MOTOR STORIES
THRILLING
ADVENTURE
MOTOR
FICTION
NO. 19
JULY 3, 1909
FIVE
CENTS
MOTOR MATT'S
DEFIANCE
_OR_
AROUND
THE HORN
_By THE AUTHOR
of "MOTOR MATT"_
[Illustration: _"Clear away the boat if you can!"
shouted Glennie. "Hooray for Motor Matt!"_]
_STREET & SMITH,
PUBLISHERS,
NEW YORK._
MOTOR STORIES
THRILLING ADVENTURE MOTOR FICTION
_Issued Weekly. By subscription $2.50 per year. Entered according to
Act of Congress in the year 1909, in the Office of the Librarian of
Congress, Washington, D. C., by_ STREET & SMITH, _79-89 Seventh Avenue,
New York, N. Y._
No. 19. NEW YORK, July 3, 1909. Price Five Cents.
MOTOR MATT'S DEFIANCE
OR,
AROUND THE HORN.
By the author of "MOTOR MATT."
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I. TELLTALE SPARKS.
CHAPTER II. CLIPPING THE DRAGON'S CLAWS.
CHAPTER III. THE OVERTURNED BOAT.
CHAPTER IV. GALLANT WORK.
CHAPTER V. THE FIVE CHILIANS.
CHAPTER VI. TREACHERY.
CHAPTER VII. TURNING THE TABLES.
CHAPTER VIII. THE MAN-OF-WAR.
CHAPTER IX. ABOARD THE "SALVADORE."
CHAPTER X. THE TIGHTENING COIL.
CHAPTER XI. DICK ON HIS METTLE.
CHAPTER XII. DESPERATE MEASURES.
CHAPTER XIII. A DIVE FOR LIBERTY.
CHAPTER XIV. ENGLISH REACH.
CHAPTER XV. SANDOVAL EXPLAINS.
CHAPTER XVI. NORTHWARD BOUND!
THE SPIDER WATER.
BEAVER IN PERIL OF EXTINCTION IN MICHIGAN.
RARE CAGE BIRDS.
CHARACTERS THAT APPEAR IN THIS STORY.
=Motor Matt=, a lad who is at home with every variety of motor, and
whose never-failing nerve serves to carry him through difficulties
that would daunt any ordinary young fellow. Because of his daring
as a racer with bicycle, motor-cycle and automobile he is known as
"Mile-a-minute Matt." Motor-boats, air ships and submarines come
naturally in his line, and consequently he lives in an atmosphere of
adventure in following up his "hobby."
=Carl Pretzel=, a cheerful and rollicking German boy, stout of frame
as well as of heart, who is led by a fortunate accident to link his
fortunes with those of Motor Matt.
=Dick Ferral=, a young sea dog from Canada, with all a sailor's
superstitions, but in spite of all that a royal chum, ready to stand
by the friend of his choice through thick and thin.
=John Henry Glennie, Ensign, U. S. N.=, representing the U. S.
Government on board the _Grampus_ during her long trip around South
America.
=Captain Enrique Sandoval=, of the Chilian warship _Salvadore_, a
sailor who has a faculty for gathering wrong opinions, and an equal
facility for setting himself right and doing justice to those whom
his mistaken ideas have wronged.
=Captain Ichi=, and other officers as well as the crew of the
mysterious steamship which plays many parts and sails under many
flags, the Sons of the Rising Sun, fanatic patriots of Young Japan,
to whom nothing is considered valueless that benefits Nippon!
=Garcia and his four comrades=, escaped convicts from the penal
settlement at Punta Arenas.
=Gaines, Speake and Clackett=, crew of the _Grampus_.
CHAPTER I.
TELLTALE SPARKS.
"We have finished repainting the ship, Captain Ichi."
"Very good, lieutenant."
"What flag shall we fly?"
"Where are we?"
"Off Cape Virgins."
