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[Illustration: _"Promise to read to me the log of your last trip, when
you went down the big river."_]
MOTOR BOAT BOYS
ON THE ST. LAWRENCE
OR
Solving the Mystery of the Thousand Islands
By
LOUIS ARUNDEL
Chicago
M. A. DONOHUE & CO.
COPYRIGHT 1913
BY M. A. DONOHUE & COMPANY
Made in U.S.A.
Table of Contents
- CHAPTER I--AFTER THE GAME
- CHAPTER II--CHUMS, TRIED AND TRUE
- CHAPTER III--A CHANCE CLEW
- CHAPTER IV--BLOCKING A SLY MOVE
- CHAPTER V--THE GUARDIAN OF THE FLEET
- CHAPTER VI--THE "FLASH"
- CHAPTER VII--JOSH SCENTS TROUBLE
- CHAPTER VIII--IN THE MIDNIGHT WATCH
- CHAPTER IX--THE GHOST OF THE ISLAND
- CHAPTER X--FOLLOWING A TRAIL
- CHAPTER XI--BUSTER GETS AN IDEA
- CHAPTER XII--YANKEE STUBBORNNESS
- CHAPTER XIII--THE GHOST HUNTER
- CHAPTER XIV--A STRANGE RIDE
- CHAPTER XV--ANOTHER NIGHT
- CHAPTER XVI--JACK'S DARING VENTURE
- CHAPTER XVII--THE SECRET OUT
- CHAPTER XVIII--THE ESCAPE
- CHAPTER XIX--A RACE IN THE MOONLIGHT
- CHAPTER XX--OVERHAULED
- CHAPTER XXI--A CLEAN SWEEP
- CHAPTER XXII--BUSTER'S HOUR OF TRIUMPH
- CHAPTER XXIII--HAPPY DAYS--CONCLUSION
MOTOR BOAT BOYS SERIES
THE MOTOR CLUB'S CRUISE DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI
THE MOTOR CLUB ON THE ST. LAWRENCE RIVER
THE MOTOR CLUB ON THE GREAT LAKES
MOTOR BOAT BOYS AMONG THE FLORIDA KEYS
MOTOR BOAT BOYS DOWN THE COAST
MOTOR BOAT BOYS RIVER CHASE
MOTOR BOAT BOYS DOWN THE DANUBE
List Price 60c Each
THE MOTOR BOAT BOYS ON THE ST. LAWRENCE;
or
Solving a Mystery of the Thousand Islands
CHAPTER I--AFTER THE GAME
"That was a hard game for Macklin to lose, fellows!"
"I should say it was, Herb."
"He nearly pitched his head off, too. Wow! how they did come in like
cannon balls!"
"And talk about curves and drops, Little Clarence was roight there wid
the goods," said a stout boy; whose freckled face, carroty hair and blue
eyes, as well as the touch of brogue to his voice, told of Irish blood.
"But Jack met his hot pace, and went him one better. Clarence may be a
cracker jack in the box, but he can't _just_ come up to good old
reliable Jack Storm ways, of the high school baseball club."
"Oh, shucks! enough of that taffy, fellows," laughed the object of this
praise, as he swung the bat he was carrying; "why, you know right well I
was up against the fence when they made that ninth inning rally. They
had found me with the goods on. And you know who won that game for
us--our never failing, heavy pinch-hitter, Buster Longfellow. When his
bat got up against the horsehide I knew it was all over but the shouting
for Clarence."
"Wasn't he mad, though? Hurrah for Buster! He's not built for a runner,
they say, but he's got the batting eye. That hit was a peach!"
"Thanks, George. I believe I did help Brodie dash home with the winning
tally. It's awful nice of you fellows to appreciate talent!"
The boy called Buster made a mock bow as well as he was able. He was fat
and chunky, so that his baseball suit seemed moulded to his figure.
While his name was understood to be Nick Longfellow, he seldom heard it
save at home or in school. To his fellows he was known by such
significant names as "Buster," "Pudding," and "Hippopotamus."
There were just five in the bunch, dusty, tired fellows, all on the way
home from a most exciting game with a rival team, and the most bitter
rivals for supremacy in the little river town along the upper
Mississippi.
Besides Buster and Jack, there were the Irish lad, Jimmie Brannagan, who
lived with the Stormways, being something of a ward of Jack's father;
Herb Dickson, and George Rollins, all of them members of the high school
team.
