Books: The Motor Boys on the Pacific
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Clarence Young >> The Motor Boys on the Pacific
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"It certainly was," agreed Bob. "That man acted in a strange manner,
too, as if he was afraid some one would see him. I wonder if there is
any mystery connected with him?"
There came a time when the boys had good reason to remember this
incident of the box filled with a strange substance, for they were in
great danger from it.
"Well, I don't know that it concerns us," mused Ned. "I guess we'll
not get any damages from the railroad company in time to use the money
on our California trip, so we might as well take some cash out of our
saving fund. I do wish we'd hear from the professor. It's several days
since I wrote to him, saying we would go with him."
"I suppose he is so busy catching a new kind of flea, or a rare
specimen of mud turtle, that he has forgotten all about writing,"
suggested Bob. "If he doesn't--"
What Bob intended saying was interrupted by a commotion at the front
door. The bell had rung a few seconds before, and the servant maid had
answered it. Now the boys heard her voice raised in protest:
"Stop! Stop!" she cried. "Don't do that! You are a crazy man! I'll
call the police!"
And, in reply came these words:
"Calm yourself, calm yourself, my dear young lady. All I desire is to
capture that spider crawling on your left arm. It is a very valuable
variety of the red spotted species, and I must have it for my
collection. Now just stand still a moment--"
"Professor Snodgrass has arrived!" cried Ned, as he made a rush for
the door.
CHAPTER VI
A STRANGE CONVERSATION
WHAT the boys saw made them stop short in amazement, and they had hard
work not to burst into laughter at the sight of the professor, but
they knew he would be offended if they made fun of him.
Professor Uriah Snodgrass had dropped his valise on the doorstep, and
the impact had caused it to open, thereby liberating a number of toads
and lizards which were crawling about the steps. In his hand the
scientist held a large magnifying glass, through which he was staring
at something on the arm of the servant. She had her sleeves rolled up
to her elbows, for she had been busy sweeping when she answered the
door bell.
"Let me go!" cried the young woman. "You are crazy! I'll call the
police!"
"One moment! One moment!" pleaded the professor eagerly. "I must have
that spider. There!" and with a sudden motion he captured the small
insect and transferred it to a tiny glass box. "I have it! Oh, this is
a most fortunate day for me. The museum will be very glad to get this.
It is a perfect specimen," and he peered at it through his magnifying
glass, as it crawled around, a captive in the box.
"Hello, Professor!" greeted Ned. "Glad to see you."
"Oh, Ned, how are you?" asked the scientist, without glancing up from
his inspection of the spider. "Luck seems to be with me as soon as I
arrive at your house. I have a spider--"
"Yes, but you'll not have any of those other specimens long, if you
don't get busy," put in Bob. "They're all hopping or crawling away!"
"Oh, my goodness!" cried Professor Snodgrass, as he glanced down at
the liberated toads and lizards. "Oh, my goodness! That is too bad. I
brought them with me to compare with the horned toads and web-footed
lizards I hope to secure. Now they are getting away. Please, my dear
young lady, help me to save them!"
But the servant maid had fled into the house as soon as the scientist
released her arm. She was convinced that she had just escaped the
clutches of a madman.
"Come on, boys!" called Ned. "Help the professor!"
"Here are some small butterfly nets," the scientist said, producing
them from his pocket. "Don't injure the toads or lizards."
The boys were glad enough of these aids in catching the professor's
specimens, that were rapidly seeking hiding places about the stoop and
sidewalk. Though they had acquired a certain familiarity with strange
insects and reptiles, from seeing the museum collector handle them,
they did not fancy picking up a toad or lizard bare-handed. With the
nets, however, they managed, with the assistance of the scientist, to
capture most of the specimens, returning them to their cases in the
valise.
"There!" exclaimed Mr. Snodgrass, when, after a close scrutiny of the
porch he could see no more of the creatures, "I think we have them
all. Now boys, permit me to ask how you are. I am sorry my visit was
attended with such excitement, but I could not miss the chance of
getting that spider. That young woman may consider herself in the
light of having advanced science several degrees. There are very few
persons a red spider of that variety will get on."
"For which we ought all to be very thankful," announced Jerry. "I beg
to be excused from helping the cause of science in that way. But,
Professor, we're glad to see you. Are you all ready for your trip to
California?"
"I could start to-night," was the answer. "I suppose you have matters
all arranged?"
"Nearly so," returned Ned. "We thought of starting at the end of this
week," and he explained how they hoped the destination of the
scientist would be such that they might visit the Seaburys.