"Then break out the Chilian ensign, lieutenant. My compliments to the
officer of the deck, and tell him to double the lookout and have a
sharp watch kept. If we raise a Chilian ship, haul down the flag, and
run up the British flag; if a British ship is sighted, then haul German
bunting to the gaff. In any other event, leave the Chilian flag flying.
Eternal vigilance is the price of our success for our beloved country,
lieutenant."
"Banzai, captain."
"Banzai, Nippon!"
"Any other orders, Captain Ichi?"
"Watch the wireless. As soon as anything is received, let me know."
"Ay, ay, sir."
The swarthy little lieutenant withdrew, his slant eyes gleaming. A few
minutes later he clattered to the bridge and repeated Captain Ichi's
orders to the officer of the deck, then, descending, he walked to the
door of the wireless room.
"Anything yet, Kaneko?" he inquired, lounging in the door.
A young man in his shirt sleeves bent over a table, the wireless
"receivers" pushed close to his ears and held there by his fingers. At
sight of the lieutenant, whose lips he could see moving, although his
stopped ears had not allowed him to hear the question, Kaneko removed
the helmet.
"Nothing yet, lieutenant," said he. "I have been two hours getting the
instrument to spark properly. A damp helix and a feeble motor were the
cause; but now I am ready, and waiting."
"Captain Ichi must know as soon as anything is received."
"I shall inform him immediately, lieutenant."
The lieutenant turned away from the door and passed to the port rail.
The steamer was standing off and on the coast near the entrance to
Magellan Strait. As the lieutenant peered landward, he surveyed the
cape, and the long spit of low, sandy land stretching southward. He
was somewhat familiar with the English coast, and this South American
headland he likened to Berry Head, at the north of Torbay.
Turning from the rail, the lieutenant lifted his eyes to where the
phosphor-bronze aërials swung between the mastheads, the wires of each
"T" held rigidly apart by their wooden stretchers. A passionate look
flamed into his yellow face and gleamed from his slant eyes.
"Come, honorable Hertzian waves," he murmured, with a queer gesture of
appeal directed at the swinging wires; "give the Sons of the Rising Sun
the telltale sparks, the beautiful blue sparks! Let them spell success
for Nippon and disaster for the American submarine!"
Taking a little image from his pocket--the image of a sitting
Buddha--the lieutenant placed it on the heaving deck and prostrated
himself before it. Then, in low breath, he murmured his supplications
to the senseless ebony. In the midst of his appeal, a stifled crashing
sound came from the wireless room. Starting to his feet, the lieutenant
caught up the little idol and returned it to his pocket. Exultation
arose to his lips, for his upward-turning eyes saw a blue spark
wavering at the ends of the aërials, and to his ears came the hiss and
crackle of broken sound as the wires plunged back and forth with the
roll of the ship.
The operator appeared in the door of the "station" and nodded. The
lieutenant rushed aft to notify the captain.
Presently Captain Ichi arrived in the wireless room and sank into a
chair by the table.
"Getting anything important, Kaneko?"
The operator shook his head respectfully and continued to listen and to
pencil what he heard on a tab of paper. Finally he settled back in his
chair.
"There's a wireless station at Punta Arenas, in the strait, captain,"
said he.
"Then it must have been recently put there," answered Captain Ichi.
"The Chilians also have a convict settlement at the place."
"Every one knows that."
"Punta Arenas is calling the Chilian war ship _Salvadore_."
Captain Ichi wrinkled his brows.
"Your instrument is perfectly tuned with the one at Punta Arenas,
Kaneko?"
"Perfectly, captain."
"And you can send in the Spanish so that the trick could not be
detected?"
"I know the Spanish as well as I know my native tongue."
"Then answer," was the calm reply. "Say this is the _Salvadore_ and ask
what Punta Arenas wants."
