NODDY MAKES TROUBLE
Of course, it was impossible, in a small town like Cresville, for the
motor boys to undertake the building of anything as large as a motor
ship without the news becoming pretty generally known. In fact, almost
everything the three chums did was town-talk, for they were well-known
and popular lads, and a source of no little pride to the residents of
the place, who were eager to tell of the exploits of the lads.
So, naturally, Noddy Nixon heard of the boys’ project. Noddy was sore
over the failure of his _Firefly_. He was also angry because he had
lost his wager with the fat man, and because his father had cut down
his allowance on account of the damages Mr. Nixon had had to pay for
the destruction of the lemonade stand.
The construction of the _Comet_ had not been under way more than a week
ere Noddy began making slighting remarks about it to whoever would
listen to him.
Nor did he confine his remarks to friends or acquaintances of the motor
boys. Whenever he saw Jerry, Ned or Bob in the street he would, in
passing, remark, loud enough for them to hear, something about their
motor ship, ending with a sneering phrase or laugh. But the boys paid
no attention to him. They had faith in Mr. Glassford, and, to tell the
truth, they were so busy helping the inventor that they had little time
to bother with Noddy.
At length the building of the motor ship had progressed as far as was
possible in the somewhat contracted space of the loft. The gas bag was
all sewed, the framework was all ready to be put together, the planes
had been made, the rudders constructed, and now little remained to do
but assemble the ship, and then fit up the car, or body of it. The
motor was on hand, but had not been set in its place.
Jerry had arranged to hire a big tent from Boston, and this had been
set up in the midst of a field owned by Mr. Baker. Of course, after
this had been done, there crowded out to the canvas shelter nearly
every inhabitant of Cresville, for every one was anxious to get a view
of the wonderful airship.
But the boys hired several men to mount guard, for, though they did not
want to deprive their friends of an opportunity to see the invention,
they feared lest some too-curious one might cause damage by handling
parts of the machinery or ship.
So they only admitted a few at a time, and this only after working
hours, when they and Mr. Glassford could be on hand to watch over their
property. The _Comet_ was beginning to assume shape now, and looked
like a real airship, though the big bag was only half filled with
gas, enough to partly distend it, so that the cord netting could be
constructed over it.
One day, when the boys and Mr. Glassford were quite busy, there entered
the tent an old man. The boys did not see him at first, as he was on
the opposite side of the gas bag, but Jerry’s attention was attracted
by seeing the gas envelope sway, and when he looked he saw the old man
trying to tear it.
“Here! What are you doing?” cried Jerry. “Keep your hands off that.
How’d you get in here, anyhow?”
“I jest walked in. I ain’t never seen a airship, an’ I wanted to see if
this here stuff was strong,” was the answer given in a high-pitched,
unpleasant voice. The old man continued to pull on the bag, though it
was strong enough to resist his efforts.
“Drop that and clear out of here!” cried Jerry, recognizing the old man
as Sid Joffy, a sort of recluse and town character, who was a general
nuisance. He was too lazy to work, and how he managed to live no one
knew. He had an old cabin in the woods, on the edge of a clearing, and
resided there all alone.
“What’s this? Your engine?” went on Joffy, letting go of the gas bag
and beginning to turn some wheels and valves on the gasolene motor,
which stood in one corner of the tent.
“Can’t you leave things alone?” cried Mr. Glassford sharply. “Who let
him in, boys?”
“Guess he must have slipped past Tom Johnson at the tent flap,” replied
Jerry. “Come, now, Sid, clear out of here. You can see us when we go
up.”
“I want to see how the thing works,” went on the old man, moving away
from Jerry, who was approaching. “I like machinery considerable,” and
he began to pull on the lever that operated the elevation rudder.
“Drop that and get out of here, or we’ll put you out!” cried Jerry, now
thoroughly aroused, and the old man hastened from the tent.
“What do you suppose brought him around?” asked Ned, as he paused in
the work of tightening the bolts on the framework.
“Oh, he’s a general butter-in,” said Bob. “He’s always around where he
isn’t wanted.”
“Well, I guess I scared him off,” remarked Jerry with a laugh.
But that same afternoon Joffy was back again. This time he crawled
under the tent, and before the boys were aware of his presence he had
knocked a heavy wrench down from a bench and broken one of the bamboo
braces of the air planes.
