MAKING ENEMIES.
The road was narrow where they were, and unless the boys' machine was
run to one side of the road there was no chance for the red machine to
pass. Jack made it clear that he didn't intend to let them.
He paid no attention to the shouts that came from behind.
"Hey, you kids, with that queer-looking car, get off the road and give
a real machine a chance to get by," shouted the driver, he who had
been addressed as Bill.
Jack did not turn his head.
"I'll knock your head off if you don't turn out--and turn out quick!"
came another shout.
Still the boys did not pay any attention. In this order they came into
Nestorville. Lined up, with a look of stern determination on his
face, and with his nickel star of office newly polished, was Chief
Biff Bivins. Behind him were Lena Hardy and Joe Curley, his "force."
"Say, boys," hailed Chief Biff, as the boys rolled up abreast of him
and his men, "hain't seen hair nor hide of that car your dad was arter
'phonin' me about."
"Well, you soon will, chief," said Jack.
"Haow do yew know that?" asked the chief, his little eyes blinking
curiously.
"Because it's right behind us now," declared Jack. "It's that red
one."
"Ther dickens you say. How'd you come ter git erhead of 'em?"
"They must have stopped to fix a tire or something," said Jack.
But Biff was paying no attention to him. The majesty of the law was
strong upon him. Calling his minions to his side he stepped into the
middle of the road in front of the red car.
"Get out of the way!" shouted the man who was driving.
"Not much I won't," declared Biff valorously. "Halt that gasoline
gadabout o' yourn instanter."
"What for, you old Rube?"
"Old Rube am I?" sputtered Biff, feeling that the law had been
insulted in his person, "jes' fer thet yer under 'rest."
"What for?" demanded the driver of the red car angrily.
"Fer running daown and grievously wounding a man and then speedin' off
without stoppin' ter see if you'd killed him dead or what all. That's
what fer."
The driver of the red machine lost his blustering tone.
"Why, there's some mistake," he stammered, his face very pale,
"I--er--we--er--that is, we didn't run anybody down."
"Oh, yes, you did," said Jack. "We saw you, and what's more we've got
the man you struck right here in our car. You're a fine pack of
cowards to run off like that. If we hadn't happened along he might
have lain there for hours before help came."
"You saw us!" gasped the driver of the car, losing his bravado
completely. "Well, I might as well admit we did run a man down. But we
didn't think he was badly hurt and so we put on all speed to rush into
town here and get a doctor for him. We'd have been here sooner only
one of our tires punctured."
"Thet's a dern good story," said the chief, "but you'll hev ter
'splain that ter ther squire. Come on with me ter ther court-house.
Too bad fer you thet them Chadwick boys had some sort of a do-funny
dingus on their sky buggy that talks through the air, otherwise you'd
hev got clar' away."
The man had, by this time, got out of the car which they halted at the
side of the street. A crowd of curious villagers gathered and were
staring at the scene and the actors in it.
At Chief Biff's words the driver of the red car flashed an angry look
at the boys. His companions looked equally vindictive.
"So, it's to you we owe our arrest, is it?" he said in a low voice,
coming quite close to Jack. "All right. You'll hear from me later. I'm
not going to forget you or that other kid, either. Do you understand?"
Jack made no reply, and as he was anxious to get the injured man to
the hospital as quickly as possible he drove off. At the institution
the man was carried to a cot by two orderlies, and the doctor in
charge told the boys that, so far as he could see, his injuries were
not mortal, although he added that a fracture of the skull was
possible.
"In which case," he said, "his recovery is problematical. How did you
happen to pick him up?" asked the doctor, who knew the boys quite
well.
Jack told him as briefly as he could, and received the physician's
warm congratulations.
"It was fortunate that you happened along," he said. "Otherwise a
long exposure to the sun, unattended, might have resulted in the man's
death. Have you any idea who he is?"
"Not the least," replied Jack. "All that we know is that, just after
he had plodded round the corner as if he was tired after walking a
long way, that auto came whizzing round and struck him. Somehow he
doesn't look like a tramp."
"No, he doesn't," agreed the doctor. "However, he should be conscious
to-morrow if there are no complications, and we can find out. One
thing is certain, he ought to be grateful to you."
"Oh, that's all right," laughed Jack, much relieved to hear that the
man wasn't going to die. "It was all we could do."
They drove back through the village. Outside the court-house was quite
a crowd. Events were few and far between in sleepy Nestorville, and
the arrest of the autoists had caused quite a sensation. From a friend
in the crowd the boys learned that the three men were being arraigned
before Squire Stevens.
"Let's go in," suggested Tom.
"All right," nodded Jack, and they climbed out of the Wondership and
ascended the long steps leading into the court-house. As they entered
Squire Stevens' court-room, Chief Bivins spied them.
"Here they be now, Squire," he said. "Glad you came, boys. It saved me
the trouble of serving subpoenas on you. These are the boys who saw
the whole thing, judge."
"Was it an accident?" asked Squire Stevens, a dignified-looking old
man with an imposing white beard.
"Yes, entirely so," said Jack, who did not bear any malice.
"But after they had struck the man, these young men ran away?"
"Yes," Jack was forced to admit. The men shot him a glance of hatred.
"I understand you have been to the hospital," went on Squire Stevens.
"Did you learn how badly the man they hit is hurt?"
"The doctor told us that his injuries don't appear to be serious,"
said Jack, "but that it was possible there might be complications."
"In that case I shall have to hold you young men under bond," said the
squire. "Will you be able to furnish it?"
"In any amount," said the man who had driven the car, in a loud,
boastful voice. "My father, Evans Masterson, owns the _Boston Moon,_
the evening paper. If I can telephone to him he will soon get us out
of this scrape."
"Very well, then," said the Squire, frowning slightly at young
Masterson's tone. "I shall fix your bond at $500, as you were driving
the car and directly responsible for the accident, and that of your
companions at $100 each."
Young Masterson gave an ironical bow. Chief Biff Bivins escorted him
to the telephone. The elder Masterson, who had had a good deal of
experience with his son's escapades, at first administered a lecture
over the 'phone which ended by his saying that he would come
post-haste to Nestorville and extricate his son and his chums from
their unpleasant fix.
But the boys did not wait for this. As soon as the case was over they
hastened back to the Wondership. The run home was made without
incident and it was not till the Wondership was safely in its shed
that Jack suddenly thought of the odd cylinder of lead that he had
picked up by the man's side as he lay on the road.
"I ought to have left it at the hospital," he thought, "but I entirely
forgot it."
He drew it out and looked at it. He now saw that the lead cylinder
enclosed a glass vial carefully corked and sealed. The bottle was
wrapped in flannel. Jack could not withstand the temptation of pulling
it out and looking at it. He hardly knew what he had expected to see,
but he was distinctly disappointed, as was Tom, to find that the
carefully protected vial contained nothing more than some dark, almost
black, stuff that looked like sand. In it were particles that
glittered like mica.
"Pshaw!" he exclaimed in a disappointed tone, "nothing but a bottle
full of sand. Wonder why in the world that fellow carried trash like
that so carefully wrapped up for?"
The solution of the question, which was near at hand, was to have an
important bearing on the lives of the Boy Inventors, and that in the
immediate future.