There was not a quiver in the captain's voice, and not a tremor in
Kaneko's fingers as he caught the handle of the big key. Slowly but
firmly he worked the key up and down. A blue spark exploded in the
gap between the brass knobs of the discharging rods. Sounds like the
explosion of firecrackers echoed through the room.
Throwing off his switch, Kaneko jerked the phones over his ears. The
captain watched Kaneko's pencil moving over the white paper.
"Five convicts escaped from Punta Arenas last night in a sloop-rigged
boat. Watch for them."
The captain studied the words; then, taking his pencil, he wrote
underneath:
"Very well. Anything else?"
Kaneko sent the message. Five minutes, ten minutes, passed; then came
the question:
"Is that the Chilian gunboat _Salvadore_?"
"Yes," lied the blue, telltale sparks.
"The United States submarine, in charge of one Matt King, is going
around the Horn. Watch for her; pay her a visit if you can, and have
the craft carefully looked over. The submarine _Grampus_ is a marvel
of her kind, and a long way ahead of any other under-water boat yet
launched."
A shout of exultation escaped the captain.
"Where is the submarine now?" he penciled, with shaking fingers.
"Three days out from the River Plate," was the answer, "and must be
well below Cape Virgins by now."
"We will watch for her."
"Try to pick her up before she gets far into the Pacific."
"We will try."
As the spark and sputter ceased, Kaneko jerked off his helmet. Captain
Ichi had leaped to his feet, and now reached out to grip the operator's
hand.
"For the present, Kaneko," he cried, "this is the Chilian war ship
_Salvadore_, and we of the Young Samurai are in the Chilian naval
service."
"That is good, captain!"
"The _Grampus_ will be expecting a call from us," pursued the captain.
"Who knows but the United States authorities have asked the Chilian
government to have the _Salvadore_ meet the submarine and escort her to
Valparaiso, thus affording her protection from the Sons of the Rising
Sun?"
"Exactly so, captain! We shall find the _Grampus_, and we shall prevent
her from falling into the hands of the United States Government at Mare
Island."
"We shall!" and a look of grim determination crossed the captain's face
as he moved hurriedly toward the door.
"Banzai, Nippon!" called Kaneko.
Captain Ichi, pausing a moment, pulled a flag of his island empire from
his pocket and pressed it to his lips. Just outside the door of the
wireless room he met the lieutenant, repeating to him what had taken
place in the "station." The lieutenant slapped his hands ecstatically.
"We will call on these Americans who are taking the submarine to Mare
Island," said the lieutenant. "It is a rare chance to accomplish our
work, Captain Ichi!"
"There could not be a better chance! If possible, the submarine must
be destroyed in these southern waters. That, you know, will give us an
opportunity to change the color of our vessel and continue our peaceful
cruising toward Europe! Our government will never know that we were the
ones who destroyed this menace to our beloved Nippon!"
"If they knew it at home----"
The lieutenant did not finish, but winced and shrugged his shoulders.
"We should be heavily punished. Even if the United States found it out,
their government would demand that we be hung."
"Harikari before that!"
"Harikari? Yes--perhaps that may be best, anyway. We have but one life
to give for Nippon."
"And we have vowed to give it! Captain, may I be one of those who visit
the _Grampus_?"
Captain Ichi shook his head.
"I am sorry," said he, "but those who put off to the submarine must
have _straight eyes_! This Motor Matt is one of the sharpest Americans
I ever had anything to do with. Slant eyes, lieutenant, would prove
that we are not Chilians. Only those who have such eyes can go in the
boat."
"She is below the cape?"
"So Punta Arenas reports."
The captain turned and made his way to the bridge. There were two
lookouts at the masthead, each watching the surface of the ocean with
powerful binoculars.
Captain Ichi gave the quartermaster his course and signaled the engine
room for the best speed.
The steamer, flaunting her false colors, bore swiftly away to the
southward and toward Cape Horn, bent upon an act of treachery which, to
the misguided minds of officers and crew, seemed an act of the highest
patriotism.