matt.
"Nary, pard. There's not a cloud in the sky, and it's as calm a day asany that ever dropped into the almanac."
"Not exactly the day to worry, eh?"
"Well, no; but I'm worrying, all the same. What are you going to donow?"
"Catch forty winks of sleep in the calliope tent. We didn't get ourfull share of rest last night, and I'm feeling the need of it."
When they got to the "lean-to" Matt laid a horse blanket on the ground,close to the wheels of the canvas-covered calliope, and stretchedhimself out on it. A band was playing somewhere about the grounds, andthe sound lulled him into slumber.
The cowboy was not sleepy, and he was too restless to stay in the"lean-to." Matt was hardly asleep before McGlory had left on somerandom excursion across the grounds.
A man entered the calliope tent. He came softly, and halted as soon ashis eyes rested on the sprawled-out form of Motor Matt.
The man was Dhondaram. A burning light arose in the dusky eyes as theycontinued to rest on the form of the sleeper.
For some time the doors leading into the "big show" had been open.Crowds were entering the menagerie tent, and passing from there intothe "circus top." The noise was steady and continuous, so that it wasimpossible for Matt, who was usually a light sleeper, to hear theentrance of the Hindoo.
Dhondaram lingered for several minutes. He had not his flat-toppedbasket with him, and he whirled abruptly and hurried out of the"lean-to."
From the look that flamed in the face of the Hindoo as he left, itseemed as though he was intending to return again--and to bring thecobra with him.
He had not been gone many minutes, however, when Boss Burton enteredthe calliope tent. This was where he usually met the man from theticket wagon, as soon as the receipts had been counted and put up inbags, received the money, and carried it to the bank. This part of thework had to be accomplished before three o'clock in the afternoon, asthe banks closed at that hour. The money from the evening performancealways accompanied Burton in the sleeping car on the second sectionof the show train, and was deposited in the next town on the show'sschedule.
Burton did not see Matt lying on the ground, close up to the calliope,and seated himself on an overturned bucket and lighted a cigar. Theweed was no more than well started, when Dhondaram, carrying hisbasket, appeared softly in the entrance. At sight of Burton, the Hindoostifled an exclamation and came to a startled halt.
"What's wrong with you?" demanded the showman.
"Nothing at all, sahib," answered Dhondaram, recovering himself.
"Feeling all right now?"
"Yes, sahib."
"Good!"
Without lingering for further talk, Dhondaram faced about and glidedaway.
The conversation between the showman and the Hindoo had awakened Matt.The young motorist sat up blinking and looked at Burton. He knew howthe proprietor of the Big Consolidated always met the ticket man in thecalliope tent, about that time in the afternoon, and checked up andreceived the proceeds for deposit in the local bank.
"Much of a crowd, Burton?" called Matt.
"Oh, ho!" he exclaimed. "You've been taking a snooze, eh?"
"A short one. Trying to make up for a little sleep I lost last night.What time is it, Burton?"
"About half-past two. Say," and it was evident from Burton's mannerthat the thought flashing through his brain had come to him suddenly,"I want to talk with you a little about that Dutch pard of yours."
"Go ahead," said Matt, leaning back against one of the calliope wheels;"what about Carl?"
"Is he square?" continued Burton.
"Square?" repeated Matt. "Why, he's as honest a chap as you'll findanywhere. If he wasn't, he wouldn't be training with McGlory and me.You ought to know that, Burton."
"You ain't infallible, I guess. Eh, Matt? You're liable to makemistakes, now and then, just like anybody else."
"I suppose so, but I know Carl too well to make any mistake about_him_. What gave you the idea he was crooked?"
"I never had the idea," protested Burton. "I just asked forinformation, that's all. He came to the show on your recommendation,and I've taken him in, but I like to have a line on the people I getabout me."
"There's more to it than that," said Matt, studying Burton's facekeenly. "Out with it, Burton."
"Well, then, I don't like the Dutchman's looks," acknowledged Burton."Ping told me----"
"Oh, that's it!" muttered Matt. "Ping told you--what?"
"Why, that he caught the Dutchman going through his pockets last night.If that's the kind of fellow Carl is, I----"
"Take my word for it, Burton," interrupted Matt earnestly, "my Dutchpard is on the level. He makes a blunder, now and then, but he's one ofthe best fellows that ever lived."
"What did Ping talk to me like that for?"
"He and Carl don't hitch. There's a little petty rivalry between them,and they're a bit grouchy."
"Is Ping so grouchy that he's trying to make people believe Carl's athief?"
"Ping is a Chinaman, and he has his own ideas about what's right andwrong. I'll talk to him about this, though."
"You'd better. Certainly you don't want one of your pards circulatingfalse reports about another." Burton looked at his watch impatiently."I wonder where Andy is?" he muttered, "He's behindhand, now, and if hedelays much longer, I'll not be able to get to the bank before closingtime."
"He may have had such a big afternoon's business," suggested Matt,"that it's taking him a little longer to get the money counted, andinto the bags."
"The business was only fair--nothing unusual. Andy has had plenty oftime to sack up the money and get here with it."
Andy Carter was the ticket man. He was middle-aged, an expertaccountant, and was usually punctual to the minute in fulfilling hisduties to his employer.
"Have you seen anything of Dhondaram lately?" Matt inquired casually.
"He blew in here with his little basket just before you woke up. Didn'tyou see him?"
"I heard you talking," answered Matt, "and that's what wakened me, butI didn't see who you were talking with. Did he get Rajah under controlagain, Burton?"
A puzzled look crossed the showman's face.
"He can manage that big elephant as easily as I can manage a tamepoodle, and he wasn't two minutes with the brute before he had him asmeek as Moses. What I can't understand is how Rajah ever b
roke away andwent on the rampage like he did."
"There are others on this ground who deserve your suspicions a wholelot more than my Dutch pard," observed Matt.
"You mean that I'd better be watching Dhondaram?"
"Not at all," was the reply. Matt was already having the Hindoowatched, so it was hardly necessary for Burton to attend to the matter."The Hindoo's actions are queer."
"Hindoos are a queer lot, anyhow. But they're good elephant trainers,and that's the point that gets me, just now."
"Where did Dhondaram say he----"
Motor Matt got no further with his question. Just at that moment aman reeled through the entrance. His hat was gone, his coat was torn,and there was a bleeding cut on the side of his face. With a gasp, hetumbled to his knees in front of Burton.
"Great Jupiter!" exclaimed Burton, leaping to his feet. "Andy! What'shappened to you?"
"Robbed!" breathed the ticket man, swaying and holding both hands tohis throat; "knocked down and robbed of two bags of money that I wasbringing here. I--I----"
By then the startled Matt was also on his feet.
"Who did it?" shouted the exasperated Burton. "Did you see who did it?Speak, man!"
But Carter was unable to speak. Overcome by what he had passed through,he crumpled down at full length and lay silent and still at theshowman's feet.