CHAPTER XIII.
MOTOR CAR AND AEROPLANE.
It was about nine o'clock in the evening when Matt was awakened by thearrival of McGlory and Twomley. Burton, curious and eager, came intothe calliope tent with them.
"I'll tell you what my plan is," said Matt, sitting up on the edge ofthe cot, "and then you can all go to bed and get a good night's rest.Ben Ali is a crafty scoundrel, and it is necessary for us to capturehim in order to find out what he has done with Miss Manners."
"That's the point," approved Twomley. "If we can't get hold of Ben Ali,the Secret Service men will have a bally time locating the girl."
"I'm inclined to think that Bill Wily told nothing but the truth,"proceeded Matt.
"You never can tell about Wily," struck in Burton. "It's because he'sso shifty and unreliable that they call him Wily Bill. I wouldn't banktoo much on what he says."
"It's neck or nothing with him," suggested Twomley. "He has everythingto lose by not telling the truth, and I believe the fellow appreciatesthat fact."
"You can gamble a blue stack he does!" declared McGlory. "Did you seethe look Dhondaram gave him while he was handing us that long palaver?If the Hindoo ever gets foot-loose, I wouldn't stand in Wily's shoesfor a bushel of pesos."
"To my mind," said Matt, "the fact that Dhondaram was in that houseproves the truth of Wily's story. Well, true or false, my whole planis built up on what the 'barker' told us. We're to assume that Ben Aliwill be in that oak opening, five miles from Grand Rapids on the Elginroad."
"Who knows whether there's an opening there or not?" asked Burton.
When the showman once lost confidence in a man, he put no trust inanything the man might do or say.
"The opening is there," said Matt. "I went out in an automobile and sawit for myself."
"Ah! So that's what you passed up the afternoon flight for, eh?"
"Partly," answered Matt. "Now, let us suppose that Ben Ali is in thatopening to-morrow, waiting for Dhondaram to arrive with money whichBen Ali thinks he has stolen. Quite likely the Hindoo will have someone with him--perhaps the old ticket man whom you discharged, Burton,and perhaps Aurung Zeeb. This ticket man has played the part of theagent representing the British ambassador in turning that trick inLafayette----"
"Sufferin' traitors!" chanted McGlory. "I've a hunch, pard, yourfinger's on the right button."
"So," pursued Matt, "it is fair to assume that Ben Ali has some oneto watch the Elgin road in the vicinity of the oak opening. If he iswarned that any suspicious persons are approaching, the Hindoo willslide away snakelike and dodge pursuit."
Twomley nodded.
"You're a fair daisy, Motor Matt, in placing the situation squarely infront of us. By Jove, it looks like a hard nut to crack."
"Matt will crack it," averred McGlory. "Listen, now, to how he proposesto do it."
"How are you going about it?" inquired Burton impatiently. "I've hadthis on my mind ever since you and I left the house with the greenshutters, and I can't tell how nervous you make me hanging fire aboutit. Seems like a mighty simple thing to go out in the woods, meet afellow where he intends to be, and nab him."
"Not so deuced simple as you suppose, Mr. Burton," returned Twomley,"when you consider the character of the man, and his ability to makepasses, look at you, and give you your ticket to the Land of Nod."
"We're going to work out this problem by motor car and a?roplane," saidMatt.
"A?roplane!" exclaimed McGlory. "That means you and me, pard."
"The motor car for you, Joe," smiled Matt. "You and Twomley, and Burtonwill go along the Elgin road in that."
"What's the good?" demurred Burton. "You all seem to think it a cinchthat the car will be seen, and that Ben Ali will get out of the way."
"You'll lag behind, you and your car," continued Matt, "and you'll letme and the a?roplane move ahead. I'll keep over the road as well as Ican, and you can see me. When I sight our quarry I'll descend; then youcan put on all speed and come up."
"The a?roplane will be a dead give-away!" asserted Burton. "Ben Ali andhis outposts will see that as quick, or quicker, than they will theautomobile."
"Suppose Ben Ali sees only one man on the machine, and thinks that theman is Dhondaram?" asked Matt. "Would he run, then?"
There was a silence, a startled silence, while the words of the youngmotorist were being pondered by his listeners.
