CHAPTER XIII.
MATT WINS--AND LOSES.
Motor Matt had seven horses in the twin-cylinders to pit against thatone frantic animal that was slashing along the road toward the canal.There was but one thought in his mind, and that was to spur the sevenhorses into a speed that could overtake the one before it reached thebridge and the water.
He had been racing for a fortune before, but it was for a human lifenow. With keen, steady eyes he gaged the chances. The white horse wasthundering along in the middle of the road, with the scrap of reindangling on the left side of the bit. He aimed the _Comet_ to bring upon the left side of the frightened beast.
He was half a minute, perhaps, in coming alongside the horse, andduring that brief interval he had a brief glimpse of the thrashing,steel-shod heels. A heart's beat later he was abreast of the girl andsaw her white, fear-drawn face looking down at him. In another breathhe was close to the horse's head.
The time had come when Matt was to put forth his best effort, andwin or lose at a single throw of the die. If the horse got away fromhim---- But he was not thinking of that; he was thinking how he couldbest hold the animal and bring him to a stop.
The girl, far gone with fright, was swaying dangerously in the saddle.
"Steady!" cried Motor Matt, reaching for the head of the runaway horse.
His outstretched hand caught the piece of flying rein. It was his righthand he had to use, and he doubled the rein about the palm twice. Thena twist of the left handle-bar caused the _Comet_ to slow down, and hepulled back on the bit.
The frenzied horse, however, was not to be stopped so easily. Lurchingahead with a fresh leap, he dragged Matt from the machine, and carriedhim, a dead weight, for a dozen yards.
Matt hung like grim death to the piece of rein, and his hundred andthirty pounds finally brought the horse to a standstill. As Mattfloundered to his feet, the girl toppled into his arms--and the horsejerked loose and went on.
But Matt was not concerned about the horse. The girl was saved, andthat was enough for him.
Dizzy and weak, he staggered with her to the roadside and laid her downbeside an irrigation-ditch. Hearing some one behind him, he turned andsaw a buckboard containing a man and woman. The man had halted the rig,and was handing the reins to the woman. The woman was leaning from theseat and peering anxiously at Matt and the girl over the side of thevehicle. The man sprang down and hurried toward Matt.
"Finest thing I ever saw!" declared the man. "That girl might havebeen killed if it hadn't been for you. Say, you're a plucky piece,and----" The man stopped and stared. "Why, hello!" he went on. "You'reMotor Matt, the lad that won the bicycle-race at the park a few daysago. Say, Malindy," he called to the woman, "this is Motor Matt.You've heard about him. He's the boy that won the race from O'Day, ofPrescott."
"The young woman, Silas!" returned the woman. "Was she hurt?"
"She's only fainted, I think," said Matt.
"It's a wonder the fellow on that other machine wouldn't stop," growledthe man. "If he'd acted like he'd ought to, the horse wouldn't have runoff with the girl. What was the matter with him?"
"We were racing for the recorder's office," explained Matt. "We've bothgot notices to file, and the one that gets there first----"
"Oh, ho! That's it, hey? And you thought more of saving the girl thanyou did of beating him! Here, shake! It's sort of refreshing to meet aboy like you. If your machine isn't busted, you hike right along, andmaybe you'll beat the other chap yet. We'll take care of the girl,and see that she gets where she belongs in town. Hitch the horses,Malindy," he added to the woman, "and come here and help."
Matt started off, limping as he went.
"Are you hurt?" shouted the man.
"Jolted up a little, that's all," answered Matt, stopping to pick uphis cap.
He was worrying about the _Comet_. Had he smashed it when the horsejerked him out of the saddle?
By what seemed like a miracle, the motor-cycle had escaped injury. Thejar of its fall had closed the gasoline shut-off, and he picked themachine out of the dust and once more got into the seat.
Was there any use in going on to the court-house, he was askinghimself. He felt more like going to his boarding-house and hunting fora bottle of arnica.
Remembering that he had told Chub he wouldn't consider himself beatenuntil the recorder had told him Perry had already filed Jacks' locationnotice, he set the motor going and wheeled rapidly on toward GrandAvenue.
He was about five minutes getting to the court-house. While he wasbracing the motor-cycle up against the steps at the entrance, Perrycame out of the building, followed by Dirk Hawley.
"Here's King," laughed Perry, "just a little bit late."
"Just a little," chuckled Hawley. "It won't do you any good to butt inhere, King."
"How do you know what I'm doing here?" demanded Matt.
"Oh, I'm a pretty fair guesser. Run along home, an' tell the McReadystheir little scheme wouldn't work."
Matt, however, climbed doggedly up the steps, entered the corridor, andmade for the place where location notices were filed.
"Was a location notice filed here just now for Jacks and Hawley?" heasked of the clerk.
"Right you are; just about two minutes ago."
"Much obliged," said Matt. "That's all."
He went out and got on his machine, but instead of steering for Mrs.Spooner's, he made for Chub McReady's. Susie was there, and he wouldtell her the whole story. If he hadn't stopped to chase that runawayhorse, he would have been able to beat Perry to the court-house and sosave a fortune for his friends. They had to be told how he had failedand why.
