The Motor Boys After a Fortune; or, The Hut on Snake Island

by Clarence Young

  CHAPTER V

  NODDY’S PLOT DEVELOPS

  There was a moment of silence following Bob’s announcement. Then Jerryremarked:

  “Well, go ahead, Chunky, and let’s see what you’ve got up your sleeve.Are you going to suggest a wireless airship ride, or a motorless auto?”

  “Neither one,” said Bob. “But I was going to say I didn’t see why wecouldn’t go in our motor boat as far as Pittsburg, pick up the autothere, when it’s finished, go on in that to Denver, get the airship andthen keep on to Snake Island. I think----”

  “Say, that’s all to the ice cream!” burst out Ned. “Bob, you have got ahead on your shoulders after all. That’s a fine idea, I think.”

  “So do I,” agreed Jerry. “But can we go all the way to Pittsburg bywater?”

  “Sure,” declared Bob. “Where’s a map? Ned, hunt up a geography.” Onewas soon found and then the boys, bending over it, saw that by usingthe river that flowed past their town for a number of miles, gettinginto a little lake, and thence into another river, they could, by meansof a small canal get into a small river flowing into the Alleghany.

  “We’d have to have the boat carted about five miles, but all the restof the way we can go by water,” explained Bob. “As soon as we hit theAlleghany we’ll be all right. What do you say, Professor?”

  “Anything you boys decide on will suit me,” answered the scientist, whowas still busy making notes. “I want to get that two-tailed toad, andI’ll do anything in reason to secure a specimen. It strikes me thatBob’s plan is a good one.”

  “It won’t be monotonous, at any rate,” commented Ned. “A motor boat, anauto and an aeroplane and dirigible balloon combined, ought to furnisha variety of travel that would suit almost any one. I think it’s justthe cheese, myself.”

  “Then we’ll do it,” decided Jerry. “I’ll write to Mr. Glassford, andthe auto firm right away, and we can mail the letters on our way home,Bob. I’ve got to be going soon. I told mother I’d go calling with herthis afternoon, but I’ve been here nearly all day.”

  The letters were soon written, and then Jerry and Bob taking leaveof Ned, started for their homes. Professor Snodgrass also sent wordof the prospective trip to the college authorities by whom he wasengaged. The scientist arranged to stay at Ned’s house until the timeof starting.

  “Let’s go have a look at the broken dam,” proposed Bob when Jerry haddropped the letters in the box. Accordingly they went a short distanceout of their way, down to the river. The excitement of the morning hadpassed, and there was only a small crowd watching the mill men at work.The waters had now subsided, but it would be some time before the damwould be in shape to again hold back the stream, and provide power forthe turbine.

  “It was a hot time while it lasted,” remarked Jerry.

  “It sure was,” agreed his chum. “I wonder how Noddy is getting on?”

  “Oh, all right, I guess. He’s so tough it takes a good deal to hurthim. I suppose we’ll hear from his folks.”

  The motor boys did, a few days later, Mr. Nixon sending Bob, Ned andJerry a formal note of thanks for what they had done for his son. Noddywas getting on all right, his father said, and would soon be out ofbed. From Noddy himself no word came.

  “I don’t wish him any bad luck,” spoke Ned, “but I hope he stays in beda couple of weeks.”

  “Why?” asked Jerry.

  “So he won’t have a chance to interfere with us. I’d like to getstarted on our radium trip before he’s up and nosing around.”

  “Why, he doesn’t even know we’re thinking of it,” put in Bob. “How canhe interfere?”

  “Well, somehow or other, he has always, more or less, made trouble forus whenever we go off on trips,” went on Ned. “I don’t know how it is,but it generally happens. Maybe this will be an exception.”

  “How soon before we can start?” asked Bob.

  “Not for a couple of weeks,” replied Jerry. “School closes a week fromto-day, and then it will take us a week to get ready after that. Wehaven’t much time now, on account of examinations. I’ve got to do somehard studying to pass.”

  “So have I,” admitted Bob. “Well, then, we’ll say in a couple of weeks.Maybe Noddy won’t be around by then, and we’ll be all right. Did youhear from Mr. Glassford, Jerry?”

