THE MOTOR BOYS AFTER A FORTUNE

Or

The Hut on Snake Island

BY

CLARENCE YOUNG

Author of “The Racer Boys Series” and “The Jack Ranger Series.”

ILLUSTRATED

NEW YORK CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY

BOOKS BY CLARENCE YOUNG

THE MOTOR BOYS SERIES

12mo. Illustrated.

Price per volume, 60 cents, postpaid.

THE JACK RANGER SERIES

12mo. Finely Illustrated.

Price per volume, $1.00, postpaid.

Copyright, 1912, by Cupples & Leon Company

The Motor Boys After A Fortune

PREFACE

Dear Boys:—

I wonder if any of you are superstitious, or if you believe in “signs”? I, myself, do not, but as this happens to be the thirteenth book in the Motor Boys series, I just thought I’d mention it, more as a joke than anything else.

You know some persons think thirteen is unlucky. I do not, and I am sure you do not, either. So I venture to hope that I have been lucky enough to write for you, in this thirteenth volume, a book you will like better than any of the preceding ones that I have been happy to pen.

Certainly, Jerry, Ned and Bob, when they went after the radium treasure, on Snake Island, in the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, had a chance to believe in “signs” if they were so inclined. But when they saw the strange “ghosts” they were not a bit frightened, and, later on, they discovered the cause of them.

This story, though a complete tale in itself, is linked with the others in the series. It tells how the Motor Boys, hearing through Professor Snodgrass, of a place where radium was supposed to be located, set off to find it. They had many adventures, and were in not a little danger. Then, too, they had to proceed against Noddy Nixon, who had unlawfully taken their motorship.

I venture to hope that you will like this story, and that you will care for more about the boys, whom I have come to regard as very good friends of mine. I should dislike, very much indeed, saying good-bye to them.

So, wishing you all the pleasure possible in the reading of this story, I remain,

Yours cordially,

Clarence Young.

[1]

THE MOTOR BOYS AFTER A FORTUNE

CHAPTER I TO THE RESCUE

“But, Professor, do you really think it’s true?” asked Ned Slade, looking at the elderly gentleman, whose bald head glistened in the sunlight, as he sat leafing the pages of a scientific book.

“Is what true, Ned?” inquired Jerry Hopkins, who had crossed the room to look out of a window.

“What Professor Snodgrass was telling just now, about a fortune in radium being on a lonely little island in the Colorado River, somewhere in the Grand Canyon.”

“Radium!” gasped Bob Baker, turning slowly in a big chair.

“Yes, radium,” answered Ned, at whose house the other motor boy chums had called to meet their old friend, the professor, who was paying a short visit to Mr. Slade. “Radium, Bob. Do you get the idea, or are you still trying to figure out how long it will be until lunch time?”

[2]

“Aw, quit it,” begged the fat lad. “I guess I can think of something besides grub, once in a while. But I wasn’t listening very closely. What is it about radium? That’s the stuff they use to set diamonds in, instead of gold; isn’t it?”

“Say, what’s the matter with you, Bob?” cried Jerry, a tall, and well-built lad, as he wheeled around from the window. “Set diamonds in radium? You’re thinking of platinum, I guess.”

“Oh, that’s right!” admitted Bob.

“Radium!” broke in Ned. “I guess they’d be more likely to set radium in a diamond, if they could; eh, Professor?”

“Well,” admitted the little scientist with a smile, “it’s valuable enough to be set in diamonds, but I’m afraid it would be too dangerous to carry around that way. It can’t be exposed carelessly, you know.”

“Dangerous?” asked Bob. “How’s that?”

“Radium, that wonderful metal, as it is sometimes called, and about which so much has been written, yet about which even the greatest scientists admit that they know very little, can cause very severe burns if brought near a person, and not protected in some way.

“The rays, or emanations from it, pass through almost all substances, you know, and not only does it cause burns, but also forms of[3] mental diseases. It is a dangerous, as well as very valuable, metal.”

“But what’s this Ned said about some being on an island in the Grand Canyon of the Colorado?” persisted Bob. “That sounds interesting. Maybe there’s a chance for us to take a trip, and get some. Let’s hear more about it, Professor, please.”

