CHAPTER XIII
AROUND THE GOLD CUP CIRCUIT
Phil's "hello!" was none too cordial, but glad under any circumstancesto meet someone from home, and quite overjoyed to show the Auto Boysthat the Chosen Trio were on the spot, Perth was hastening forward.
Again Way looked anxiously in all directions, trying vainly to learnwhence his friends had so mysteriously fled. No sight or sound of themcould he discover.
"Got your car running again sooner'n you expected, didn't you?" grinnedFreddy, coming close up. "When did you get in?"
"Not sooner than _we_ expected--sooner than _you_ expected, wasn't it?"responded Phil. "Haven't been here long. You came in this morning."
"How'd you know?" Perth demanded with a searching look.
"Bird told me," Phil smiled. "Where you staying?"
"Ask the bird that, too!" grinned Freddy.
"Well, see you later. Be here for the races, I take it," Way laughed,not at all put out by Perth's adroit reply to his own question. With alittle wave of the hand he walked quickly away; but a glance over hisshoulder a minute later assured him that Perth, Gaines and Pickton werefollowing not far behind. The latter two had loitered in the backgroundwhile the conversation with Fred was taking place.
If Phil was astonished to find himself so unexpectedly alone, it wasapparent that the Trio were scarcely less so. Perth was certain he hadseen Billy Worth at the same moment he had first seen Way. What hadbecome of Billy and where were Dave and Paul?
Phil, himself, would have given something at this particular moment tohave been able to answer these questions. Meanwhile it was obvious hisfirst task was to escape from the three who followed. Where was Gaines'Roadster? If he could lead the Trio far enough from their car that theywould not have that means of pursuit, it might be that Billy and therest would come along in the Thirty, pick him up and thus enable all tomake their escape quite readily.
Acting on this thought, Phil turned into the first residence streetintersecting Main, the business thoroughfare. Even now he was but a fewblocks distant from where the Thirty had been left. Surely, he reasoned,some one of his friends would be watching the direction he took. One ofthem would manage, some way, to get into communication with him, even ifthey did not come dashing up with the machine and effect his rescue.
Was it an instance of telepathy--the action of Billy's mind, or Paul'sor Dave's or of all three, upon Phil Way's--that caused the latter tothink of a sudden, rapid dash in the car, after the Trio had been led asafe distance from their own machine, as a likely means of escapingthem? Such a thing is not impossible. It is not, indeed, improbable. Andyet, although stranger instances of thought transference have been fullyproved, it may have been after all only a coincidence that the plan thatcame into Phil's mind was exactly the one Billy Worth suggested to Pauland David and which they prepared to put into execution.
Very luckily had Worth made a dive into the crowd the moment he foundhimself and Phil observed by Freddy Perth. Thinking Way followed, hecalled with a quick gasp to MacLester and Jones and darted into an openstairway. Quickly as they could the three ran up the steps into a narrowhall on the second floor.
A window was open toward the street and Worth was not long indiscovering how to put it to good use. In dismay he saw, with Paul andDave peeping out over his shoulder, that Phil had fallen fairly into theenemy's hands. He could not hear the words exchanged with Perth, butrealized how mystified Way was as he waved his hand and walked away.
"Of course they'll follow. Won't let him get out of their sight!"ejaculated Billy. "We've got to make a grand rush in the machine and getPhil away from them before they know what's happened."
"Just let him lead them quite a stretch away. Gaines' car is probablyright near here," Paul put in, eagerly.
The suggestion was adopted. Then Jones volunteered to keep Way and theenemy both in sight while Billy and Dave brought the Thirty up.
Ten minutes later there was a sudden blast of a flying automobile's hornin one of Queensville's quiet streets. In another instant the car hadslackened speed and a young man rushed from the sidewalk and climbedaboard. Like a flash the machine sped forward again, followed by aseries of angry, disappointed yells from three other youths who alsodashed out from the sidewalk as if they had thought of going along.
A good many people observing the rather mysterious performance, as theysat upon their lawns and porches, or strolled on the street, weredecidedly at a loss to know what to make of it all.
