ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Well, I’m pretty close to the end of my story now. And to sort of
hurry things along, I’m not going to write down, word for word, what
everybody in the house said and did in the next few hours, for, as you
can imagine, there was a lot of tumbling, rambling talk when we took
the granddaughter to Mrs. Doane. Instead, I’ll go ahead, in my own
words, and clear up the mystery for you.
To start with, Dr. Madden wasn’t dead at all. He had fainted during his
talk with me on the telephone, and that is what had given me the idea
that he was gone. I’m glad to say that he got well, and now is in his
right mind, which he _wasn’t_ before the accident, for he had something
to tell the medical world that would have been a big loss if the secret
had died with him. Can’t you guess now why he was hiding in the big
house? It was to complete his “cure” for the fatal jungle disease.
Experiments had been going on for years, and if the millionaire had
lived another twelve months he would have been completely cured. Upon
his death, which halted the experiments, Dr. Madden put some of the
impure blood into his own body, so that he could go ahead with his
work. And, as I say, in the year that he secretly doped himself with
drugs, he found a complete cure--he was bright enough on that point,
but I guess the _solitude_ of the big empty house got the best of him.
I don’t mean he was crazy--just _queer_.
It was quite by accident that he found the diary. Reading it, to learn
if it was his duty, as a friend who knew its probable secrets, to
destroy it, he thus had found out about the lawyer’s trickery. But
instead of writing and telling the granddaughter who he was and _why_
she ought to be in the big house when the will was read, he worded
his letter so _crazy-like_, with such queer reference to the dead
man’s diary, that the letter frightened her. She knew all about the
big fortune that was waiting to be divided up, and while she had no
proof that her grandfather wanted her to have the most of it, still
she had been told certain things by Chew, as I’ll mention later. And
this mysterious, rambling letter, signed by “a friend,” urged her to
do things that the lawyer had told her not to do. You can see the sort
of “up-a-tree” fix that she was in. One man told her to keep away, the
other told her to come. And each one hinted that if she didn’t do as he
said she would cross her grandfather’s wishes. So it isn’t so strange
that she made up her mind to come to the big house _secret-like_,
where she intended to get the diary and find out the truth. Yet she
hadn’t the nerve to come to the big house alone. And her mother being
in Europe, she got the idea of having two older relatives open up the
house for her. Afterwards she would beg their pardon for worrying and
mystifying them. And to that point, only the woman was to be left
mystified, for it was the girl’s intention to take the old man into her
confidence.
As we know, the house keys had been sent to her--which was the first
she knew that her grandfather was dead--and to his own ends Chew
craftily “explained” that she now was the “custodian” of the house,
with the duty of seeing that it was kept _completely closed_, the dead
man’s last wish. It was further hinted that unless she did this she
would lose her heritage. Nor did Chew intend to send for her when the
will was read. By keeping her away a year, as he had kept her away from
the funeral, he would practically get control of everything, and that,
of course, is what he was after. Hence the girl took particular pains
to caution the two Doanes not to let anybody know that they were living
in the big house. How Ma spilled the beans, though, we already know.
On the train the girl got the frightened idea that a man in “green
goggles” was secretly watching her. And when this man followed her from
the train in Pardyville, she ran back to her seat, hurriedly writing
a note to old Ivory Dome, which note was left with the ticket agent.
In leaving home that morning, a boy friend had laughingly given her
a pet gander, which he had fixed up in a crazy way with purple ink
spots--though what the complete joke was about the gander the girl
never told us! I have a hunch, though, that she was kind of sweet on
the guy! Anyway, she kept the gander, which was checked to Pardyville.
So old Ivory Dome got it, along with the note, when he finally rolled
in, twenty minutes late.
The note said that he was to turn back on C. H. O. and keep going until
he met the girl on the road, as it was her intention to go to Sandy
Ridge, the next stop, and take a taxicab from there. In the meantime, a
fence had been put across C. H. O., but old Ivory Dome didn’t let that
stop him! Whether he went around it, or over it, we don’t know. But we
do understand now how he happened to have the whole road to himself,
and why he passed the sandy crossroad. The concrete having “bulged”
dangerously, a mile east of Sandy Ridge, the road had been shut off for
temporary repairs. The taxicab brought the girl that far, where old
Ivory Dome picked her up. With his promise to keep her secret, she had
gotten out of the car before the tip-up. On the east side of the stone
house a vine frame cleverly hid a secret door, at the foot of the wall
staircase, and going there, while we were fussing over the unconscious
man, she found the door _open_! She didn’t know, of course, that Dr.