"That locality suits me all right," declared Mr. Snodgrass. "I am not
particular where I go, as long as I can get a specimen of a horned
toad, and some web-footed lizards. I understand there are some to be
had in the southern part of California, and so I will go there. I see
no reason why you boys can not go with me, and also visit your
friends. Only I should like to start as soon as possible. The toads
may disappear."
"Hope not," said Bob, "for your sake. I haven't any use for them,
myself."
"Oh, my dear young friend!" exclaimed the professor. "Some day you
will see the real beauty of a horned toad. It is a most wonderful
creature!"
"I'll take your word for it," murmured Bob. "But now come in and let's
see about our arrangements."
The professor, who had been invited to be a guest at Ned's house,
pending the start for the west, entered, placing his valise of
specimens in a safe place in the hall. Then he and the boys discussed
matters. Mr. Slade came in, soon after the arrival of the scientist,
and announced that he had, in accordance with a previous arrangement,
purchased the boys' tickets.
"All you've got to do is to pack up and start," said Mr. Slade. "I'm
not going to give you any advice, for you ought to be able to take
care of yourselves by this time. I know you will be safe as long as
you are with the professor."
"Thank you," said the scientist with a bow.
The professor's arrangements for the western trip were complete and it
did not take the boys long to get ready. By the end of the week the
last valise had been packed, trunks were checked on ahead and, one
morning, the boys started.
They were to proceed to Los Angeles, and from there were to go down
the coast by land to the small town of San Felicity, where Mr. Seabury
and his daughters had rented a bungalow.
"Now for a good time!" exclaimed Ned, as the train pulled out of the
Cresville depot. "I've always wanted to visit California, and now I'm
going to."
"We certainly ought to enjoy ourselves," agreed Jerry.
The travelers made good time to Chicago, little of incident occurring
on the trip. When they got to the Windy City, they found they would
have to wait several hours for a connecting train, and they put in the
time seeing the sights.
When they returned to the depot they found the professor busy over
some scientific book, sitting as undisturbed in the station, filled as
it was with shifting crowds, as if he was in his quiet study at the
museum.
"The train will be here in about fifteen minutes," he informed the
boys. "Better sit down and wait."
The three chums were rather tired, and were glad enough to take their
places on the comfortable benches.
"Chicago is a great place," announced Bob. "That restaurant, where we
had dinner--"
"Can't you say something that hasn't got any eating in it?" asked Ned.
"You're the limit, you are."
"Well," said Bob, "they certainly had fine pie in that place. I
wish--"
He stopped suddenly, as Jerry help up his hand to indicate silence.
"What's the matter?" asked Ned in a whisper, as he leaned forward.
"See some new kind of a bug for the professor?"
"I overheard that man back of us speaking," replied Jerry in a low
tone, nodding his head to indicate where he meant. The benches were
arranged so that travelers occupying them sat back to back. "His voice
sounded like one I've heard before, but I can't place it. I thought
maybe you'd remember. We may have met him on our travels. I can't see
his face until he turns around."
As he finished speaking, the man to whom he referred said something to
his companion beside him. There came a momentary lull in the noises of
the depot, and the boys heard him remark in low, but clear tones:
"We can make everything look regular. Derelicts are not uncommon, and
I think we'll be able to fool him so that the cargo--"
"Hush!" cautioned the other man. "Not so loud!"
The noise in the station again drowned what the two men were saying,
but the boys had heard enough. All three of them knew at once that the
man who had spoken was the stranger who had acted so queerly in the
Cresville freight office. If they had any doubts of it they were
dispelled a moment later when the doorman called out:
"All aboard for the western express!"
As the man and his companion arose, the boys saw he was the same
individual who had been so particular about the boxes of stuff he
shipped to San Francisco.
Before the three chums could make any comment the man and his
companion were lost in the crowd that thronged to the door.
"Come, boys," said the professor, closing his book. "That's our
train."
CHAPTER VII
A BAD BREAK
"THAT was queer, wasn't it?" said Jerry to his chums when they were
seated in the train, moving swiftly toward the great west. "I wonder
what he meant, and what he was doing out here?"
"And I guess you can keep on wondering, for all the good it will do,"
commented Bob. "I couldn't make anything out of what they said, except
that some ship might be lost. That's common enough."
"I wonder what that stuff was that he shipped from the freight
office?" mused Jerry.