"Oh, I guess we're no wizards at all! No, nothing like that! No wizardsabout us! Not at all!" chuckled Paul Jones in a perfect rapture ofdelight. "No, we're no _wizards_!"
And although Philip, William and David expressed themselves in somewhatdifferent language, it was apparent that they, too, entertained prettymuch the same opinion as the highly elated Mr. Jones with regard totheir being "No wizards, at all," whatever that may signify.
Yet now that the Chosen Trio had been again outwitted and again leftbehind, temporarily at least, there remained the problem of keeping wellbeyond their sight and reach. To do this and to do it without permittingthose persistent young gentlemen to bar the Thirty from entering thelimits of Queensville was no small undertaking.
The town was of only a few thousand population, and even now when filledwith strangers and with strange automobiles from the larger cities nearby, it was apparent that at any moment the four friends appeared on theprincipal streets they might expect to meet the very persons they mostwished to avoid.
MacLester emphatically declared himself in favor of letting the Trio "gohang." If they "wanted to tag along clear to the Ship woods," he did notcare. They'd have principally their trouble for their pains. All theymight discover as to the object of the expedition and the camp in thatout-of-the-way place, would not, according to young Mr. MacLester's wayof stating it, "Make 'em wise enough to hurt 'em." Whatever the reportsthey carried back to Lannington, no one would give them much credenceanyway, he declared.
But Phil Way sturdily opposed any such surrender. The originaldetermination to keep the real purpose of this long journey a secretcould not be abandoned now, he argued, without a practical admissionthat Gaines and his followers had been too clever for them. Billy andPaul stood resolutely with Way. Meanwhile the Thirty had been traversingone dusty, unpaved street after another in the town's outskirts.
"They'll never be expecting to see us again to-day. Let's go back downtown. If we keep our eyes open, we'll see them first, and that's allthat's necessary," proposed Worth; and, being himself at the wheel, heturned the car toward the business district.
From no source came an objection. In ten minutes the machine was againstanding just where it had been left before. Quite contrary to theexpectations of the boys, also, they saw nothing whatever of the Trio,though they spent an hour looking about the little city and observingthe hundreds of visitors.
Some had come, it appeared, simply for the day, to see the preparationsfor the great road races. Many were present because of a direct interestin the contests in one way or another and would remain until all wasover. Racing drivers and the builders of their cars, automobilesalesmen, tire men, newspaper men from many cities--motoring enthusiastsof a score of sorts and a hundred degrees of significance, from theyoung fellow who expected to own a runabout some day to the engineer whodesigned and would drive the most popular machine in the heavy carrace--they were on the streets, in the hotels, thronging everywhere.
On barns, fences, trees, posts--anything that offered a chance to drivea nail, were signs, banners and all sorts of advertising matter. Onemight find himself informed on one post that he must use "Heapa" oil orbe miserable for life. The very next post would tell him if he did notuse "Slickem" oil he'd be sorry forever. And as the really quiteconflicting announcements, admonitions, claims and assertions were ingreat variety and multiplied many times by their frequent repetition,any gentleman who might have set out to be guided by them would surelyhave had a serious time of it and have landed in a padde
d cellsomewhere, sooner or later, undoubtedly.
In addition to the cosmopolitan character of the crowds--to say nothingof the diversity of the advertising posters and signs--were the town'sdecorations of flags and bunting everywhere. Then a band played on thesteps of the Court House, in the heart of the little city, and themusic, the chugging of engines, the confusion and excitement, the veryodors--for where is the real motoring enthusiast who dislikes the smellof diffused gasoline fumes?--made a deep impression upon the Auto Boys.It is very much to be feared, indeed, that they started for Camp Goldenat last much more intent upon seeing the races the following Saturdaythan upon delving into the secrets of the Ship woods the followingmorning.