“Well, I don’t know that I can say much,” came from the scientist. “I just happened to see a mention of radium in this book I was looking at, and I just told Ned that there was said to be a valuable deposit of it on this island—Snake Island, I believe it is called—though I don’t know why. Probably from some Indian name.”

“And I asked him if he believed it was true,” added Ned.

“As to that I can’t say,” resumed Uriah Snodgrass. “All I know is that some years ago a scientific expedition from Hartwell College set out to learn if the rumor about the radium was true. They had the story, I understand, from some prospectors who were searching for gold. The prospectors landed on this island, because their boat was wrecked, and one of them picked up a piece of stone, whether it was hornblende or pitchblende I can’t recall, but you know radium is often found in those substances.

“At any rate, one of the prospectors kept[4] this piece of mineral, and when he and his friends left the island he took it with him, not knowing what it was. Later he gave it to a scientist, as a curiosity, and the latter at once recognized what it was, and learned where it came from.

“It was sent to Hartwell College, with which the scientist was connected, and aroused a great deal of interest. An expedition was at once fitted up, and about a year ago started for Snake Island.”

“Did they get there?” asked Bob eagerly. “And did they get any gold?”

“They did not, I regret to say,” replied the professor rather solemnly. “As for gold, they would scarcely have picked it up, had there been any, if there was radium to be had, for there is no comparison in the values of the two. With radium at ten thousand dollars, or so, an ounce, you can easily figure what a little bit would be worth.

“At any rate, the expedition never even got to Snake Island. They started down the Colorado in a boat, but it was wrecked, and the party barely escaped alive. This so discouraged them that they returned, and as far as I know, no one since has set foot on the place where the radium is supposed to be. Yes, it was a sad piece of business.”

“Why sad?” asked Jerry Hopkins. “Because[5] science missed the chance to get the radium?”

“Well, yes, in a way, but one of the searching party was lost.”

“Drowned?” asked Ned.

“As to that no one ever knew. He fell into the water when the boat was wrecked, and none of his friends ever saw him again. They had a watch kept on the river below, but the body was never seen. The man disappeared completely. He was quite a friend of mine, too, in a way, for we corresponded, and exchanged scientific books, though I only saw him a few times. Hartley Bentwell was his name, and he was one of the best authorities on radium that I ever heard of. I often wonder what became of him. He gave his life up in the interests of science.”

“And do you really believe there is radium there?” asked Ned, after a pause.

“Yes, I think I do,” answered the professor quietly. “I had the good fortune to see the piece of mineral, containing some, that the prospector picked up years ago. There was no doubt but that it contained radium, for all the manifestations were present. And if there was one bit of radium on that island, there must be more.”

“Unless it’s all evaporated by this time,” put in Bob.

“Radium doesn’t evaporate,” said the professor[6] with a smile. “The smallest piece you can imagine, will give off what you might call ‘rays’ or ‘sparks’ for thousands of years, and, at the end of that time, the most delicate scales would show no loss of weight. It’s the same way with pure musk. A grain of it has been known to scent, say a box, or chest of drawers, for fifty years, and, at the end of that time, the whole grain of musk was still there.”

“That’s strange,” murmured Jerry.

“Oh, that’s not nearly all the strange facts about radium,” went on Mr. Snodgrass. “I could talk to you for hours about it and not half finish.”

“Tell us more about Snake Island,” suggested Ned.

“That’s all I know,” and the professor closed the book that had started the conversation. “I only heard what I have told you. It was because I was interested in Mr. Bentwell, and felt his loss so much that the tale impressed me. I often thought I would like to have a try for that radium myself, not because of the fortune, but because of the scientific value of the metal, or mineral, whichever you choose to call it. But I never seemed to get the time, and I had so many other things to do, gathering——”

The professor suddenly stopped talking, and made a dive for a certain spot on the carpet.[7] He came down on his hands and knees, holding his palms together.

“I got it!” he cried triumphantly. “Ned, please get my smallest insect case. It’s in my right hand coat pocket,” and the scientist remained on his knees, a look of joy on his face.

“Did you fall?” asked Bob innocently.

“No, indeed, I jumped,” replied the professor. “As I was speaking I happened to see a new variety of pink-winged moth fluttering on the carpet, and as this moth——”

“Moths in my carpet!” cried Mrs. Slade, entering the room at that moment. “Oh, Professor! Let me kill it at once! Where is it?”