These five boys, with the addition of another who was not present just
then, composed the membership of a motor boat club, and between them
owned three very clever craft. George's was a narrow speedboat, called
the _Wireless_, the powerful engine of which had a faculty for getting
out of order just when most wanted. The one of which Jack was skipper
was named the _Tramp_, and while not so fast as its dangerous
competitor, could still make great time. Herb possessed a commodious
launch, which he had very wisely christened the _Comfort_, for she was
as staunch and reliable as a houseboat.
During the preceding autumn, taking advantage of the school being closed
until New Year's because of an epidemic in the town, these boys had made
a long trip down the Mississippi river to New Orleans, being given
permission by their parents or guardians.
To make the run more interesting Jack's father had contributed a silver
cup as a trophy; and the annals of that adventurous race have already
been given in the first volume of this series. The boys for some time
had been laying their heads together and planning another outing for the
coming vacation; but for various good and sufficient reasons they were
keeping their intended cruising ground a dead secret from everybody.
"Where's Josh Purdue?" asked Herb, as the party swung into the main
street of the town. "We want him along when we talk over that letter
Jack had from Clayton, where our boats are going. What did you do about
hiding their destination, Jack?"
"Yes," said George, quickly. "You know we agreed that those chaps were
nosing all about, trying to get a clew. Clarence has ordered a rattling
motor boat from some eastern maker, and if he could only learn where
we're going to hang out this summer, wouldn't he just try to make it
warm for us, though? Ten to one you hadn't left the station five minutes
after fastening on the tags before he was reading the same."
"I expected that, fellows," laughed Jack, "and did the best I could to
fool him. The boats are only sent to the address in Milwaukee. From
there they will be rebilled to Clayton and shipped on a steamer through
the lakes."
"But he might even have the nerve to write to that agent and make some
excuse for asking where they were sent. How about that, Jack?" asked
Herb.
"I even thought of that," replied the other. "You see, when you're
dealing with wide-awake, unscrupulous fellows like Clarence Macklin, and
his toady, Joe Brinker, it pays to insure against trouble. And I've done
it as well as I knew how."
"Tell us about it, please," asked Buster, anxiously.
"Well," replied the one addressed, "I wrote the agent in Milwaukee,
stating the circumstances. He turned out to be a jolly good chap; for he
answered me and promised that if Clarence or Joe make inquiries he'll
put them on the wrong track."
"Bully for him!" ejaculated Nick. "We'll vote him thanks at our next
meeting, fellows, that's what, and call on him in a body as we go
through to the steamer when on our way."
"I wish the time was two weeks later," remarked Herb. "I don't see just
how I'm going to stand it until after the exams are over."
"Oh, well, the days manage to pass along; and this glorious victory
ought to make you feel that life is worth living," remarked Jack, with
mock seriousness.
"As for me," remarked Buster, taking in a long breath, as if in
anticipation. "I just dream of the bliss of cruising aboard a steady,
roomy boat like the _Comfort_. You can talk all you want, George, about
the delights of flying through the water at the rate of twenty-five
miles an hour; but me to the cozy home-like cruiser every time. Once is
out for me, you remember."
"Do we, boys?" jeered George, looking at the rest. "Well, will I ever
forget how Buster used to sit there in the stern of my flier, looking
like a stuffed pillow, with a cork life preserver belted around him all
the time, and trying to keep his balance. And the less said about his
cooking the better. It haunts me still."
"Oh! but I've improved in that respect, George, very much," the fat boy
hastened to exclaim. "Don't you worry about it, Herb. I'm taking lessons
from our colored cook right now, and expect to branch out as a real
prize box. You know when I once set my mind to a thing I generally get
there, even if it does take time. Great bodies move slowly, they say.
Didn't I learn to swim after all my disappointments; tell me that,
George Rollins?"
"Sure you did, thanks to Jack here," replied the other. "But all through
that trip you gave me the nightmare because you had lost some silly----"
"Hold on! you solemnly promised you'd never say another word about that
business and I'm going to keep you to it, George," cried Buster. "We did
have a glorious time of it, you know. And I can do a little once in a
while to help the crowd forget their troubles, can't I?"
"Why, to be sure you can, Buster, and I'm the last one to deny it,"
declared George. "I don't mean half I say. You know my weakness is a
quick tongue. And after the grand way you belted that ball today, I'd be
willing to forgive almost anything you'd ever done. Shake on that, old
partner of my joys and woes."
