THE BUTTERFLIES--CONCLUSION
“Well of all the queer actions!” exclaimed Jerry as he reached the spot
where the alligator was stretched out dead. “I think Noddy must be
crazy!”
They discussed the matter at some length and decided they had better
tell the professor about it. They found the scientist tired out with
his long and unsuccessful search for the rare butterfly.
“Maybe Noddy’s troubles have sent him temporarily out of his mind,”
said Mr. Snodgrass. “I think it is our duty to do what we can for him,
even if he has, in the past, acted as the enemy of you boys. We’ll go
see him in the morning.”
They started off early the next day for Noddy’s camp. As they
approached they saw the youth standing in the same place he had
occupied the previous day.
“Hey, Noddy!” called Jerry when still some distance away from him.
“The wind is blowing the wrong way. He can’t hear you,” remarked Mr.
Snodgrass. “Try again.”
“Noddy!” called Jerry. Still Noddy did not turn his head. Then all
three boys united in a chorus of shouts. The Cresville bully gave no
indication of having heard them.
“He’s deaf!” exclaimed the professor, and this view of the matter
was confirmed a moment later when Ned, having touched Noddy on the
shoulder, was confronted by a very much surprised youth. Jerry, Bob
and Mr. Snodgrass joined Ned at Noddy’s side. The latter looking in
wonderment from one to the other, took out a piece of paper and a
pencil and, handing them to Jerry, said:
“I am totally deaf. I ate some queer kind of red berries and I’ve lost
my hearing. You’ll have to write out your questions for me.”
“What are you doing here?” wrote Jerry.
“I’m camping here until I have that dispute over the cocoanut grove
settled,” Noddy replied with something of his old manner. “I’ve got a
colored man staying with me. When I found I was deaf I sent him off to
the village for some medicine. He hasn’t come back and I guess he ran
away with my money. I was watching for him to come on a path through
the swamp yesterday when that alligator got after me. I couldn’t hear
you when you yelled at me, but I felt the ground tremble when the
alligator threshed around after you shot it. I was so frightened that I
ran away.”
The professor, who was impressed by Noddy’s plight, urged him to
accompany the boys back north. The three chums were willing to let
by-gones be by-gones, and aid their former enemy, who was glad enough
to accept help. His money was all gone and his food supplies running
low. What he would have done had not the boys discovered him would be
hard to say.
Noddy’s tent was taken down and he was brought to the other camp.
There, made miserable by his deafness and his failure to secure a
cocoanut grove, he sat apart, refusing to talk.
That evening, when the three chums were beginning to wonder if Mr.
Snodgrass had not become lost in the swamp, they heard a shouting along
the path that led through the morass.
“That sounds like him,” said Bob.
“It is!” exclaimed Ned a moment later as the professor came into view.
He was fairly leaping up and down, holding something in his hands.
“Did a snake bite you?” inquired Jerry anxiously.
“No! I’ve got three of the butterflies! I caught them in the swamp a
few minutes ago!” cried the delighted professor, and, hurrying up to
the boys he showed in a little glass-sided box, the beautiful insects.
The bodies were pink, while the large wings were of mingled blue and
gold.
“I’ve got them!” repeated Mr. Snodgrass. “They were feeding on some
beautiful flowers and first I thought they were blossoms, but their
wings moved and I put the net over them. Now I’ll get the reward and a
commission to travel all over the world for the museum. Oh, boys! This
has been a most delightful trip!”
“With certain parts left out,” murmured Jerry, and Bob agreed with him.
“We’ll start back to-morrow,” went on the scientist. “I want to get
these butterflies to the museum as soon as possible.”
They broke camp the next morning. Noddy, sullen and unhappy,
accompanied them. Now that his mind was at peace from having secured
his prize, the professor began to study Noddy’s case. He learned what
the red berries were, and by looking in some of his scientific books
discovered a remedy. This he administered the unfortunate youth who, in
a few days, had his hearing completely restored.
“We’d better give him the message now,” said Jerry one afternoon, and,
as communication was now easier Noddy was told of being wanted as a
witness in the lighthouse matter. He said nothing on hearing this, but
showed by his manner that he was alarmed.
“I don’t believe he’ll answer that summons,” ventured Jerry, and he was
right. The next morning Noddy’s bunk in the _Dartaway_ was vacant. He
had slipped away in the night. However, the chums did not worry about
him as they were near Kissimmee City and they thought Noddy could take
care of himself, now that his hearing was restored.
Mr. Seabury was found at the hotel adjoining the land Jerry’s mother
owned. In response to a telegram from her son, Mrs. Hopkins authorized
him to sell the land to Mr. Seabury, and it was disposed of for a
goodly sum.
“You must stay at my hotel for a week or so,” said the gentleman to the
boys. To this they agreed. Uriah Snodgrass, however, took the first
train he could get for the north.
“Where are you going next?” asked Rose, of Jerry one day.
“We haven’t made up our minds,” answered Jerry. “Where are you going?”
“We three girls are probably going with papa to California. He thinks
the climate there may do him good.”
“I’d like to go to California myself,” put in Ned.
