MOTOR STORIES
THRILLING
ADVENTURE
MOTOR
FICTION
NO. 11
MAY 8, 1909
FIVE
CENTS
MOTOR MATT'S
DARING RESCUE
OR THE STRANGE
CASE OF HELEN BRADY
[Illustration: _Step lively, mate! cried
Dick as Motor Matt
assisted the girl into
the car._]
_STREET & SMITH,
PUBLISHERS,
NEW YORK._
MOTOR STORIES
THRILLING ADVENTURE MOTOR FICTION
_Issued Weekly. By subscription $2.50 per year. Entered according to
Act of Congress in the year 1909, in the Office of the Librarian of
Congress, Washington, D. C., by_ STREET & SMITH, _79-89 Seventh Avenue,
New York, N. Y._
No. 11. NEW YORK, May 8, 1909. Price Five Cents.
Motor Matt's Daring Rescue;
OR,
THE STRANGE CASE OF HELEN BRADY.
By the author of "MOTOR MATT."
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I. THE DISAPPEARANCE OF HELEN BRADY.
CHAPTER II. THE IMPORTANT LETTER.
CHAPTER III. BY THE OLD QUARRY.
CHAPTER IV. A QUEER SITUATION.
CHAPTER V. PETE AND WHIPPLE MAKE A CAPTURE.
CHAPTER VI. BRADY'S PROPOSITION.
CHAPTER VII. A SURPRISE AT HOOLIGAN'S.
CHAPTER VIII. THE TROUBLE AT THE AIR SHIP.
CHAPTER IX. BACK TO THE CANAL.
CHAPTER X. BRADY RETURNS--WITH HOT NEWS.
CHAPTER XI. THE MANSION ON THE RIVER.
CHAPTER XII. THE FIGHT.
CHAPTER XIII. DARING WORK.
CHAPTER XIV. HELEN'S ORDEAL.
CHAPTER XV. THE CAPTURE OF PETE AND WHIPPLE.
CHAPTER XVI. CONCLUSION.
A FALL TO FORTUNE.
TIP FOR RABBIT HUNTERS.
CHARACTERS THAT APPEAR IN THIS STORY.
=Matt King=, concerning whom there has always been a mystery--a lad
of splendid athletic abilities, and never-failing nerve, who has won
for himself, among the boys of the Western town, the popular name of
"Mile-a-minute Matt."
=Carl Pretzel=, a cheerful and rollicking German lad, who is led by a
fortunate accident to hook up with Motor Matt in double harness.
=Dick Ferral=, a Canadian boy who has served his time in the King's
navy, and bobs up in the States where he falls into plots and
counter-plots, and comes near losing his life.
=Hector Brady=, a convict who breaks prison to wreak vengeance upon
two members of his former band.
=Helen Brady=, Hector Brady's daughter, who helps Motor Matt.
=Whipple and Pete=, two members of Hector Brady's old band of
air-ship thieves who are engineering a treacherous plot aimed at
Brady. It is against them that Brady has vowed vengeance--and a queer
twist of circumstances causes Brady to ask aid of Motor Matt in order
that the scoundrels may be captured and Helen rescued.
=Hooligan and his wife=, scoundrelly caretakers in charge of a
mansion in River Forest.
=Harris=, a policeman of South Chicago who aids Motor Matt in his
work against the Bradys.
=Burton and Sanders=, two police officers from La Grange, Ills., who
assist Harris and Motor Matt and his friends in the daring rescue of
Helen Brady.
CHAPTER I.
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF HELEN BRADY.
"Your name King?"
"Yes."
"You de feller dey calls Motor Matt?"
"You've struck it."
"Chee! I seen yer mug in de poipers an' I t'ought yous must be de
feller. I'm de kid wot woiks f'r Hagenmyer, an' here's a letter dat he
told me t' give t' yous."
Motor Matt and Dick Ferral had been sunning themselves in front of
the balloon house, a little way out of the town of South Chicago. A
youngster of ten or eleven had climbed the roadside fence and made his
way toward the big, shed-like building in the centre of the swampy
meadow. Of the two boys, the youngster had instinctively picked out
Matt, had halted in front of him, and had started the foregoing
colloquy. He finished by taking a letter out of his pocket and passing
it over to the young motorist.