"Rat poison, maybe," replied Ned with a laugh. "I've heard there are
lots of rats on ships, and maybe he has a patent stuff for getting rid
of 'em."
"It might be," agreed Jerry. "Well, as Bob says, there's no use
wondering. Say, but this is pretty nice scenery," and he pointed to
the view from the window, as they were passing along the shores of a
lake.
"Fine!" exclaimed Ned. "It ought to have some mountains around it, and
it would look just like Lost Lake, where we found the hermit, that
time."
"Seems as if that was a good while ago," commented Bob, "but it wasn't
so very."
For several hours the boys discussed their past adventures, some of
which were brought to their minds by views of the western country
through which they were passing. Professor Snodgrass took no interest
in anything except a big book which he was studying carefully, at
times making notes on slips of paper, which had a tendency to drop
into the aisle, or under the seat when he was not looking. In
consequence the car, in the vicinity of where the professor sat,
looked as though a theatrical snow-storm had taken place.
One morning the boys awakened to find the train making fast time over
a level stretch of country, with rolling hills here and there, covered
with tall grass. Occasionally glimpses could be had of herds of
cattle.
"We're on the prairies!" exclaimed Bob, as he went to the lavatory to
get ready for breakfast. "Say, now we're in the wild and woolly west,
all right."
"Well, it's not the first time," replied Jerry. "Still it does look
good to see it again. It's a little different, traveling this way,
than it was scooting along in our auto."
"Yes, and I think I prefer the auto to this," spoke up Ned, yawning
and stretching. "This is too lazy a way of journeying. I'd like to
rough it a bit."
"Rough it!" exclaimed Bob. "Wait until we get out in California, and
we can sleep out doors, while the folks back home are tending the
furnace fire."
The three boys were just about to enter the lavatory when the train
gave a sudden lurch, and then it began bumping along over the ties,
swaying from side to side. Every window in the car rattled as if it
would break, and the boys were so shaken up, that, to steady
themselves, they had to grasp whatever was nearest.
"We're off the track!" cried Ned.
"This-- is-- roughing-- it-- all right!" said Jerry, the words coming
out in jerks. "There's-- been-- an-- accident!"
"A-- whole-- lot-- of-- 'em-- by-- the-- way-- it-- feels to-- me,"
declared Jerry. "I-- wonder--"
Just then the train came to a stop, the car the boys were in being
tilted at quite an angle.
"Let's see what happened," suggested Bob, going to the door. His
companions followed him, and, from various berths the passengers began
emerging, in different stages of undress. They looked frightened.
"Well, at any rate, none of us are killed," said Professor Snodgrass,
as he came down the aisle, fully dressed, for he had arisen early to
continue his reading about horned toads. "What is the matter, boys?"
"We're just going to find out," said Jerry, as he went down the steps
and walked along the track toward the engine, about which a crowd of
passengers and train men were gathered.
"What's the trouble?" asked Bob of a brakeman who was running toward
the rear end of the train with a red flag.
"I don't know exactly. Something wrong with the engine; I guess. I
heard the conductor say it was a bad break."
"Come on," said Jerry to his chums. "There doesn't seem to be anybody
hurt, but it looks as if we were in for a long wait," and he pointed
to several cars that were off the track, the wheels resting on the
wooden ties.
CHAPTER VIII
HEMMED IN
THE boys found a group of worried trainmen gathered about the engine,
and it needed but a glance to show what the trouble was. The piston
rod had broken while the ponderous engine was going at full speed, and
the driving rods, which had broken off from where they were fastened
to the wheels, had been driven deep into the ground. This had served
to fairly lift the engine from the rails, and, in its mad journey it
had pulled several cars with it.
The piston rod, threshing about with nothing to hold it, had broken
several parts of the engine, and some pieces of the driving rods had
been hurled up into the cab, narrowly missing the engineer.
"It sure is a bad break," said the fireman as he got down from the
cab, after opening the door of the fire box, so that the engine would
cool down. "Never saw a worse."
"Me either," fairly growled the conductor.
"Why couldn't it have held off a couple of hours more and we'd been
near some place where we could telegraph for help."
"You don't mean to say we are away out on the prairies not near a
telegraph station, do you?" asked an excited man.
"That's just what I do mean to say," replied the conductor. "I've got
to send a brakeman on foot eight miles to wire the news of this
accident."
"You ought to have a telegraph instrument on the train," said the
excited man. "This delay is a bad thing for me. If I don't arrive on
time I'll sue the road. Why don't you have a telegraph instrument on
the train?"