“I have it safe,” answered Mr. Snodgrass with a smile. “As for killing it, I’ll do that, but it must be carefully done, so as not to crush it. Have you the box, Ned?”

“Yes, here it is,” and the lad drew out a small, glass-topped case from the professor’s pocket.

“Well, as long as you have the moth, I suppose it can’t eat holes in my new carpet,” said Mrs. Slade. “I must put some cedar oil around, and kill the horrid things.”

“Oh, I beg of you, if you see any more to save them for me!” implored the professor. “There you are, my little pink beauty!” he exclaimed, as he put the moth in the case where it[8] soon died, for the box contained cyanide of potassium, the fumes from which are almost instantly fatal to insect life. “That is worth many dollars to my college collection,” went on the scientist. “I would not have missed that for the world. This has been a lucky day for me. Let me see, what was I talking about?” and he looked at the boys through his powerful spectacles, while he absent-mindedly brushed the dust from his trousers.

“It was radium, and you said you’d like to go to Snake Island,” suggested Ned.

“Oh, yes, and I had told you about how my friend lost his life seeking the place. Indeed I would like to go, but I am afraid it is out of the question. However, I suppose some one will get the fortune some day,” and the professor carefully put the insect box in his pocket, looking the while, carefully over the carpet for more specimens.

“Well, that surely was a queer yarn,” remarked Bob. “I say, Ned, what do you say if we have something to eat on it. I’m hungry, and——”

“You don’t care who knows it!” finished Jerry with a laugh.

“That’s all right,” put in Ned good-naturedly, for the chums were almost like brothers, and[9] made themselves perfectly at home in each other’s houses. “I guess it must be almost lunch time. I’ll go see if it isn’t ready. I reckon we can all eat some, even Professor Snodgrass, if he can spare the time from his specimens.”

“Oh, yes,” laughed the scientist. “I am ready——”

At that moment there came an interruption in the shape of a small boy, very excited, and out of breath, who dashed up on the porch, on which opened the library windows of the room where the three chums and the professor had been talking.

“Whoop!” yelled the small lad.

“Andy Rush!” cried Ned.

“Wow!” yelled Andy, getting his second wind. “Come on, fellows—’sawful—dam’s busted—river’s got loose—houses being washed away—people in the water—dogs—chickens—boats—fearful—terrible excitement—come on—don’t lose a minute—the whole place may go—big flood—whoop—come on—don’t wait—wow!”

For a moment the three chums gazed at the excited small lad. Then Jerry asked, sternly:

“Andy, is this true, or are you joking?”

“True? Of course it’s true! Come on—rescue—big damage—dam’s busted—save lives!”

[10]

“Fellows, I guess we’d better go!” cried Jerry, and, followed by his chums, and the professor, he rushed from the room, Andy coming after, and giving vent to excited whoops at every other breath.

[11]

CHAPTER II THE SAVING OF NODDY

“How did it happen, Andy?” asked Jerry, as he ran along.

“Yes, tell us more about it,” urged Bob.

“Is it the big reservoir dam that’s broken?” asked Ned. “If it is, there’ll be a lot of damage, and yet I don’t hear any great excitement,” and he paused a moment to listen if he could catch the roar of rushing waters. But there came no unusual sound from the direction of the river which bordered the town of Cresville, where the boys lived.

“I don’t know—didn’t see it!” panted Andy. “Old Pete Bumps told me—said it was the dam—terrible—everything washed away—come on—wow!”

“Oh, if it was old Pete Bumps, our hired man, who told you, it can’t be so bad,” returned Bob Baker. “Pete always makes a big fuss over everything. Let’s take it easy, fellows.”

“You can’t tell,” interposed Jerry. “Something must have happened. I see a lot of fellows[12] running toward the river,” and he nodded toward a side street, through which could be had a glimpse of a thoroughfare parallel to the one on which our friends were, both extending to the stream. “Come on,” finished the tall lad. “We’ll see what it is,” and he increased his pace, his companions doing likewise.

While I have just a few moments before the boys reach the river, and in which time they are doing nothing but running, and wondering what has happened, I will take the opportunity to tell you something about the chums, and the various books, previous to this one, in which they have figured.