Madden was living in the secret room. He had gone outside, at the time
of the accident, and later was unable to get back in, for the girl had
locked the door on the inside. So now we know why he watched the house
that night in the storm.
He tried again the next night to get into the house, but to no success.
Later that night he followed us to the barn, after the girl had put
the gander in our room to get us away, so that she could clean out the
desk in the hope of finding the diary. You will remember, we went into
the barn first, then Dr. Madden, then old Ivory Dome. And right here
I think I ought to say a few words about the old man. A queer codger,
he wasn’t half as crafty as we had imagined. It is true that he had
promised the granddaughter to keep her secret, but in the automobile
accident everything in his thick head had been turned upsidedown.
His dumbness wasn’t put on. _Why_ he went to the barn, we’ll never
know. But I think he remembered, sort of vague-like, that there was
a _secret_ about the gander, and that may have been why it attracted
him. The girl came back to the barn to get the gander, for company,
screaming when she saw a “ghost.” And the rest you know.
The next morning, before putting old Chew wise to the truth, Poppy went
to him with a long face.
“Mr. Chew,” says he meekly, “is it possible for you to let bygones be
bygones and do me a favor?”
“No, sir!” the old tub thundered, with hatred in his green eyes.
“You’ll get no favors from me. To the contrary, I’m going to make you
sweat for last night’s attack. You’ll suffer under the law for that.”
Poppy was crushed, and showed it.
“I was going to ask you,” he hung his head, “if you cared if Mrs. Doane
took home the red-plush settee in the hall.”
“Mrs. Doane will get _nothing_ out of this house.”
“Maybe you’ll sell it to us, so we can give it to her.”
“I wouldn’t sell it to you for a thousand dollars,” came meanly, “if I
knew she wanted it.”
Some old hog, huh? Well, I’m glad to write down in conclusion that the
good old lady _did_ get her settee--with ten thousand dollars on top
of it--and all fatty got, after all of his crooked work, was what the
little boy shot at. Which is the way things should be.
To show you how much “brotherly love” he had for the New Zion bunch,
he practically put them out of business by making them pay fourteen per
cent on money that they owed the Danver estate. The estate got five per
cent and old grab-it-all got the rest!
And thus reminded of old Goliath, you’ll give us the horselaugh when I
tell you the truth about _him_. He wasn’t married at all. Furthermore,
he was the only man left in the religious camp--he was so hard-boiled
and such a liar that the others, in moving away, wouldn’t even take
him with them, though earlier they had tried to use him and reform
him. No wonder the “town” had looked deserted the day we rode through
it in state--after having coughed up two dollars for the privilege!
The houses had been empty for six months. And we had swallowed that
“picnic” story! Old Goliath sure worked us slick. I suppose he’s
laughing about it to this day. Well, we should worry. We still have his
hair!
The balance of our hitch-hike was kind of tame. So we were glad to get
home. And to that point, we hadn’t been home a week before we were
mixed up in the Pedigreed-Pickle business that the Tutter people are
still laughing over. Can you imagine Poppy standing up to his neck in
cucumber pickles? It was his job to sell the pickles--but before he
could _sell_ them he had to _make_ them. I can still see that mountain
of cucumbers. “It’s no use,” says I, in despair. “We can’t do it.”
But we did. And _how_ we did it--bucked by a mean rich kid, and with a
mystery hanging over us that gave us shivers one minute and completely
tangled us up the next--is, I believe, a story that you won’t want to
miss.
So tighten up your buttons for the biggest laugh of your lifetime, for
we’ll soon be there in POPPY OTT’S PEDIGREED PICKLES.
--THE END--
_This Isn’t All!_
Would you like to know what became of the good friends you have made in
this book?
Would you like to read other stories continuing their adventures and
experiences, or other books quite as entertaining by the same author?
On the _reverse side_ of the wrapper which comes with this book, you
will find a wonderful list of stories which you can buy at the same
store where you got this book.