"I don't know," replied the conductor wearily, for he realized he was
now in for a cross-fire of all sorts of questions.
"How long will we have to wait here?" asked another man.
"It's hard to say. The brakeman will go as fast as he can, but it will
take some time to get the wrecking crew here with a new engine, and
then it will take some time to get all the cars back on the track."
"Railroads oughtn't to have such accidents!" declared the excitable
man. "I'll sue 'em, that's what I'll do. What made the piston rod
break, conductor?"
"Oh-- I guess it got tired of going in and out of the cylinder,"
retorted the conductor, starting towards the baggage car.
"Humph! I'll report you for impertinence!" declared the now angry
passenger, taking out his notebook and making a memorandum lest he
forget the conductor's retort. "It's a disgrace the way this road is
managed," he went on to the crowd of passengers that had gathered.
"I'm going to write to the newspapers about it. They're always having
accidents. Why, only last week, they run over a steer, somewhere in
this locality, the engine was derailed, two cars smashed, the road bed
torn up, baggage and express stuff scattered all over, everything
upside down, topsy-turvy and--"
"Was the steer killed?" asked a little boy, who was listening with
opened mouth and eyes to the story the excited passenger was telling.
"What!" fairly roared the man, and then, as he saw who had asked the
question, he turned away, and there was a general laugh.
"Do you think we'll be here long?" asked Bob of the colored porter of
the sleeping car they had occupied.
"Oh, yes, indeedy!" exclaimed the attendant, "If we gits on de move
befo' night we'll be mighty lucky."
"Then we've got to stay out here on the prairie all day," exclaimed
Jerry.
"Dat's what," spoke the negro as cheerfully as though that was the
regular program.
The other passengers were returning to their berths to finish
dressing, and soon the excitement that followed the accident had
almost disappeared. Breakfast was served, and there was nothing to do
but to wait for the arrival of the wrecking crew.
"What's the matter with taking a stroll across the prairie?" suggested
Jerry, when the boys and the professor had finished their morning
meal. "There's no fun sitting here in the car all day."
"Good idea!" exclaimed Ned. "I'm with you. Maybe Chunky will be afraid
to come, for fear train robbers will carry off the dining car while
he's gone."
"Oh, you let up!" retorted Bob. "You like to eat as much as I do."
"Not quite as much, Chunky, but I admit I like my three square meals a
day."
"Where are you going, boys?" asked the professor, looking up from his
book, as he saw the three chums leaving the car.
"Out for a walk across the prairie," replied Ned.
"Wait, and I'll go with you. I might get some new specimens. I must
never waste an opportunity," and, placing in his pockets several small
boxes to hold any possible captives he might get in his butterfly net,
the scientist was ready.
It was pleasant on the vast plain that stretched away in every
direction from the derailed train. The sun was shining brightly, but
not too warm, and there was a gentle breeze.
"This is fine!" exclaimed Jerry.
The boys and the professor strolled on for several miles, the three
chums enjoying the walk very much, while Mr. Snodgrass was continually
finding some new insect, or a flower, until his specimen boxes were
full.
"Well, we've come quite a distance," said Ned, as they got on top of a
small hill and looked about. "We can't see the train anywhere. I guess
we'd better be thinking of starting back."
"Maybe we had," agreed Jerry. "But what's that dark line out there?"
and he pointed to the horizon.
"A cloud isn't it?" asked Bob.
"It's too low, and it doesn't move like a cloud," objected Jerry.
They watched it for some time, as it got larger and larger.
"Why it's all around us!" suddenly exclaimed Bob.
And so it was. The travelers were hemmed in by a peculiar, moving
ring, that seemed to get smaller and smaller.
"What do you think it is, Professor?" asked Ned.
"That? Why-- er that is-- um-- curious, I can't just say what it is,"
replied Mr. Snodgrass.
"I have a small telescope," said Ned, producing it from his pocket,
"We'll take a look through it," and he adjusted it, focusing it on the
dark ring, that was, every moment, growing closer and closer to the
little group on the hill.
CHAPTER IX
A LUCKY ESCAPE
"WHAT do you make it to be?" asked Jerry, as Ned was staring through
the glass.
"Cattle!"
"Cattle?"
"Yes, steers. Thousands of 'em. And they seem to be headed this way."
"Let me take a look," said Jerry. "You're right," he added, after an
inspection. "They seem to be coming on rather fast, too. I guess we'd
better get out of here. Cattle on the prairies don't like to see
persons who are not on horseback. They are not used to a man unless
he's mounted, and I've read that a man on foot may cause a stampede."