"How'll Ben Ali think Dhondaram is running the _Comet_, pard?" queriedMcGlory.
"Because the man on the a?roplane will not look very much like MotorMatt, and _will_ look a little like a Hindoo."
"You're going to make up for the part?"
"It won't be much of a make-up. A white robe over my ordinary clotheswill do."
"But your face----"
"In the air and at a distance, my face won't tell against thedeception. When the _Comet_ has landed in the opening, then it willbe Ben Ali and me for it--with an automobile full of reinforcementsrushing to the scene."
"It sounds good," said McGlory thoughtfully.
"Here's something," observed Twomley, who had a clear head and a quickbrain. "Ben Ali can think for himself. Won't he think it queer thatDhondaram is navigating the flying machine? Dhondaram, I make no doubt,is highly gifted, but will Ben Ali credit him with skill enough tooperate the a?roplane?"
"He may not," admitted Matt; "still, if Ben Ali sees the machine, anda man in it who looks like Dhondaram, even if Ben Ali doubts he'llhold his ground in order to make sure. Ben Ali won't run from one man.Besides, he's expecting Dhondaram. That's a weighty point."
"I believe it will work," said Twomley. "At any rate, it will hold BenAli in the opening until the automobile has a chance to come close.Then the scoundrel is ours, no matter what he tries to do. By Jove, Ilike the idea!"
"Another thing," spoke up McGlory. "If Ben Ali smells a rat and triesto make a run, Matt can keep over him and follow him."
"Hardly that, Joe," returned Matt. "The woods are pretty thick alongthe Elgin road, and you know how big the top of a tree looks whenyou're gazing down on it. Besides, if there's any wind, the _Comet_ isgoing to be a fair-sized handful to take care of."
"There you are," said Burton. "How do you know the opening is bigenough for you to come down in? It won't do," and something akin topanic took hold of the showman, "to damage the a?roplane."
"Oh, go off somewhere, Burton, and wring out your wet blanket," growledMcGlory. "You're tryin' to throw it over everything."
"We've got to get a look at this business from every angle," saidBurton doggedly.
"Well, be easy about the oak opening," came from Matt. "It's largeenough to alight in and to start from. If there's only a little wind,there'll be no danger."
The Englishman reached over and took Matt's hand.
"Allow me," said he, with a solemn handshake. "Win or lose, my bucko,you have my admiration."
Matt flushed.
"Why," said he, "this is all talk, as yet, Twomley."
"It's the sort of talk, my lad, that precedes notable achievements.Nine-tenths of all the great work that's done owes more to the headthan to the hands. What about the automobile?"
"That will be here at eight o'clock in the morning."
"You even thought of that! I suppose I'll have to be catching a car fortown."
Twomley got up and flung away the remains of a cigarette.
"You'd better stay here," suggested Matt. "There's an extra cot behindthe calliope, and I'm sure Burton will give you your breakfast in themorning."
Twomley cast a glance around him. The odor from the animal tent,of which the calliope house was only a lean-to, was strong anddisquieting. A lantern, tied to one of the tent poles, shed a murkylight over the litter of buckets and ropes that strewed the tent floor.Matt had made ready for bed by kicking off his shoes and removing hiscoat and hat. It was all very primitive. In Washington Twomley lookedas though he might have been of a fastidious nature. But, whatever hewas at Washington, he was "game" at Reid's Lake.
"Go you," said he briefly. "Just where is that cot, my dear sir?"
McGlory dragged it out for him and opened it up.
"I'll pull it away from the wall of the animal top," said the cowboy."Rajah, the bad elephant, is just on the other side of that piece ofcanvas, and he has the habit of snooping around in here with his trunk."
"I don't fancy Rajah will bother me," and Twomley shucked out of hislow patent leathers.
"I could almost make a pard out of you," remarked McGlory.
"Nice work you've mapped out for Sunday," was Burton's sly fling as hepaused at the door on his way out. "Motor Matt, who refused to makeflights on Sunday for me for an extra hundred a week, lays out to pulloff a go like this! Well, I'm surprised."
"Fate is no respecter of the calendar, Burton," Matt replied, withsome show of feeling. "I'll work all day to-morrow if I can accomplishanything for Margaret Manners."
"Shake again," said the attach?.