The first volume of the series entitled, “The Motor Boys,” told how the chums got together, and entered a bicycle race. Later on they got motor-cycles, and then an automobile in which they had many adventures. They took a long trip overland, got possession of a gold mine, and later went to Mexico, where they were in great danger. But they managed to escape, and, on a long trip across the plains they rescued the hermit of Lost Lake.

After these adventures, our heroes decided that motor boating would suit them, and they succeeded in getting a fine craft. In the volume named, “The Motor Boys Afloat,” is told how the lads cruised in the Dartaway, and succeeded[13] in finding the robbers who had broken into Mr. Slade’s department store.

The lads liked motor boating so well that they took a cruise on the Atlantic, during which they solved the mystery of the lighthouse, and, later on, they went to the strange waters of the Florida Everglades.

Naturally, after their adventures on the Atlantic, they turned their attention to the other ocean, the Pacific, and there they succeeded in locating a lost derelict.

By this time the science of navigating the air was becoming better known, and aeroplanes and dirigible balloons were being perfected. It could not be expected that such lads as the motor boys could be kept from this field of activity, and with the assistance of an old balloonist of experience, Rupert Glassford, Bob, Ned and Jerry built a motorship. In the book called “The Motor Boys in the Clouds,” I told how they made a great trip for fame and fortune, and, some time later they went over the Rocky Mountains, and solved the mystery of the air.

Thrilling indeed were the adventures that happened next, for when they made their voyage over the ocean they succeeded in rescuing from mid-air a certain Mr. Jackson, who was trying out a new kind of balloon. He and his crew were rendered unconscious by escaping gas, but[14] they were brought around all right after hard work.

In the next book, “The Motor Boys on the Wing,” I told how the three chums sought and found the bank robbers, and recovered the stolen money. They had been home from this trip some little time, when the incident narrated in the first chapter of the present volume took place.

I might add that the three chums lived in the town of Cresville, not far from Boston. Their names you are already familiar with. Bob Baker, the fat lad, was the son of Mr. Andrew Baker, a well-known banker. Ned Slade’s father was Aaron Slade, a wealthy department store owner, while Jerry Hopkins was the son of a rich widow, Mrs. Julia Hopkins. The three lads were about the same age, full of fun, grit and the love of adventure.

Many times, though, their fun was spoiled by a mean, bullying lad of the town, Noddy Nixon by name, and his crony, Bill Berry. But the motor boys generally managed to get the best of Noddy in the end. In this they were sometimes aided by Andy Rush, the excitable little chap, who had given the alarm about the bursting dam. Andy was always excited, and sometimes by the slightest cause.

Professor Uriah Snodgrass was a well-known[15] scientist. He often went with the boys on their trips, and he was continually on the lookout for rare bugs, or other specimens. He was employed by a well-known college, to get various articles for its museum, and often the professor would do odd things for the sake of getting a choice insect or reptile. He was a great friend of the boys, and often visited them at their houses. He had spent some time with Mr. Slade, who was one of the trustees of the college to which the professor was attached, and Mr. Snodgrass was about to return to his duties when, in a talk with Ned, the conversation turned to radium, as I have mentioned. But now all thoughts of that, and of Snake Island, were forgotten in the alarm raised by Andy.

“What do you think can have happened, anyhow?” asked Ned, as he raced along beside Jerry.

“I give it up; but it’s something, anyhow,” was the tall lad’s answer, “and that, in spite of the fact that you’ve usually got to discount what Andy says. Look at the crowd!”

As Jerry spoke he and the others reached the end of the street, and came in sight of the river. They could see that something out of the ordinary was taking place, but the stream did not seem to be unusually high, though it had risen somewhat on account of heavy spring rains.

[16]

“The big dam hasn’t burst, or we’d hear the roar of waters,” declared Ned.

“Yes, and we’d see ’em, too,” added Bob.

“Well, something busted, because Pete Bumps told me!” insisted Andy. “Maybe the bottom dropped out of the river—water may be all running away—ground sunk in—we’ll all fall through—whoop!”

“Andy!” cried Jerry. “Stop, or you’ll burst! Cool down; can’t you?”

“I can’t seem to,” answered the small lad. “Hey!” he cried, “there goes one house, anyhow,” and he pointed to a structure floating down the stream.

“That’s so!” agreed Bob. “It’s a boathouse, too. I wonder what’s up?”