"I hope they don't run in this direction," remarked Bob. "It's going
to be unpleasant for us if they do."
"We'd better get out of here," advised Ned. "Come on, fellows."
"That's easier said than done," retorted Jerry.
"The cattle are all around us. I don't see how we're going to get
through them. If we go too close we may stampede 'em at once, whereas,
if we stay here, they may pass by us, or change their direction."
"What's the matter with the cowboys?" asked Rob. "Why don't they head
the animals the other way when they see we're right in the path?"
"Probably the cattlemen are on the outer edges of the herd," said
Jerry. "The cowboys can't see us, and they're simply driving the
steers on."
"But what makes them go in a circle?" asked Bob.
"Probably the men are driving them all in to a central point to take
account of stock, or something like that," was Jerry's answer. "But,
instead of standing here talking of it we'd better be doing something.
What do you advise, Professor?"
Uriah Snodgrass, who had discovered some queer kind of a jumping bug
in the grass, had lost all interest in the approaching steers, but, at
this question, he looked up.
"What did you ask?" he said, making a grab for the bug, and catching
it.
"What do you think we'd better do?" asked Ned. "This is getting
serious."
"What is? Oh, the steers. Why, they are getting a little too close,
aren't they?"
They were, for a fact, and the animals in the foremost ranks, catching
sight of the little party on the hill, broke into awkward gallop. As
far as the boys could see, they beheld nothing but waving tails,
heaving heads, armed with long sharp horns, and the movement of brown
bodies, as the thousands of steers came on with a rush.
"We'd better--" began the professor, who was walking slowly along, his
eyes fixed on the ground, in search for another of the queer bugs.
"Look out!" he suddenly cried. "Stand back boys!"
Hardly had he spoken than there sounded, high and shrill above the
dull rumble of the oncoming cattle, a queer, buzzing noise.
"Rattlesna " exclaimed Ned.
"Yes, a whole nest of them, in a prairie dog's hole," added the
professor. "I nearly stepped into them. There must be thirty or
forty."
The boys looked to where he pointed. There, in a sort of depression,
near a little hollow, on the edge of what is called a prairie dog
village, they saw an ugly wiggling mass, which, as their eyes became
more used to the colorings, was seen to be a number of the deadly
rattlesnakes.
Several were coiled to strike, and had, in accordance with their
habit, sounded their rattles. This had aroused the whole den, many
snakes appearing from under ground, or crawling from beneath stones.
"Come on! They'll chase us!" cried Bob.
"Nonsense," replied the professor. "Rattlesnakes never attack man
unless they are first disturbed. It wouldn't be advisable to go too
close, but, as long as we don't molest them, we have nothing to fear
from the snakes. I'd like to get a few specimens if I had the proper
appliances for extracting their fangs. But I never saw so many in one
place, before. It is quite interesting to watch--"
The professor broke off suddenly, for the thunderous noise of the
approaching steers was now louder.
"They're coming right at us!" exclaimed Jerry.
"Yes, and they've stampeded!" cried Ned. "We're in for it now!"
The situation of the boys and the professor was extremely perilous.
They were right in the path of the now frightened steers. The circle
had been broken, by many animals, which had been approaching from the
rear of the travelers, joining the beasts on either side, so that now
a compact, dark mass of cattle, nearly a quarter of a mile wide, was
surging ahead with great speed.
"Run!" called Ned. "There's an opening at our backs now!"
"You couldn't go a hundred feet before they'd overtake you!" shouted
Jerry. "Let's see if we can't frighten 'em. Take off your hats, jump
up and down, and yell like mad. If we can force 'em to separate and go
on either side of us, we'll be all right!"
He started to swing his hat in the air, and prepared to let out a
series of yells in imitation of an Indian war-whoop.
"Don't!" cried the professor quickly.
"Why not?" asked Jerry. "It's the only way to stop 'em."
"I know a better, and a surer way," replied the scientist. "Get the
rattlesnakes between ourselves and the cattle! Those steers will never
go near a rattlesnake den, no matter how frightened they are, nor how
badly stampeded! Quick! Here they come!"
The cattle were scarcely two hundred feet away, and were maddened by
the sight of unmounted persons, something to which they were
unaccustomed, and which thoroughly frightened them. The ground was
trembling with their hoof-beats, and the rattle of the horns, as they
clashed together, was like the murmur of cannibal tom-toms.
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