_Don’t throw away the Wrapper_
_Use it as a handy catalog of the books you want some day to have.
But in case you do mislay it, write to the Publishers for a complete
catalog._
Jerry Todd and Poppy Ott Series
BY LEO EDWARDS
Durably Bound. Illustrated. Individual Colored Wrappers.
Every Volume Complete in Itself.
Hundreds of thousands of boys who laughed until their sides ached over
the weird and wonderful adventures of Jerry Todd and his gang demanded
that Leo Edwards, the author, give them more books like the Jerry Todd
stories with their belt-bursting laughs and creepy shivers. So he took
Poppy Ott, Jerry Todd’s bosom chum and created the Poppy Ott Series,
and if such a thing could be possible--they are even more full of fun
and excitement than the Jerry Todds.
THE POPPY OTT SERIES
POPPY OTT AND THE STUTTERING PARROT
POPPY OTT AND THE SEVEN-LEAGUE STILTS
POPPY OTT AND THE GALLOPING SNAIL
POPPY OTT’S PEDIGREED PICKLES
THE JERRY TODD BOOKS
JERRY TODD AND THE WHISPERING MUMMY
JERRY TODD AND THE ROSE-COLORED CAT
JERRY TODD AND THE OAK ISLAND TREASURE
JERRY TODD AND THE WALTZING HEN
JERRY TODD AND THE TALKING FROG
JERRY TODD AND THE PURRING EGG
JERRY TODD IN THE WHISPERING CAVE
THE RIDDLE CLUB BOOKS
By ALICE DALE HARDY
Individual Colored Wrappers. Attractively Illustrated.
Every Volume Complete in Itself.
Here is as ingenious a series of books for little folks as has ever
appeared since “Alice in Wonderland.” The idea of the Riddle books is
a little group of children--three girls and three boys decide to form
a riddle club. Each book is full of the adventures and doings of these
six youngsters, but as an added attraction each book is filled with a
lot of the best riddles you ever heard.
THE RIDDLE CLUB AT HOME
An absorbing tale that all boys and girls will enjoy reading. How the
members of the club fixed up a clubroom in the Larue barn, and how
they, later on, helped solve a most mysterious happening, and how one
of the members won a valuable prize, is told in a manner to please
every young reader.
THE RIDDLE CLUB IN CAMP
The club members went into camp on the edge of a beautiful lake. Here
they had rousing good times swimming, boating and around the campfire.
They fell in with a mysterious old man known as The Hermit of Triangle
Island. Nobody knew his real name or where he came from until the
propounding of a riddle solved these perplexing questions.
THE RIDDLE CLUB THROUGH THE HOLIDAYS
This volume takes in a great number of winter sports, including skating
and sledding and the building of a huge snowman. It also gives the
particulars of how the club treasurer lost the dues entrusted to his
care and what the melting of the great snowman revealed.
THE RIDDLE CLUB AT SUNRISE BEACH
This volume tells how the club journeyed to the seashore and how they
not only kept up their riddles but likewise had good times on the sand
and on the water. Once they got lost in a fog and are marooned on an
island. Here they made a discovery that greatly pleased the folks at
home.
Football and Baseball Stories
Durably Bound. Illustrated. Colored Wrappers.
Every Volume Complete in Itself.
The Ralph Henry Barbour Books for Boys
In these up-to-the-minute, spirited genuine stories of boy life there
is something which will appeal to every boy with the love of manliness,
cleanness and sportsmanship in his heart.
LEFT END EDWARDS
LEFT TACKLE THAYER
LEFT GUARD GILBERT
CENTER RUSH ROWLAND
FULLBACK FOSTER
LEFT HALF HARMON
RIGHT END EMERSON
RIGHT GUARD GRANT
QUARTERBACK BATES
RIGHT TACKLE TODD
RIGHT HALF HOLLINS
The Christy Mathewson Books for Boys
Every boy wants to know how to play ball in the fairest and squarest
way. These books about boys and baseball are full of wholesome and
manly interest and information.
PITCHER POLLOCK
CATCHER CRAIG
FIRST BASE FAULKNER
SECOND BASE SLOAN
PITCHING IN A PINCH
THIRD BASE THATCHER, By Everett Scott
THE TOM SLADE BOOKS
By PERCY KEESE FITZHUGH
Author of “Roy Blakeley,” “Pee-wee Harris,” “Westy Martin,” Etc.
