Motor Matt's Air Ship; or, The Rival Inventors

=Matt King=, concerning whom there has always been a mystery--a lad of splendid athletic abilities, and never-failing nerve, who has won for himself, among the boys of the Weste...

The boys were several miles out of the city of Chicago, from which place they had started about the middle of the forenoon, and they had halted in that shady spot between Hammon...

"That's a whole lot easier said than done," Matt called back. "It was only by a happenchance that we got your drag-rope tied to the tree. If you've got an anchor-rope up there,...

"Yah!" shouted Carl. "Vat I dell you, Matt? I knew dere vas somet'ing der madder! Dem two fellers vas t'ieves, und dey haf shtole der air-ship. Py shinks, dey haf got demselufs...

Both Matt and Carl were well skilled in the art of self-defense. Matt, perhaps, was a shade more adept in the use of his fists. Neither of the lads, however, had been looking fo...

Hoyne Street was easily found. A number of blast furnaces stood so near the house the two chums were looking for that the flames from their tall chimneys lighted up the surround...

Carl hated a "waiting" game. If there was anything going on, he liked to be right in the midst of it. On top of all this, he was vaguely suspicious of everything connected with...

"Well, he was carried off in the thing, no matter whether he went of his own free will or was taken by force. If we each of us had a pair of wings we might follow the flyin' mac...

"The letter," explained Harris, "was written by Brady, and was evidently entrusted to the men in the Hawk for delivery to some one else. It's full of pointers, and a slicker bit...

Taken at a disadvantage and with two brawny ruffians ranged against him, Motor Matt was unable to make any defense. As he lay on the floor, head and shoulders still swathed in t...

Pete kept his weapon prominently displayed, and through the gloom Matt could see the ruffian's arm partly lifted as though ready on the instant to bring the firearm into use. Th...

A babel of excited voices now came to him from without, accompanied by sounds of running feet diminishing rapidly in the distance. Then came another report, and another, both fr...

"How in thunder," he cried suddenly, "did Jerrold ever manage to get a line on me? He was over the swamp, a short time ago, with his air-ship, and he'd have landed here if we ha...

Needham, Pete, Grove and Brady had not been long carrying out their work of recovering the cached goods. They were returning from the edge of the bushy timber, ascending the sli...

"We'll have to give up," she whispered, tearfully. "We have tried hard, but luck is against us. For several minutes we have been traveling over ground I know nothing about. When...

"I'm trying to get away from this place," replied Matt, "and I've not much time to waste in talk. I guess you know that fully as well as I do."

They had seen the Hawk, moored at one edge of the cleared space, and they had seen Brady and the others; but, of course, it had been impossible for them to see anything of Matt....