“Here, you! You’re worse than the kids!” cried Jerry. “What are you
doing here, anyhow?”
“I--I didn’t mean to break it,” said the old man. “I wanted to see how
heavy that wrench was.”
“Well, you saw, all right,” went on Jerry. “Now clear out.”
“That’s rather funny, him coming back,” said Ned, after the man had
gone. “Do you suppose he’s trying to steal some of your ideas, Mr.
Glassford?”
“No, I don’t believe so. My greatest secret is the gas, and no one
knows that but myself.”
“Sid Joffy is too lazy to steal anything,” remarked Bob. “He wouldn’t
steal second or third base if he was playing on a ball nine. I guess he
hasn’t anything else to do, and he comes around here to bother us.”
“I wish he’d keep away,” spoke Jerry.
He wished that more strongly than ever the next day, when the old man
was again found in the tent, though how he entered the boys did not
know. This time, before he could be detected, he had unscrewed some
of the framework, and caused it to sag over against the bag, which it
might have punctured.
“Say! This is the limit!” cried Ned. “What are you up to, anyhow,
Joffy?”
“I--I just wanted to see how tight you had to have your frame. I--I
didn’t mean any harm.”
“Well, you’ve done harm, all right,” said Jerry angrily. “If we catch
you in here again we’ll run you down to the river and duck you.”
“That ought to keep him away,” observed Bob, when the nuisance had
hurried from the tent. “He hates water. I guess he never took a bath in
his life.”
“There’s something queer about his coming around here, boys,” said
Jerry. “I don’t like it. Seems to me as if he had more of an object
than mere curiosity. We must keep watch of him.”
“It is rather odd that he comes over here so often,” admitted Ned.
“It’s quite a distance from his shack, and he doesn’t like walking, or
any other exercise.”
But the secret of Joffy’s visits was disclosed the next day, when Andy
Rush, all excited and hardly able to breathe, hurried into the tent.
“I seen ’em!” he cried. “Joffy an’ Noddy--talking together--they’re
up to some trick--Noddy pointed toward our tent--Joffy nodded his
head--then Noddy gave him some money. I’ll bet Noddy’s put him up to
all this--to bother you boys.”
“That’s it!” declared Jerry emphatically. “I knew it must be something
more than Joffy’s curiosity that brought him here. Boys, this is part
of Noddy’s plan to make trouble for us. He’s mad because we’re going to
have a better airship than his tin fly that never flew. But we’ll fix
him!”
“Let’s make sure that he put Joffy up to it, though,” proposed Ned.
“Oh, that will be easy enough. Wait until the old man comes in again
and I’ll tackle him.”
They had not long to wait. That very afternoon the old nuisance sneaked
in again, coming under the tent so quietly that he was not noticed
until a crash in a corner told that something had happened. Joffy, in
reaching up to finger one of the big propellers, had knocked it from
the shaft, to which it was not yet fastened. Fortunately, little damage
had been done.
“There you are again!” cried Jerry.
“Yes--yes--Mr. Hopkins--I’m here agin,” admitted Joffy with an uneasy
grin. “I--I didn’t mean to do any damage. I--I jest wanted to see if
that there thing-a-ma-bob would whirl around.”
“Well, it did, all right, and you might have broken it. If you had we
would arrest you for malicious mischief.”
“Arrest me! Why, I ain’t done nothin’!”
“Yes, you have!” exclaimed Jerry. “You’re taking money from Noddy Nixon
to come here and annoy us. Now, don’t deny it!” he cried as he saw that
the old man was about to protest. “Andy Rush saw you. We know, now,
why you sneak in here. You want to keep away if you don’t want to get
arrested.”
“All right--all right, Mr. Hopkins. I’ll go if you don’t want me
around.”
“Of course we don’t want you.”
“But I didn’t mean no harm. I jest--I jest wanted to see if that there
big thing like a paddle would go around.”
“Well, you saw; now vamoose.”
“Do you think he’ll keep away?” asked Ned, as the old man crawled under
the tent and went outside.
“I don’t believe he will because I told him to,” said Jerry, “but I’ve
got a plan to make him.”
“What is it?”
“Come over here and I’ll tell you.”