Illustrated. Individual Picture Wrappers in Colors.
Every Volume Complete in Itself.
“Let your boy grow up with Tom Slade,” is a suggestion which thousands
of parents have followed during the past, with the result that the TOM
SLADE BOOKS are the most popular boys’ books published today. They
take Tom Slade through a series of typical boy adventures through his
tenderfoot days as a scout, through his gallant days as an American
doughboy in France, back to his old patrol and the old camp ground at
Black Lake, and so on.
TOM SLADE, BOY SCOUT
TOM SLADE AT TEMPLE CAMP
TOM SLADE ON THE RIVER
TOM SLADE WITH THE COLORS
TOM SLADE ON A TRANSPORT
TOM SLADE WITH THE BOYS OVER THERE
TOM SLADE, MOTORCYCLE DISPATCH BEARER
TOM SLADE WITH THE FLYING CORPS
TOM SLADE AT BLACK LAKE
TOM SLADE ON MYSTERY TRAIL
TOM SLADE’S DOUBLE DARE
TOM SLADE ON OVERLOOK MOUNTAIN
TOM SLADE PICKS A WINNER
TOM SLADE AT BEAR MOUNTAIN
TOM SLADE: FOREST RANGER
TOM SLADE IN THE NORTH WOODS
THE ROY BLAKELEY BOOKS
By PERCY KEESE FITZHUGH
Author of “Tom Slade,” “Pee-wee Harris,” “Westy Martin,” Etc.
Illustrated. Picture Wrappers in Color.
Every Volume Complete in Itself.
In the character and adventures of Roy Blakeley are typified the very
essence of Boy life. He is a real boy, as real as Huck Finn and Tom
Sawyer. He is the moving spirit of the troop of Scouts of which he is
a member, and the average boy has to go only a little way in the first
book before Roy is the best friend he ever had, and he is willing to
part with his best treasure to get the next book in the series.
ROY BLAKELEY
ROY BLAKELEY’S ADVENTURES IN CAMP
ROY BLAKELEY, PATHFINDER
ROY BLAKELEY’S CAMP ON WHEELS
ROY BLAKELEY’S SILVER FOX PATROL
ROY BLAKELEY’S MOTOR CARAVAN
ROY BLAKELEY, LOST, STRAYED OR STOLEN
ROY BLAKELEY’S BEE-LINE HIKE
ROY BLAKELEY AT THE HAUNTED CAMP
ROY BLAKELEY’S FUNNY BONE HIKE
ROY BLAKELEY’S TANGLED TRAIL
ROY BLAKELEY ON THE MOHAWK TRAIL
ROY BLAKELEY’S ELASTIC HIKE
ROY BLAKELEY’S ROUNDABOUT HIKE
THE PEE-WEE HARRIS BOOKS
By PERCY KEESE FITZHUGH
Author of “Tom Slade,” “Roy Blakeley,” “Westy Martin,” Etc.
Illustrated. Individual Picture Wrappers in Color.
Every Volume Complete in Itself.
All readers of the Tom Slade and the Roy Blakeley books are acquainted
with Pee-wee Harris. These stories record the true facts concerning his
size (what there is of it) and his heroism (such as it is), his voice,
his clothes, his appetite, his friends, his enemies, his victims.
Together with the thrilling narrative of how he foiled, baffled,
circumvented and triumphed over everything and everybody (except where
he failed) and how even when he failed he succeeded. The whole recorded
in a series of screams and told with neither muffler nor cut-out.
PEE-WEE HARRIS
PEE-WEE HARRIS ON THE TRAIL
PEE-WEE HARRIS IN CAMP
PEE-WEE HARRIS IN LUCK
PEE-WEE HARRIS ADRIFT
PEE-WEE HARRIS F. O. B. BRIDGEBORO
PEE-WEE HARRIS FIXER
PEE-WEE HARRIS: AS GOOD AS HIS WORD
PEE-WEE HARRIS: MAYOR FOR A DAY
PEE-WEE HARRIS AND THE SUNKEN TREASURE
THE TOM SWIFT SERIES
By VICTOR APPLETON
Uniform Style of Binding. Individual Colored Wrappers.