"The boats got off all right, that's a comfort," observed Herb.
"How do ye know?" demanded Jimmie.
"I saw them on the cars, and moving out of town, just in that ninth
inning, when things looked so black for us," was the reply. "You know my
position out in right gives me a chance to look across the big field to
the railroad. And as I was getting my breath, after chasing that tricky
ball Carson Beggs whacked out, with two on bases, I had a glimpse of a
freight passing, and counted all three boats on gondolas, fastened up in
their waterproof covers. It just seemed to give me heart to go in and
root harder than ever. It was a lucky omen, too, fellows."
"Well," Jack said, "of course they'll be waiting for us at Clayton when
we get there. And although we talked of taking the steamer ourselves, I
think, on the whole, it would be wise to go by train. In that way we'll
save a couple of days. Besides, some time we mean to cruise all through
the great lakes, and we'd better keep the trip until we can do it in our
own motor boats."
"That sounds good to me!" cried Nick.
"And I'm sure it hits my case to a dot, because it means less time to
wait," and Herb nodded his head in a way that plainly told how his mind
was made up.
"That settles the lake trip, then," laughed George, "because I never did
care much about going that way. Jimmie, how do you stand on it?"
"Wid both feet," replied the party addressed, emphatically. "The sooner
we kin arroive at the Thousand Islands, the better I'll be plazed."
"Oh! well, let's forget we ever mentioned going the other way," said
Jack. "But that won't prevent our passing through Milwaukee, stopping to
shake hands with that obliging agent, and finding if the boats got off
all right."
"You can learn that by writing in a few days, Jack," observed Herb,
sagaciously. "I only hope Clarence doesn't have a friend in Milwaukee
who would spy around and discover the truth, that's all."
"If he writes the agent you can make up your mind he hasn't," said Nick,
as the party came to a pause on a corner, where, as a rule, they were
accustomed to separating, each one heading for his own home.
"Wait a little, boys. I think I see Josh coming away back there,"
remarked Jack, when one of the others made some remark about "seeing you
later, fellows!"
"Looks like he was in a big hurry, too?" suggested Nick.
"Well, he is half running, to be sure," admitted George.
"And there he goes waving his hand to us," mentioned Herb. "I guess Josh
wants us to wait up for him here. Perhaps he's got something to tell
us."
"Or it may be he just wants to wring the hand of our friend Buster, and
tell him, with tears in his eyes, how delighted he was to have him save
the day for our team," and Jack, as he said this, winked at George; for
it was a notorious fact that Josh and the fat boy were forever playing
pranks on each other, and often saying disagreeable things; that,
however, ended in nothing harder than a little froth and bubble, since
it was only surface and make-believe animosity after all.
"Don't you believe it," declared the hero of the late game, shaking his
head in an aggressive way. "Josh was the next batter up, and I just know
he thinks I swatted that ball to cheat him out of the glory. For he had
his mind made up to send the horsehide over the fence for a home run."
"Well," laughed Jack, "never wait to see what the next batter is going
to do. When the chance comes you just poke that ball out into deep
center, and then roll down to first as fast as you can. Then perhaps
he'll bring you home with his big hit. But Josh is getting here, and
we'll soon know now what ails him."
"Don't you go to borrowing trouble too soon?" warned Herb. "I know Josh
pretty well, and how he likes to joke. He's a false alarm, that's what."
"But he looks serious enough right now," said George, with whom the
runner was to keep company on this new cruise they had planned; and who,
therefore, felt an especial interest in Josh.
The newcomer was a rather slender fellow, taller than any of the others,
and the best runner on the team. In times past Josh had been troubled
with indigestion; but the month and more spent during their memorable
Mississippi cruise had about cured him of this, so that he was looking
better than ever before in all his life. That was one reason why his
parents were only too glad to allow him the chance of getting in the
open again during the coming vacation; for they believed it would be the
making of the lad.
Josh stopped running when close to the others, as though husbanding his
wind so that he could communicate the news he bore.
"It's all up, fellows!" he cried, as he finally reached the corner,
where the other five gathered around him.
"What do you mean?" asked Jack, anxiously.
"Yes, explain, Josh. What's up?" demanded George.
"They know where our boats have gone!" gasped Josh, excitedly. "Somebody
must have leaked, that's what. And they're going to have their new motor
boat shipped to the Thousand Islands, too. Now, see what a peck of
trouble we're going to have this summer!"