"Yous has been doin' a lot o' t'ings here in dis little ole burg,"
grinned the youngster, as he started back toward the road, "an' I wants
t' go on record as sayin' yous is Class A, an' all t' de good."
"Much obliged," laughed Matt.
The kid from Hagenmyer's waved his hand, then turned around and made
his way briskly toward the fence.
"Who's this Hagenmyer, mate?" queried Ferral, drawing closer to his
chum and looking at the latter curiously.
"He's the fellow that bought this balloon house from Brady," explained
Matt. "That was before the police found out that Brady was a thief, but
Brady knew the discovery was coming, so he got rid of everything he
owned in South Chicago."
"What business has Hagenmyer got with you?"
"We'll know in a minute, Dick."
Matt tore off the end of the envelope and pulled out the enclosed
sheet. He gave a low whistle as he read; then, after he had finished,
he passed the letter over to Ferral. The communication ran as follows:
"MOTOR MATT: My workmen will begin tearing down the balloon house
to-morrow morning. It will be necessary, therefore, for you to
remove your air ship sometime this afternoon or to-night.
"ISIDORE HAGENMYER."
A look of satisfaction crossed Ferral's face.
"That means we've got to trip anchor and bear away," said he. "I'm not
sorry. We've been hung up here for two weeks, old ship, and what good
has it done us?"
"Not much, that's a fact," answered Matt discontentedly. "Hagenmyer has
held off on tearing down the balloon house for that length of time,
just to give us a safe place to keep the Hawk. We can't blame him for
getting busy on the old shed to-morrow morning."
"Well, our movable canvas shelter is ready, and stowed in the car. We
can use that, now that the shed is to be taken away from us."
"The canvas is not a safe shelter, by any means, Dick."
"It's the only one we can use on our fly from here to New York. You
won't try to stay here any longer, will you?"
"I hate to leave without learning something about Helen Brady. That
girl has done a lot for us, pard, and it looks kind of heartless for
us to pull out without doing what we can to settle the mystery of her
disappearance."
"But what can we do, mate, if the detectives are all aback and not able
to find a trace of her? Miss Brady went to visit friends on Archer
Avenue, Chicago; she was there three days while her father, Hector
Brady, was being tried and railroaded to the penitentiary; then,
the fourth day after Miss Brady goes to Archer Avenue, she suddenly
vanishes, and not a trace of her can be found. No matter how you
overhaul the situation, it's queer, and I'm inclined to think that
the girl's brother, Hector Brady, Jr., has spirited her away. Either
that, or else the girl went away with her brother of her own free will.
If Brady, Jr., is mixed up in this, matey, what right have we got to
interfere? Looks like a family affair."
Although Matt's brow wrinkled perplexedly, yet his eyes gleamed
resolutely, as he replied:
"We know young Brady is a crook, just like his father, Dick, and if
there wasn't something wrong, Helen would not have left her friends
without giving some explanation. I don't care whether Brady, Jr., is
mixed up in the affair or not, I intend to discover what's happened,
and to give the girl help if she needs it. If it hadn't been for Helen,
you and I would never have been able to chase Brady, Sr., over into
Michigan, capture him, and get our air ship back. We mustn't forget
what we owe Helen Brady, and that she's entitled to our aid if she
needs it."
"Right-o, messmate!" returned Ferral heartily. "The girl helped us get
back the Hawk, but that's the least of what she did. If it hadn't been
for her, the pair of us would have gone to Davy Jones, right here in
this old balloon house.[A] I'm for doing everything we can for her, but
if the police can't do anything, I don't see where we come in."
[A] See MOTOR MATT WEEKLY NO. 10, "Motor Matt's Hard Luck; or, The
Balloon-house Plot."
Matt was gloomily silent for a little while, turning his helplessness
over and over in his mind.
"Well, Dick," he finally answered, "something may turn up."
"But we can't wait for it. Hagenmyer will be jerking the old shed
down over our heads if we don't slant away sometime between this and
morning."
"I'm hoping that telegram from the Lestrange people may result in
something. That letter they have for me may be from Helen Brady."