By taking the longer route, followed by the race course, around toGilroy, in going home, the four friends finished a complete circuit ofthe roads chosen for the stock car contest. In going to Queensville, itwill be remembered, they turned due north and later almost directlywest upon reaching the course, directly in front of the Gilroypost-office. From Queensville they ran almost directly south, thenceeast, northeast and north to Gilroy again.
The geographical situations of Camp Golden, Gilroy and Queensville thereader should have well in mind. Let him imagine a series of countryroads forming a great, irregularly-shaped dipper. The handle is the roadpassing the Ship woods. Where the handle joins the dipper itself, sixmiles west of the Auto Boys' camp, is Gilroy, a crude little countryhamlet--no more. The rim of the dipper represents the roads making upthe racing circuit. Nearly half way around, to the right, that is,north, thence west from Gilroy, is Queensville--twelve miles distant.Continuing on around the rim is the little town of Chester, three milesbeyond Queensville.
The "Ambulance station,"--a desperately sharp curve--marks the turn ofthe course to the east again, two miles further on. Then the edge ofthe dipper becomes very irregular as the road winds in and out through awooded country, until at Far Creek Sawmill it strikes off due north.Four miles ahead is Gilroy again, which hamlet, by this way around, isfourteen miles from Queensville.
Much work had been done on the roads comprising the racing circuit toput them in condition, and as Phil Way remarked, on the homeward tripthis Sunday afternoon, "There was certainly going to be someexcitement." Yet little he guessed how much more than excitement,merely, was in store for himself and his friends.
"I'll bet there _is_," quoth Billy Worth, answering Way's remark. "It'llbe some exciting, for instance, about the time we meet Gaines' Roadstersomewhere around the track. That very choice Trio will be out every day,more or less, and whether we go one way or the other, it will be pureluck and nothing else if we don't come face to face with them some timebefore the races are over."
And Billy's view of the matter was nothing if not plausible. There wasno way of reaching Queensville from the camp without following thecourse of the proposed races. There was no cross road leading even inthe direction of that town. By a very long detour the result named mightpossibly be accomplished, it was true, but it would be like going fromNew York to Philadelphia by way of Albany and Harrisburg.
This Sunday afternoon it was most fortunate for the Auto Boys that theychose to complete the circuit the races would follow, when leavingQueensville for Camp Golden. Had they gone the other way a meeting withthe Trio would have been certain, for that select company of younggentlemen spent several hours on the opposite side of the course vainlywatching.
Guided only by the direction the Thirty had taken after the rescue ofPhil Way, Gaines and his associates had set out in pursuit as rapidly aspossible. Until dark they haunted the road to the north and east. Theirutter lack of success was quite annoying.
In fact, Mr. Soapy Gaines became so irritated that his company couldscarcely be called enchanting; unless, indeed, one were possessed of thepeculiarity of enjoying being called a "crazy snapping turtle" and otherlike names, not well chosen, at least, if intended as terms ofendearment. But as to Soapy's ruffled temper and conduct generally therewill be opportunity for observation later. At this moment attentionshould return more directly to the Auto Boys.
"If we hadn't spent a whole half-day chasing around Queensville and backagain, we might have had a good walk in the woods and maybe we wouldhave found those three stones," growled Dave MacLester, toasting hishands over the campfire, for the evening had come on quite cold.
"Never mind, little one, never mind! You'll feel better after you've hadyour supper. Your poor, 'ittle tummy wants something. You'll feelbetter pretty soon." This language in a soft, fatherly tone from PaulJones caused a smile. Even David smiled, too, for directly afterwardChef Billy announced the evening meal.
It was a pleasant thing to sit before the glowing fire, enjoying toastedcrackers and toasted cheese after the major portion of the supper--bakedbeans, baked potatoes and bacon, and coffee, of course--was over. It wasa pleasant thing to creep under the blankets in the tent, luxuriouslytired, an hour and a half later.
Most exquisitely pleasant was it, also, to lie snug and comfortablelistening to the tinkle of the little spring where the water flowed overthe miniature cataract leading to the cleverly devised cooling system,and so to fall asleep at last.
The Auto Boys' Quest Page 13