“Yes, and sail on the Pacific,” added Bob. “Say, that would be fine,
eh?” he cried.
“We’d like to meet you out there,” said Nellie.
“It would be glorious!” cried Jerry. And how they did meet, and what
strange adventures befell all, will be told in another volume, which
I shall call, “The Motor Boys on the Pacific; Or, The Young Derelict
Hunters.” It was an outing that none of them ever forgot.
“Well, there’s nothing to keep us down south any longer, I guess,”
remarked Jerry one morning. “What do you say that we start back north?
The professor has gone on with his butterflies, I’ve sold mother’s
land, and we did Noddy a good turn.”
“Not to mention that we had more adventures than we counted on,” said
Bob.
“And met some nice girls,” added Ned, with a sigh, for Ned had rather a
soft spot in his heart for all young ladies.
“Then let’s arrange to go home,” urged Jerry, and they did.
So here, for a time, we will take leave of the motor boys. That they
were destined to take part in many more incidents seems very probable,
for they were boys who did not hesitate to undertake anything that
offered a spice of novelty, nor were they deterred by a little
flavoring of danger.
THE END.
Printed in U. S. A.
THE MOTOR BOYS SERIES
By CLARENCE YOUNG
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The Motor Boys
_or Chums Through Thick and Thin_
The Motor Boys Overland
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The Motor Boys In Mexico
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The Motor Boys Across the Plains
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The Motor Boys Afloat
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The Motor Boys on the Atlantic
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The Motor Boys in Strange Waters
_or Lost in a Floating Forest_
The Motor Boys on the Pacific
_or The Young Derelict Hunters_
The Motor Boys in the Clouds
_or A Trip for Fame and Fortune_
The Motor Boys Over the Rockies
_or A Mystery of the Air_
The Motor Boys Over the Ocean
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The Motor Boys on the Wing
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The Motor Boys After a Fortune
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Ned, Bob and Jerry in the Army
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Ned, Bob and Jerry on the Firing Line
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Ned, Bob and Jerry Bound for Home
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Joe is an everyday country boy who loves to play baseball and
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BASEBALL JOE ON THE SCHOOL NINE
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Joe’s great ambition was to go to boarding school and play on the
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BASEBALL JOE AT YALE
_or Pitching for the College Championship_
Joe goes to Yale University. In his second year he becomes a varsity
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BASEBALL JOE IN THE CENTRAL LEAGUE
_or Making Good as a Professional Pitcher_
In this volume the scene of action is shifted from Yale college to a
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BASEBALL JOE IN THE BIG LEAGUE
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From the Central League Joe is drafted into the St. Louis Nationals. A
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_or Making Good as a Twirler in the Metropolis_
How Joe was traded to the Giants and became their mainstay in the box
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BASEBALL JOE IN THE WORLD SERIES
_or Pitching for the Championship_
The rivalry was of course of the keenest, and what Joe did to win the
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BASEBALL JOE AROUND THE WORLD
_or Pitching on a Grand Tour_
The Giants and the All-Americans tour the world, playing in many
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BASEBALL JOE: HOME RUN KING
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Joe cultivates his handling of the bat until he becomes the greatest
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1. THE RIVAL PITCHERS
_A Story of College Baseball_
Tom Parsons, a “hayseed,” makes good on the scrub team of Randall
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2. A QUARTERBACK’S PLUCK
_A Story of College Football_
A football story, told in Mr. Chadwick’s best style, that is bound to
grip the reader from the start.
3. BATTING TO WIN
_A Story of College Baseball_
Tom Parsons and his friends Phil and Sid are the leading players on
Randall College team. There is a great game.
4. THE WINNING TOUCHDOWN
_A Story of College Football_
After having to reorganize their team at the last moment, Randall makes
a touchdown that won a big game.
5. FOR THE HONOR OF RANDALL
_A Story of College Athletics_
The winning of the hurdle race and long-distance run is extremely
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_A Story of College Water Sports_
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2. JACK RANGER’S WESTERN TRIP
_or From Boarding School to Ranch and Range_
This volume takes the hero to the great West. Jack is anxious to clear
up the mystery surrounding his father’s disappearance.
3. JACK RANGER’S SCHOOL VICTORIES
_or Track, Gridiron and Diamond_
Jack gets back to Washington Hall and goes in for all sorts of school
games. There are numerous contests on the athletic field.
4. JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE
_or The Wreck of the Polly Ann_
How Jack was carried off to sea against his will makes a “yarn” no boy
will want to miss.
5. JACK RANGER’S GUN CLUB
_or From Schoolroom to Camp and Trail_
Jack organizes a gun club and with his chums goes in quest of big game.
They have many adventures in the mountains.
6. JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX
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Jack receives a box from his father and it is stolen. How he regains it
makes an absorbing tale.
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Transcriber’s Notes:
--Text in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_); text in
bold by “equal” signs (=bold=).
--Printer, punctuation and spelling inaccuracies were silently
corrected.
--Archaic and variable spelling has been preserved.
--Variations in hyphenation and compound words have been preserved.
End of Project Gutenberg's The Motor Boys in Strange Waters, by Clarence Young