Every Volume Complete in Itself.
Every boy possesses some form of inventive genius. Tom Swift is a
bright, ingenious boy and his inventions and adventures make the most
interesting kind of reading.
TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR CYCLE
TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR BOAT
TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP
TOM SWIFT AND HIS SUBMARINE BOAT
TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RUNABOUT
TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIRELESS MESSAGE
TOM SWIFT AMONG THE DIAMOND MAKERS
TOM SWIFT IN THE CAVES OF ICE
TOM SWIFT AND HIS SKY RACER
TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RIFLE
TOM SWIFT IN THE CITY OF GOLD
TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIR GLIDER
TOM SWIFT IN CAPTIVITY
TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIZARD CAMERA
TOM SWIFT AND HIS GREAT SEARCHLIGHT
TOM SWIFT AND HIS GIANT CANNON
TOM SWIFT AND HIS PHOTO TELEPHONE
TOM SWIFT AND HIS AERIAL WARSHIP
TOM SWIFT AND HIS BIG TUNNEL
TOM SWIFT IN THE LAND OF WONDERS
TOM SWIFT AND HIS WAR TANK
TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIR SCOUT
TOM SWIFT AND HIS UNDERSEA SEARCH
TOM SWIFT AMONG THE FIRE FIGHTERS
TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE
TOM SWIFT AND HIS FLYING BOAT
TOM SWIFT AND HIS GREAT OIL GUSHER
TOM SWIFT AND HIS CHEST OF SECRETS
TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRLINE EXPRESS
THE DON STURDY SERIES
By VICTOR APPLETON
Individual Colored Wrappers and Text Illustrations by WALTER S. ROGERS
Every Volume Complete in Itself.
In company with his uncles, one a mighty hunter and the other a noted
scientist, Don Sturdy travels far and wide, gaining much useful
knowledge and meeting many thrilling adventures.
DON STURDY ON THE DESERT OF MYSTERY;
An engrossing tale of the Sahara Desert, of encounters with wild
animals and crafty Arabs.
DON STURDY WITH THE BIG SNAKE HUNTERS;
Don’s uncle, the hunter, took an order for some of the biggest snakes
to be found in South America--to be delivered alive!
DON STURDY IN THE TOMBS OF GOLD;
A fascinating tale of exploration and adventure in the Valley of Kings
in Egypt.
DON STURDY ACROSS THE NORTH POLE;
A great polar blizzard nearly wrecks the airship of the explorers.
DON STURDY IN THE LAND OF VOLCANOES;
An absorbing tale of adventures among the volcanoes of Alaska.
DON STURDY IN THE PORT OF LOST SHIPS;
This story is just full of exciting and fearful experiences on the sea.
DON STURDY AMONG THE GORILLAS;
A thrilling story of adventure in darkest Africa. Don is carried over a
mighty waterfall into the heart of gorilla land.
THE RADIO BOYS SERIES
(Trademark Registered)
By ALLEN CHAPMAN
Author of the “Railroad Series,” Etc.
Individual Colored Wrappers. Illustrated.
Every Volume Complete in Itself.
A new series for boys giving full details of radio work, both in
sending and receiving--telling how small and large amateur sets can be
made and operated, and how some boys got a lot of fun and adventure
out of what they did. Each volume from first to last is so thoroughly
fascinating, so strictly up-to-date and accurate, we feel sure all lads
will peruse them with great delight.
Each volume has a Foreword by Jack Binns, the well-known radio expert.
THE RADIO BOYS’ FIRST WIRELESS
THE RADIO BOYS AT OCEAN POINT
THE RADIO BOYS AT THE SENDING STATION
THE RADIO BOYS AT MOUNTAIN PASS
THE RADIO BOYS TRAILING A VOICE
THE RADIO BOYS WITH THE FOREST RANGERS
THE RADIO BOYS WITH THE ICEBERG PATROL
THE RADIO BOYS WITH THE FLOOD FIGHTERS
THE RADIO BOYS ON SIGNAL ISLAND
THE RADIO BOYS IN GOLD VALLEY
GROSSET & DUNLAP, _Publishers_, NEW YORK
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:
Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.
Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.
Archaic or variant spelling has been retained.