CHAPTER II
THE FLYING AUTO
A group of the campers stood regarding the big red touring car ratherdubiously.
"The fact is," Bob Ward was saying, as he meditatively chewed a longpiece of grass, "you never can tell when the fool thing is going to goback on you. I used to drive my uncle's car a good deal, but I nevercould go very far without some part of the machinery breaking down.Uncle Jack said I was a Jonah and I guess I was, because he could runthe pesky thing all over the country if I wasn't with him, and it wouldgo like a bird. One day I ran it into a fence and nearly got killed, soI took the hint and haven't fooled with one since."
"But we ought to make a try at locating a site for the new camp," FrankEdgewood objected. "We volunteered, and we'll be the laughing stock ofthe whole camp if we don't succeed, besides breaking our word to Mr.Hollis."
"Yes, I don't see why you said you could do it, if you are going to getcold feet at the last minute," said Jim.
"I haven't got cold feet," Bob defended hotly, then virtuously, "itisn't because of my own danger that I hesitate, but I don't like to dragyou fellows into it with me."
"If you don't mind breaking your own neck, you needn't worry aboutours," said Dave Ferris; "we'll stay here while you take a little spinacross country," grinning wickedly. "Of course, if you should find agood camp location in the meantime, you could claim all the glory"--thislast condescendingly.
Before Bob had time to retort, a cry of "Bert, Bert Wilson!" caught theboys' attention, and they turned in time to see a young fellow take aflying leap over one of the fences and land in the midst of a group ofexcited, welcoming friends.
"Make believe we're not glad to see you, Bert. We thought you wouldn'tbe able to get off this year."
"Tom Henderson spread that report. Where is he?"
"Wait till I get at him."
"He ought to have a ducking," and other undeserved threats were hurledat poor Tom's innocent head.
"Hold on, fellows," said Bert, laughing; "Tom wasn't to blame. I didn'tknow myself that I could make the camp till yesterday."
At that moment the maligned Tom dashed up, nearly upsetting his friendin an ecstasy of delight.
"You're a brick with a capital B and the best kind of a sight for soreeyes," gasped Tom, getting his breath back by degrees. "I never was soglad to see anyone in my life. And you came just in the nick of time,too, to help us out."
Then, dragging his friend away unceremoniously, Tom explained thesituation in which he and the other volunteers found themselves.
"You will help us out, won't you, Bert?" he asked appealingly.
By this time the rest of the volunteers had come up and were eagerlyawaiting the decision. When they heard Bert's hearty "Surest thing youknow," they went wild, and after giving him "three cheers and a tiger,"marched him off to the mess tent, there to partake of corn bread andmaple syrup. This last had such a good effect on Bert as to lead him tosay that the fellow who had never known the gastronomic delight of cornbread spread thick with maple syrup didn't know what it was to live.
The dramatic arrival of Bert at the camp just when they most felt theneed of him had been almost as unexpected to him as to the othercampers.
Through the recommendation of Mr. Hollis, he had secured a positionwith a large manufacturing business in New York. There from the verystart he had made good and his industry and ability were soon noted byhis employer. It was not long before his salary was increased and largeropportunities afforded him, and he soon found himself treading the paththat was bound to lead to success.
Of course, like every other healthy boy, he felt the need of friends andrecreation. The first he found in Tom Henderson, with whom he struck upa great friendship. Another crony was Frank Edgewood, who worked on thesame floor as himself. When the work of the day was done they wereusually found together, either in each other's rooms or at some of theplaces of wholesome recreation of which the city offers so great avariety.
If Bert had one trait that stood out more prominently than any of theothers it was his love for mechanics. Anything in the way of a clevermechanical toy, a puzzle, or a machine attracted him immensely. Hewanted to "see the wheels go 'round." Especially was this true in thecase of automobiles. The huge machine moving so swiftly, so noiselessly,with such a sense of freedom and the sensation of flying, drew him likea magnet. He scarcely dared to dream that one day he might be the actualowner of a motor car, but he did hope that some day or other his handmight be on the wheel, his foot upon the brake, while he steered theflying monster as it sped like a flash across the country.
His dream seemed perceptibly nearer being realized when Tom introducedhim to the owner of a garage in the vicinity of his home. There hespeedily became familiar with every joint and crank and lever of thegreat machines. He saw them taken apart and put together, he saw thembrought in battered, broken, almost wrecked, and made as good as new.From theory to practice was not far. Little by little he was permittedto help in the minor repairs. After a while he was entrusted with shorttrips, at first in the company of an experienced chauffeur and at laston his own responsibility. It was not long before he felt capable tohandle, steer, drive, and repair, and, if he had cared to do so, hewould have had no difficulty in passing an examination and securing alicense to drive a car.
His idea of recreation ran in the same direction. Whenever there was amotor meet anywhere within reach, especially on Saturday afternoon, whichwas a half holiday at the factory, Bert could be found, accompanied byeither Tom or Frank, or both, watching with intense delight the excitingincidents of the race. The crowd--the start--the great machines flying bylike streaks of lightning--the roar of the partisans of each car astheir favorite took the lead, and above all the frantic excitement andenthusiasm at the finish as the victor flew across the line--all thesethings stirred his blood with inexpressible delight.
On another occasion he and his chums had visited the "Greatest Show onEarth." He had laughed at the clowns and had been thrilled by theacrobats. Every pore of his body had drunk in with delight thetremendous feats of skill and daring that appeal so strongly to a boy.But the one supreme thrill, the one he never forgot, the one thatrepeated itself over and over again in his dreams, was when theautomobile with its daring operator starting from the very top of theimmense building, amid the deathlike hush of the crowd, flew like aflash down the steep incline, sprang into space, turned a completesomersault, and, lighting on the further side of the gap, rushed acrossthe arena. This was the climax of everything. Little else appealed toBert; he talked of nothing else on the way home. There was no usetalking, the "auto fever" was in his blood.