  “Yes, and he says he’ll have the _Comet_ all ready for us. He won’tbe there himself, as he has to come east, but he’s paid a man to takecharge of the motorship for us. The auto will be ready in two weeks,also, for I had a letter from the factory where they’re repairing it. Iwrote to ’em to make a few changes in it, to bring it up to date. Ourmotor boat, the _Dartaway_, needs a little overhauling, and then thatwill be in shape.”

  Following the smashing of the original _Dartaway_ in the freight wreck,the boys had bought a much larger and finer craft, with a cabin, andhad named it after their first boat.

  Their auto I have described in previous books. It was a large touringcar, with plenty of room for the passengers and also compartments wherefood and supplies could be carried, and also a small tent with foldingcots, so that in case they desired they could camp out wherever nightovertook them. Recently a closed body had been put on the car, so thatit was very comfortable to travel in, even during a storm.

  The motorship _Comet_ I have also described in other books, so I willonly mention it briefly here. It was a combination of an aeroplane anddirigible balloon, and could be used as either or both.

  The gas used in the bag was manufactured on board, as needed, and therewas a comfortable cabin, sleeping berths and an engine room, fairlyfilled with motors, dynamos, air pumps, a gas generator and many othermechanical contrivances. The motorship could be kept aloft a number ofdays, and plenty of food and supplies could be carried, in addition toseveral passengers. It was an ideal craft of the air.

  In the days that followed the motor boys were kept busy. When they werenot “boning” away over their lessons they were getting the _Dartaway_in readiness for the trip. Professor Snodgrass remained as the guest ofMr. Slade, and the scientist spent most of his time wandering about thewoods and fields looking for rare bugs.

  “I’m just as anxious to start as you boys are,” he said to them oneday, when he had paid a visit to the dock where the boat was tied up,and where Bob, Ned and Jerry were cleaning the engine, and overhaulingthe mechanism.

  “Well, it won’t be long now,” remarked Jerry. “To-morrow ends school,and then--for the best vacation we ever had!”

  “And the radium fortune!” added Bob.

  “Hush!” suddenly exclaimed the tall lad.

  “What’s the matter? Did you see Noddy Nixon?”

  “No, but there’s his crony, Bill Berry, in that boat,” and Jerry noddedtoward a rowing craft which a shabbily dressed man was propelling upstream. “He’s pretending to be fishing,” went on Jerry in a low voice,“but I believe he’s just spying around here to see what we’re up to.”

  “That’s so,” admitted Bob. “I must keep quiet. But I’m glad it wasn’tNoddy. I guess he isn’t out of bed yet,” and the boys kept on withtheir work, the professor strolling off to see if he could get anyspecimens, while Bill Berry rowed around a bend of the river, and soout of sight.

  But Bob was mistaken about Noddy not being out of bed. That bully hadgotten up for the first time that day, and, even while our heroes weretalking of him, he was sitting in the parlor of his father’s house,trying to evolve in his mind a plan for learning more about the radium,said to be located on Snake Island.

  “I’ll need some one to help me,” mused Noddy. “I can take Bill Berry,of course, but I need some scientific fellow who will know radium whenhe sees it, for I don’t, and Bill certainly couldn’t tell it from alump of coal. I wonder what I can do?”

  At that moment the door bell rang, and, as the servant happened to beout, Noddy answered it. He saw, standing on the steps, a tall, lankman, whom the word “sleek” seemed to describe better than any other.The caller wore a long black coa
t, a flowing black tie, and had a tallhat, while he carried a small valise in his hand.

  “Ah, good afternoon,” began the stranger, smiling at Noddy. “I believeI am speaking to the owner of the house?”

  “No, my father owns it,” replied Noddy, not a little proud of beingtaken for the head of the home. “But I can do any business, I guess. Ioften help my father. His name is Nixon--I’m Noddy Nixon.”

  “Oh, yes, I have heard of you. Your father is known to me byreputation, and I have called to see him, as I have in the case of anumber of the most prominent men in town. But I fear I will have to seeMr. Nixon personally.”

