ALL SET.
After the girls left the restaurant on the eve of their return trip,
John and Jack went back to their table and smoked a while in silence.
Both had been surprised by the boldness of Marjorie’s plan; yet both
attached importance to the fact that she had considered it necessary to
summon them from Chicago for assistance. And each young man secretly
entertained a feeling of pride at her dependence.
“Well, what do you think there is to it?” asked Jack.
“Something, of course,” replied John. “Marjorie never goes off at a
tangent.”
“I’d like to meet these Crowell fellows,” observed the other.
“Well, we did meet those two chaps at Mae’s—and you know I didn’t think
much of them. I have to admit I’ve been sort of worried all summer,
though I hardly expected anything like this.”
“You agree with Marj that they’ll try something again?”
“I do—and I don’t,” replied John, thoughtfully. “If they’re as scheming
as your sister believes them to be, they’ll see that she is on. Yet, as
she says, they’d hate to kiss all that money goodbye.”
“You bet!” agreed Jack. “But I can’t conceive that they would try to
pull off anything serious, as Marj seems to think probable. Two young
fellows of their type would have more sense.”
“No, neither can I—if they try to work the stunt themselves. The thing
that worries me is that they might hire some one else to do their dirty
work for them—a couple of desperate characters, for instance, who
wouldn’t know where to stop.”
“That’s so!” frowned Jack. “Gee! I’m glad we’re here! We’ll have to be
on the job all the time, and never let them get out of our sight. The
first thing we want to do is to get a car—not a flivver, but a good,
fast car—that will keep up with theirs.”
“I guess we could hire a car of that description,” nodded John.
“But where? No one out here knows who we are, and people don’t hire out
good cars to perfect strangers, you know.”
“That’s true,” acknowledged John, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
Suddenly he struck the table with his fist. “I have it! My firm has a
branch office in this city, and the fellow who is manager learned his
job in the same office with me. We were great chums. I’ll call Ted
Fisher on the phone, and he’ll be able to help us out.”
“Good!” exclaimed Jack. “Let’s clear out of here and get a move on.”
They called for their bill, and then made for the nearest phone. The
friend was located without difficulty in the telephone directory, and a
moment later John was in a booth holding an animated conversation. Jack,
who was waiting outside, saw John hang up and come out smiling.
“Ted’s going to look after us!” he announced, gleefully. “He even says
he thinks he can get us a car just like the girls’ so that, barring
accidents, they’ll not be able to travel faster than we can. We’re to
wait here for Ted; he’ll be along in ten minutes.”
“I was just thinking while you were in there phoning,” mused Jack.
“Suppose we are able to hire a car, and trail the girls all the way to
Lima without anything happening. Who is going to drive the car back?”
“That would be a jolt, now wouldn’t it?” considered John, thoughtfully.
“But why worry about that now? We’ll take a tip from General Grant, and
cross that bridge when we come to it!”
“What’s General Grant got to do with it?” said Jack mournfully. “He
won’t be in Lima to drive the car back.”
John threw back his head and laughed heartily.
“I had in mind that story of how, when someone asked him what retreat he
had provided for in case a certain offensive failed, he said ‘We’re not
going to retreat!’ If nothing happens, I guess we can get in touch with
the owner of the car and have him send on some reliable person to drive
it back. But why worry? It is my opinion, that if those fellows are
going to interfere, they’ll do it before they get too far from home; for
why should they be any more anxious than we are to take such a long
drive. Their absence might cause suspicion.”
Here John turned to greet a tall young man who was advancing upon him
with outstretched hand. “Hello, Ted!”
“Hadley, old man, you’re the last person in the world I expected to see
out here! How come?”
“It’s a long story,” replied John, introducing him to Jack.
“Jack Wilkinson, did you say?” exclaimed Ted Fisher, shaking Jack’s
hand. “Why, I remember that name well. You were John’s side-partner in
several other enterprises. Now, what are you two up to? I hope you’ll
surrender yourselves to my tender mercies for this evening, at least.”
“We’re yours for this evening, Ted, with pleasure,” acquiesced John.