Welcome Perkins was smoking a pipe on the porch as Matt rode up. Hejumped excitedly to his feet when he saw who was coming.
"Howdy, pard!" he called. "Did you an' Chub do the trick? Did ye beatout them villains, Jacks an' Hawley? Snakes alive, Matt, don't say yedidn't! From the looks o' yer face, I'm argyin' ye've had bad luck. Oh,ye ort to hev took me! Ye ort to hev let me take keer o' this."
Hearing Welcome's loud talk, Susie came out on the porch.
"Why, Matt!" she exclaimed. "Where's Mark? Didn't he come with you?"
Matt shook his head as he climbed up the steps.
"What's the matter with ye?" demanded Welcome. "I don't reckon I everseen ye quite so cut up afore, Matt. Somethin' must hev gone a hull lotcrossways to make _you_ pull sich a face."
"Nothing has happened to Mark, has there, Matt?" queried Susieanxiously.
"A good many things have happened to both of us, Susie, since we lefthere," said Matt; "but Chub's all right."
"You're kind of pale, Matt," went on Susie solicitously. "Here, takethis chair."
"What makes ye limp?" queried Welcome. "Hawley been roughin' thingsup with ye? Shade o' Gallopin' Dick! I never felt so all-fired workedup about anythin' as I do about that there 'strike' o' Jim's. Tell meright out, Matt, hev ye saved the claim?"
"No," answered Matt heavily, as he sank into the chair, "we've lostout--and it's my fault."
There followed a short silence, Welcome muttering and twisting at hismustache, Susie peering keenly at Matt's pale face, and Matt staring atthe cottonwood-trees down by the town canal.
Susie was the first to speak. Stepping quietly to Matt's side, she laida small hand on his shoulder.
"You've lost out, Matt," said she, "and if it's your fault, as you say,then there's a good reason _why_ you lost out. Money isn't everythingin this world."
"Mebby not," spoke up Welcome dryly, "but it sartinly buys a lot ogrub, an' clothes, an' critter comforts. The McReadys could stand afew o' them same comforts, I reckon. Sometimes, gal, when I see howye're pinchin' along, an' Chub is hampered fer money to git things todo his inventin' with, I vow I can't hardly keep from hikin' fer thehills an holdin' up a few stages. It ain't right, I know, but the olelawless feelin' bubbles up mighty strong, oncet in a while. If you an'Chub had waited an' asked fer my advice afore racin' off like ye done,Matt, mebby ye'd be hevi
n' a diff'rent story ter tell. Howsumever, tellthe details. Ye lost, an' the biggest part o' the shock is over. TheMcReadys'll continner ter struggle along on bacon an' spuds, instid,as I had fondly hoped, bein' promoted to canned stuff. What ye hangin'fire fer, Matt? Go on an'----"
"You don't stop talking long enough to give him a chance, Welcome,"said Susie.
"That's right," snorted Welcome; "blame _me_! Blame the ole ex-pirateo' the plains fer every bloomin' thing that happens. I'm expectin'ye'll be sayin' next that it's my fault kase Matt an Chub couldn't beatout Jacks an' Hawley. Don't fergit, young lady, I'm grub-staked ferthe hills, an'----"
"Dry up!" cried Matt, and he said it so suddenly, and in such a tonethat the old man keeled over against one of the porch-posts. Mattsmiled a little. "You're doing all the talking, Welcome," he added,"and not saying anything, and here I sit with something to say and notable to get a word in edgeways."
"Git in yer word," snapped Welcome, stamping his wooden pin on theporch, "git in a dozen words, or a millyun of 'em. 'Pears like ye kin_talk_ a heap even if ye can't _do_ anythin'."
Welcome glared, began filling his pipe, and sat down on the top step ofthe porch. Before Matt could begin, Tom Clipperton hurried in at thegate and ran along the walk and up the steps. He was covered with dust,and was plainly just in from a hard, trying ride, but there was a glowin his black eyes as he reached over and grabbed Matt's hand.
"Great! Everybody's talking about it. I'm proud of you."
"Somethin' more we can't understand," growled Welcome. "What's great?What's everybody talkin' about? Where'd you come from, anyway?"
"Matt was racing for town with Perry," went on Clipperton. "Perry hadPenny's motor-cycle. Matt had the _Comet_. Matt was overhauling Perryat every jump. He'd have beat him in and filed the McReady locationbefore Perry filed Jacks' and Hawley's. But Matt stopped to catch ahorse that was running away with a girl. Perry's machine scared thehorse. Catch _him_ stopping! That's why Motor Matt lost out. Claim orno claim, everybody's proud of Matt."
"Did you do _that_, Matt?" asked Susie, a soft light in her wide, browneyes as she looked at him.
"Why, yes," said Matt. "I couldn't get out of it."
"I'm proud of you, too," said Susie quietly. "What you did was worth adozen claims."
"Money's money," growled old Welcome. "I ain't got no use ferdad-binged sentiment when it's so hard fer the McReadys to scrub along."
"There's more to it," said Clipperton. "I've got something else totell."
"What's that, Clip?" queried Matt.
"The girl you saved was Edith Hawley. Dirk Hawley's daughter."
Matt sank back in his chair, dumfounded.