  “Won’t I do?” asked Noddy. “I know a lot about my father’s affairs.”

  “Well, I’ll tell you, and you can judge for yourself,” went on theman, as he entered the parlor and sat down. “I am Dr. Kirk Belgrade,head of the Mortaby Scientific School, a very important institution oflearning. I am traveling about, seeking to enlarge the scope of ourwork, and, naturally I came to Mr. Nixon. I understand that he wasone of the endowers of a number of colleges, and I thought perhaps hewould give us a contribution. We confer degrees on those who aid usfinancially, and there are a number of scholarships available. Perhapsyou yourself might be interested in taking up a new line of study.”

  “I don’t know,” replied Noddy. “I go to a boarding school now, but itisn’t very good. I might change. Where is your school?”

  “Well--er--that is--well, to be frank we have no fixed place orheadquarters,” said Dr. Belgrade. “The Mortaby Scientific School is asort of correspondence institution. Our pupils are located all over theworld, and they get their lessons by mail, and also recite by mail.There is a good profit in it, and I’m sure if your father invested hewould get a large return for his money. Some of the other prominent menin town have given me encouragement.”

  “Did you go to Mr. Slade, or Mr. Baker--or to Mrs. Hopkins--she’s arich widow?” asked Jerry.

  “I did call on Mr. Slade and Mr. Baker, but I regret to say thatthey--er--they turned me down,” replied the educator with an oilysmile. “They said they did not believe in my methods. But I assure youthat they are most up to date. I will call on Mrs. Hopkins, at yoursuggestion, however.”

  “Better not,” advised Noddy with a grin. “She and the Slades and Bakersare all alike. They don’t want anything new. I know ’em. But maybe myfather would invest. He’ll soon be home, and you can wait if you like.”

  “Very well, I will. I’ll show you some of our literature. I am oneof the principal instructors. In fact I may say that I am the wholeschool, for all the other instructors come to me for advice. Just toshow you how up to date we are, I will mention that we have a smalllaboratory----”

  “Oh, say,” interrupted Noddy eagerly. “Do you happen to know anythingabout radium?”

  “Radium?” replied the visitor. “Of course I do--a great deal. Why, toshow you how advanced my college course is, let me say that we have asmall quantity of radium for experimental purposes.”

  “You have!” exclaimed the bully, with increased eagerness. “The realarticle?”

  “Radium, I do assure you, the genuine article,” said Dr. Belgrade. “Ido not care to state just how I came into possession of it, but it isin our laboratory.”

  “But I thought you said you had no school building,” said Noddy,suspiciously.

  “Well, the laboratory is in my house, next to the bath room,” explainedthe instructor. “It is not a very large laboratory, but I hope toextend it soon. I need money, and I hope----”

  “Radium!” interrupted Noddy. “Radium is worth money; isn’t it?”

  “I should say it was, Mr. Nixon.”

  “Would you like to know where to get some?”

  “Would I? I would give up my present plans, turn my students over to anassistant, and travel a long way if I knew where to find some. Why doyou ask?” and the man looked eagerly at Noddy.

  “Do you know radium when you see it?” asked the bully.

  “Indeed I do. I have made a special study of it, and I can detect itin any form. I am not boasting when I say that there are few who areany better informed about radium than I am. But what do you mean? Is itpossible that you have some radium?”

  “I haven’t it,” said Noddy in a low voice, “but I know where there issome. I’m glad you happened to call. I’ll tell you all about it, andmaybe we can go together.” Noddy got up and closed the parlor door,shutting himself in the room with the sleek educator. Next he quicklyunfolded to him the plot he had formed, after having overheard what ourheroes had said about Snake Island.

  “Is it possible!” gasped Dr. Belgrade, when Noddy had finished. “Is itpossible!”

  “It must be, or those fellows wouldn’t plan to go after it,” repliedNoddy. “But I’m going to get ahead of them, if you’ll help me. Willyou?”

  “Will I? Well, I guess I will! Now let’s make some plans. With yourfather to finance our expedition, we may all become millionaires!” andthe head of the correspondence college rubbed his hands together andsmiled at Noddy encouragingly.