“And we are depending on you to get that car for us.”
“Yes, I think I can do that. Let’s go; I have my own outside.”
When they were in the car, he asked:
“Do you mind telling what you want the car for, or is it a secret?”
John looked at Jack, who nodded his head approvingly; and they proceeded
to outline their plans, without divulging any names.
“Some adventure!” remarked John’s friend. “I wish I could go with you
myself!”
They stopped before a public garage and entered the office where a man
sat working at a roll-top desk. He rose respectfully when he recognized
their companion.
“Good evening, Captain. What can I do for you?”
“Tom, here are two very good friends of mine, Mr. Hadley and Mr.
Wilkinson. They must have a car for a week or so. And Tom, Mr. Hadley is
a cracker-jack automobile man, and I know for a fact that he would take
better care of a machine than I would; so I want you to let him have the
one I used while mine was being overhauled. I’ll guarantee that it will
come back to you in as good shape as when it leaves.”
“When do you want it? I had it out the other night and picked up a
phonograph needle in the rear tire.”
“Tomorrow morning, at six o’clock. And the puncture won’t matter, Tom. I
want you to put on four brand-new tires, of the best make in your shop.
And you’d better put a new spare on the back. Charge ’em to me. And as a
special favor, I want you personally to give the engine a thorough
looking over, and see that she has all the oil and gas she’ll carry. By
six A. M., Tom.”
“She’ll be ready. We’ll start to work right away. Shall we take a look
at her?”
They stepped out into the garage, where Tom called to two mechanics who
were working on an expensive limousine.
“Come on, you guys. Put that prairie schooner on the shelf for a while.”
“Mr. Hughes is coming for this tomorrow morning,” observed one of the
men, hesitating.
“I know. Let Mr. Hughes wait! This is a special job for Mr. Fisher.”
They followed the foreman over to the far corner of the garage where two
big low touring cars with streamline bodies stood side by side.
“What’s this, Tom, what’s this? Which is our car?” asked Fisher.
The two machines were identical. Except for the fact that one showed
signs of having been on the road lately, while the other was clean and
bright with a new set of tires, it would have been hard to tell them
apart.
“Twins, by Jove!” exclaimed Jack.
John, when he beheld the newer car, started violently and stared in
silence.
The foreman, Tom, was chuckling to himself.
“Sister ships, I call ’em. Funny thing; here you come, asking me to put
our car in A1 condition, with a new set of tires, by six o’clock
tomorrow. We’ve just finished doing the same thing to this one for a
party of Girl Scouts. They’re comin’ for her at eight o’clock tomorrow;
they motored here all the way from Philadelphia, and they’re startin’
back tomorrow. Some girls!”
All three young men exchanged amused glances during this recital. It was
evident that the girls’ performance had gained the man’s admiration.
“The car looks fine after coming all that distance,” remarked John,
carelessly. “They must have taken good care of it. Is it in good shape
for the return?”
“Fine! These are some cars! I asked the young lady who seemed to be the
leader of the crowd how they came to pick out this particular make, and
she said a friend of hers who knew cars picked it out. I’ll say he knew
something. Well, I got to get to work if you gentlemen are to have this
boat by six o’clock.”
When they reached the street, Jack exclaimed, “Talk about luck! You’d
better hold on to me, Hadley, or I’ll be doing a war-dance right here on
the pavement!”
“Ted, you wonderful fellow!” cried John. “When I called on you for help
I had an idea it would be a good deal like rubbing a magical lamp, but
you’re a far more powerful genie than I ever dreamed. What’s the secret
of your hold on that man Tom?”
Ted Fisher looked pleased at the obvious appreciation of the two
friends. Yet he hesitated before he answered:
“Maybe I never told you I was captain of a dough-boy outfit in France
during the war. Tom was one of my sergeants. Well,—one night I helped
him get out of a tight place; so I’m sort of special pet of his. That’s
all. Tom’s the best automobile mechanic I know of. He said you could
have the car by six o’clock; so you can depend on him. Now forget it.
You said you were mine for the evening, you know.”
And he motioned them into the waiting car.