Matt took the message from his pocket and read it over again. It was
from the people for whom he had been driving a racing automobile,
and had been received about eleven o'clock that morning. It merely
stated that they had received a letter for Matt, that it was marked
"important," and that they would hold it until Matt told them what to
do with it. The young motorist had immediately sent his Dutch pard,
Carl Pretzel, to Chicago after the letter.
"Perhaps you're right, matey," said Ferral. "Anyhow, we'll know as soon
as Carl gets back. He ought to be here by eight bells of the afternoon
watch. Hello!" and here Ferral's eyes wandered to the road, "who's that
steering this way? He's coming full and by, and seems to be in a hurry."
Matt stared in the direction indicated by his chum. Carl had not had
time to get to Chicago and back, so he knew it could not be him.
As the hurrying figure drew closer, and became more distinct, it
resolved itself into the form of a man in blue and brass buttons.
"Harris!" exclaimed Matt.
"That's right!" agreed Ferral excitedly; "Harris, or I'm a Fiji!
He's got something mighty important stowed away in his locker, or he
wouldn't be bearing down on us at that gait."
Harris was a member of the South Chicago police force, and was a good
friend of Motor Matt.
"Perhaps he's got something to tell us about Helen Brady!" cried Matt,
starting up. "If he has, then the news couldn't come at a better time."
While Harris was climbing the fence, both boys started across the
swampy ground to meet him.
"Howdy, Matt!" called the officer, jerking a handkerchief from his
pocket and wiping his perspiring face. "Hello, Ferral. Pretty hot day
for a fast walk, and I didn't let any grass grow under me."
"What's the trouble, Harris?" queried Matt.
"There's plenty, I'm telling you. I guess we'll have to put another
detail of officers on guard at this balloon house; if we don't, you
lads are liable to get done up and lose the Hawk."
"How's that?" demanded Ferral.
"Why, that pesky Brady has escaped from the 'pen' at Joliet, and----"
"Escaped?" echoed Matt.
"Well, sink me!" exclaimed Ferral. "Why, he made his brags that the
'pen' couldn't hold him."
"That fellow's as slippery as an eel," went on Harris. "He's been at
large for two days, and the prison authorities have kept it quiet,
hoping they'd be able to bag him; but they failed to catch him, and now
it's got into the papers. I wonder if you understand what that means to
you, Matt?" and here the officer fixed a significant look on the young
motorist.
"Brady swore he'd get even with Matt," spoke up Ferral.
"That's it," said Harris, "and he's the sort of fellow that don't say
things just to hear himself talk. He's been out of the 'pen' two days,
and I'd like to bet something handsome he's been thinking of Motor Matt
and the air ship ever since he got clear of the stone walls and the
iron bars. I rushed out here as soon as I could, to warn you boys to
look out for yourselves, and for the Hawk."
"Brady will have enough to do keeping his liberty," remarked Matt; "he
won't have any time to bother with me."
"That's where you're wrong, Matt, according to my notion. You know
how anxious Brady has been, every time the law got after him, to get
hold of the air ship. With the Hawk, he can snap his fingers at all
the detectives and police officers, and it's a cinch he'll come this
way. Some of the rest of the gang may be helping him. You know Pete,
Whipple, Grove, and Brady, Jr., are still at large. You don't want to
have another balloon-house plot worked on you, so I think you lads had
better pull out, and go east, if that's where you're headed for."
"But I don't want to leave until I can learn something about Helen
Brady!" protested Matt.
"You can't help the girl any," continued Harris. "Who knows but some
of her father's gang are mixed up in her disappearance? If it comes to
that, who knows but the girl is with her father now? You can't afford
to have any more dealings with that gang, Matt. Besides, you owe it to
the authorities to take the Hawk where there won't be any possibility
of Brady's getting hands on her. If he gets the Hawk, he'll never be
captured; if he doesn't get the air ship, he can't possibly keep from
getting laid by the heels."
The officer's position was logical. Matt's disappointment on Helen
Brady's account was keen, but events seemed to be shaping themselves
so that he and his friends would have to leave South Chicago that
afternoon, whether they wanted to or not.