With this passionate delight in his favorite machine, Bert's feeling canbe understood when he learned that the chief feature of the boys'encampment when the summer opened was to be an automobile "hike," thecar itself having been kindly loaned by Mr. Hollis. At first, owing toconditions at the factory, he had feared that he would not be able to goat the time set for the encampment, and his disappointment was crushing.A quiet little talk of Mr. Hollis's with his employer, however, hadadjusted things so that he learned at the last moment he would be ableto go. We have already seen how uproariously he had been received by hisold companions when he came so unexpectedly into the howling mob ofenthusiasts at the summer camp.
In less time after his arrival than it takes to tell, Bert was clad inkhaki and had obtained the ready permission of Mr. Hollis to take theboys on their desired expedition.
The fellows scrambled into their adored "Red Scout" with more haste thangrace, while Bert was busy cranking it. Then with a cry of "All rightback there?" and an answering shout of "You bet your life," the greatcar started smoothly up the ascent.
As it quickened its speed and disappeared around a bend of the road,more than one of the boys at the camp wished he had been quicker tooffer his services.
"If I'd only known that Bert would be here I'd been one of the first tovolunteer, but I must say I wasn't anxious to trust my neck to Bob'ssa
fe-keeping. He doesn't know any more about running an automobile thanI do;" and when Jim said that he was saying a great deal.
Meanwhile the "Red Scout's" passengers were having the time of theirlives.
"Gee, it's like flying," said Frank joyfully.
"It's a heap sight better," challenged Tom. "Can't you make it gofaster?" he asked of Bert.
"I guess yes," Bert shouted, as he put on more speed.
The automobile darted forward like a live thing and the boys wereenraptured by the rapidity of its motion. It almost seemed to them asthough the "Red Scout" were standing still and all the scenery were flyingpast. Hardly did the farmhouses come in sight than they were passed andlost in the distance.
Scores of timid little woodland creatures scurried away to the shelterof holes and empty logs, surprised and alarmed at the streak of redlightning that flashed by. Mother birds hovered protectingly over theirfledglings, ready to defend them against the whole world if necessary,while excited squirrels scolded noisily from the treetops long afterthey had any excuse for it.
On, on they rushed along roads over which giant trees met, past meadowlands where cattle grazed lazily, over bridges, past sparkling brooksthat formed miniature waterfalls as they rushed over the stones--on, on!
As they slowed up to take a sharp bend in the road they came face toface with another automobile dashing along at a reckless speed.
Fortunately both Bert and the driver of the other machine kept theirpresence of mind. Before anyone had a chance to realize what washappening, Bert had swerved the Scout way over to the right side of theroad. There happened to be a fairly deep depression on that side, soBert had the choice of two evils. He had either to crash squarely intothe other automobile or he had to run the risk of having his own machineturn turtle. He chose the lesser danger and ran into the ditch. However,it wasn't as bad as it easily might have been, for only the front andrear wheels of one side of the car were in the depression. Even at thatthey had come within a hair's-breadth of being upset.
As soon as the boys could pull themselves together, they tumbled out ofthe car. The occupants of the other car were four men, who sprang out atonce to see if they could be of service in any way.
"I think we'd better improvise a lever," Bert suggested.
"That may look all right in print," grumbled Bob, "but how are you goingto do it?"
"I know how we can work it all right," said one of the men. "See thosebig stones over there? Well, the first thing to do is to bring them overhere."
"Oh, I see what you mean to do," Bert chimed in eagerly. "There are lotsof big tree branches lying around. Looks as if they had been blown downin some storm. We can use them for levers."
"Guess you've got the right idea, son," said the man who had firstspoken. "Now let's get down to business."
It was a work of time to place the stones in the right position and topick out branches that would stand the strain. It proved a tremendoustask to lift the heavy car. At times they almost despaired of moving it.However, it was that very desperation that gave them strength at last.Inch by inch, slowly, carefully, they finally forced the great carupward, until with a sigh of relief they realized that the task wasfinished.
The boys dropped to the ground, exhausted by the unusual exertion. Itdoesn't take very long, though, for strong, healthy boys to recover fromany strain, however great; so in a few minutes they were again in thecar and ready to start for camp. It was too late to go further, andafter thanking the men for their help they started back--slowly thistime.
It was after dark when they reached the camp, and Mr. Hollis, althoughconfident of Bert's resourcefulness, was beginning to be slightlyworried when the wanderers appeared at last upon the scene.
In a very few moments the half-famished boys were seated at a mostappetizing meal, to which they did full justice.
The rest of the fellows listened with the greatest interest, while Tomrelated the adventure. Bert and Mr. Hollis at a little distancediscussed the events of the day and planned to renew the trip on thefollowing morning.
It was only when everything was quiet in the camp and the boys weresupposed to be asleep, that Tom, rising on his elbow, called out softly:
"Hello. Are you asleep over there?"
"Just turning the corner," came a sleepy voice.
"Well, stay on this side for a minute. I was just thinking that in thatwild ride we never even looked for a place to pitch camp."
"Gee, that's so," came the voice, a little less sleepy this time. "Well,of all the boneheads we're the limit. I always thought my head was hard,but now I know it's solid. Oh, well," and again the voice grew sleepy,"we'll have plenty of time to-morrow to think of that. I'm too tirednow. Good night. I've just got to--turn--the--corner."
Where Tom promptly joined him.