NEWS OF MR. JACKSON
“You feel better already, don’t you, Ned?” asked Jerry a little later,
following a brisk discussion of the possible plans for locating Mr.
Jackson.
“I believe I do,” answered the son of the department-store proprietor.
“It’s always a relief to be busy when you have trouble, for it takes it
off your mind.”
“Yes, and we’ll find that Mr. Jackson, too,” declared Bob, with energy.
“I hope so,” added Ned. “But now, what about this new hydroplane
business, Jerry? I can listen now with some attention since I’ve told
you what was on my mind.”
“Good! Then I hope you’ll agree with me,” and Jerry proceeded to
describe in detail what he proposed doing.
Ned listened attentively, and asked several questions, showing that he
understood the plan proposed by his chum.
“Now then, Ned, are you with me or against me?” demanded Jerry, at
length.
“Against him!” put in Bob eagerly. “Don’t let him spoil the _Comet_!”
“I’ll not spoil her,” cried Jerry. “Let Ned speak for himself, Chunky.”
“Then I’m for it!” exclaimed Ned, with sudden energy. “It’s quite a
radical change, but I think it will be a good one. We may want to make
a trip over water, but until I can help out my father I’m not going to
do much else, so I can’t be of any aid to you, Jerry.”
“Oh, that’s all right. We have all summer to make the changes in, and
Bob and I can be doing part of it at odd times, while you’re working
with your father on the books. Of course, I mean when we’re not looking
for Mr. Jackson; eh, Bob?”
“Do you think I’m going to help?” demanded the stout lad.
“Well, you’re in the minority, and you always said the majority ought
to govern. We’re two to your one.”
“Oh, all right, go ahead!” exclaimed Bob, with a gesture of despair.
“Put a bath-room in the _Comet_ if you like, and I suppose I’ll have to
stand for it.”
“No, you can lie down when you take a bath,” observed Ned, with a grin,
and his chums laughed, taking it as a sign that the lad was forgetting
some of his worries.
“Then we’ll go ahead when we get the chance,” observed Jerry. “But now
let’s go down to your father’s store, Ned, and tell him we are on the
job.”
“And get some idea of where to hunt for this mysterious Mr. Jackson,”
suggested Bob.
“Sure--yes,” agreed Jerry.
“Oh, I don’t know that he’s so mysterious,” remarked Ned. “It’s only
that he is a very busy man, and has so many interests--railroads,
mines, ships, building canals and trolley lines--so many irons in the
fire, that he may be in New York one day, and off for London or San
Francisco the next. That’s why he’s so hard to get hold of.
“Then, too, he’s interested in some kind of sport, I heard dad say.
Yachting or motoring or something like that, I can’t just remember, and
he’s likely to be off on a trip. Even his secretary doesn’t know where
to find him sometimes, and when you stop to consider that the men who
are working against my father have some interests in common with Mr.
Jackson, and don’t want him to know of my father’s trouble, you can
see that it’s going to be no easy proposition.”
“Wouldn’t a letter reach him?” inquired Bob, as he got ready to
accompany his chums out of the house.
“We’ve tried letters and telegrams,” explained Ned. “None of them are
any good. I heard dad say that sometimes letters follow Mr. Jackson
half way around the globe, and even then he doesn’t get them. Oh, he’s
a hard man to get in touch with!”
“But we’ll do it!” declared Jerry, when they were on their way to the
department store.
Mr. Slade was both surprised and pleased when his son, and the latter’s
two chums, came into the office, and Ned had explained the decision at
which they had arrived.
“Boys!” exclaimed the merchant, “I don’t know how to thank you for your
offer. I needn’t say that it is going to be quite a task, for Ned has
explained what a peculiar man Mr. Jackson is, but I like your spirit.
I knew you and Ned were quite chummy, and had been through lots of
adventure together, but I never imagined that you’d prove a friend to
the older folks in the family.
“It is certainly very good of you, and I appreciate it more than I can
tell. I’m afraid, though, that it will break up your vacation plans.”
“Not at all,” Jerry assured Mr. Slade. “We may get more fun out of
hunting for Mr. Jackson than you imagine. We’ll try for him in the
auto, and if that doesn’t catch him we’ll get after him in the motor
boat, and as a last resort----”
“The airship, with the new hydroplane feature!” put in Ned with a laugh.
“Exactly,” agreed Jerry. “But, Mr. Slade, if we are to find this odd
man, we ought to have something to work on. Where was he located last?”
“Out in San Francisco,” was the reply. “But where he went from there
no one seems to know. He started East to inspect a new railroad he
is building, and from then on all trace of him has been lost. I have
agents in various parts of the country trying to get a trace of him,
but so far--”
Mr. Slade was interrupted by the sudden ringing of the telephone bell.
He swung around to his desk, in the private office where the talk was
taking place, and unhooked the receiver. The boys listened to the
one-sided conversation.
“Yes--yes,” said Mr. Slade eagerly. “What’s that? He is? Are you
sure it’s the same man? In Boston, you say--No, just outside--what’s
that? The name of the place is Durham? Yes, I get it. Oh, say, I’m
ever so much obliged to you, Burkhardt. Yes, I’ll get right after
him. In fact, I have some friends of mine here in the office now who
are anxious to start off on the quest. Yes, they’re friends of Ned.
Good-bye!”
Mr. Slade turned to the three chums.
“Boys!” he cried, “I have a trace of Mr. Jackson. He was in Boston
yesterday, and is now stopping at a health resort in Durham, resting up
after a hard business campaign.”
“In Durham!” cried Jerry. “That’s not far from here. We could do it
in one day in the auto! We’re on his trail at last! Come on, fellows,
let’s get ready for the trip!”