CHAPTER VI

OFF FOR PITTSBURG

“So we start to-morrow,” observed Professor Snodgrass one evening, when the three chums were gathered about a table in the library of Ned’s home. “It seems like a month ago that we decided to make the trip.”

“And yet it was only about two weeks,” returned Jerry. “We have had a lot to do in the meanwhile, though.”

“But everything is in good shape,” remarked Bob. “We’ve got enough grub aboard to last until we get to Pittsburg, I think.”

“Oh, of course!” laughed Jerry. “You can trust Bob to look out for the ‘eats’ every time. I think we’ll make him the permanent commissary general.”

“Well, I notice you always come around when the dinner bell rings,” remarked the fat lad significantly.

“He’s got us there,” admitted Ned. “But it’s a good thing Bob does look after the food, for we’re always sure to have enough. Now let’s see where we’re at. Hand me that list, Bob, and we’ll check things off. If we’re going to start to-morrow we will have to get any last things we need to-night.”

The three chums went over the list together, the professor poring deeply into a scientific book, making occasional notes, and at times thinking of the two-tailed toad he hoped to get as a result of the trip.

“Well, so far Noddy hasn’t bothered us any,” remarked Ned, when they had completed the checking of the list, and found that everything needed was on the boat, or in readiness to stow away.

“He’s out and around,” remarked Jerry. “I saw him down the street this afternoon.”

“You did! And did he speak to you?” asked Bob.

“Just sort of nodded and thanked me for the way we fellows pulled him out of the water. He wasn’t very enthusiastic over it, though, and he looked rather thin and pale, I thought.”

“Maybe he was hurt worse than we imagined,” suggested Bob. “Well, if he doesn’t make any trouble for us, I’ll be satisfied. But I guess it’s time I went home. I want to get plenty of sleep, for I’m going to get up early.”

“Same here,” said Jerry. “I guess everything is in shape. We’ll meet at my house, as that’s nearest the river, and then we’ll get started as early as we can.”

“It’s all settled then; is it?” asked Professor Snodgrass.

“Everything,” replied Ned. “We’ll go by motor boat to Pittsburg, get our auto there, and ride across to Denver, and from there make the rest of the trip by airship. I guess that’s the best way to get down into the Grand Canyon.”

“It’s really the only way,” said Mr. Snodgrass. “Boats are almost out of the question, and to follow the trails down the sides of the big chasm wouldn’t help us much, for Snake Island is far off from any of the places by which you can get down to the river’s edge. But with an airship we can descend as well as if we were in an elevator. Yes, I think you boys have made the best possible plan.”

Bob and Jerry left Ned’s house soon after this, and, on the way to their homes they went past the Nixon residence. Bob, looking up, exclaimed:

“Noddy’s sitting up late to-night. There’s a light in his room.”

“So I see,” replied Jerry. “Well, if he stays up late he’ll sleep late, and we’ll get off before he knows it.”

“Why, are you worried about him?” asked the stout lad.

“Yes, I don’t mind telling you that I am.”

“Why?”

“Well, because I’ve seen Bill Berry hanging around lately. You know how thick he and Noddy are, and I shouldn’t be a bit surprised but what Bill was trying to find out where we are headed for this time.”

“Why would he do that?”

“Oh, just so he and Noddy could make trouble for us. It wouldn’t be the first time they have camped on our trail.”

“No, that’s right. But I guess we’ll fool ’em this time.”

But if Bob and Jerry could have looked into Noddy’s room at that minute, they would have been made aware that they had plenty of cause for suspicion.

For, as our two heroes passed on to their homes, glancing back momentarily at the light in Noddy’s window, that bully was in close conversation with a certain sleek individual, who, for the present, chose to masquerade under the name of Dr. Kirk Belgrade.

“Do you think you can find out when they go, and where they are headed for--I mean exactly?” asked the correspondence school man.

“Sure I can,” declared Noddy. “I’ve had Bill Berry on the watch for the past week. They’re going to start in their motor boat to-morrow morning.”

“To where?”

“Well, that I don’t know exactly. I’ve tried to find out but I can’t. Bill sort of fell down on that job. But I’ll get wind of it somehow. I know where their auto was sent to be fixed, and the man there knows my father. He’ll tell me where they are headed for, I’m sure. But even if we don’t find out, we can go West on our own hook, and locate Snake Island. The rest will be easy, and we’ll get that radium before they do.”

“I hope so,” spoke the educator. “I certainly need the money, and I have given up everything for this chance. The Mortaby Scientific School will have to get along without me for a time, but when I come back, with a fortune, I will build a real college.”

“First we’ve got to get the radium, and beat the motor boys!” exclaimed Noddy, as he grinned in anticipation of the trick he expected to play.

“You don’t like them, then?”

“I hate ’em all!” snarled the bully, “even if they did pull me from the river. If they hadn’t, someone else would.”

“Well, I hope we can soon start West,” went on the sleek individual. “When will your father give me some money?”

“To-morrow or the next day,” replied Noddy. “He is willing that I should undertake the trip. I told him I needed it for my health.”

Then the two talked over the details of their plot, sitting up until late in the night, while our heroes peacefully slumbered, and dreamed of strange adventures on Snake Island in the Grand Canyon of the Colorado.

Bright and early the next morning Bob and Ned, with the professor, assembled at Jerry’s house. The last preparations had been made, good-byes had been said, and the motor boat looked over for the last time. She was pulling uneasily at the mooring lines, which held her fast to the dock, for there had been a heavy rain, and the river was much swollen. It was as if the boat was anxious for the boys to come aboard.

“All ready?” asked Jerry.

“All ready,” replied Ned, and then, waving good-byes to Mrs. Hopkins, they started for the pier. It did not take them long to put their handbags aboard, and, once the professor was comfortably settled aft, in the open cockpit, he began scanning the water for rare insects.

“All aboard!” cried Jerry, as he took his place at the wheel.

“All aboard,” answered Ned.

“Then let her go,” ordered the steersman, and Ned turned over the fly wheel to start the motor.

There was a cheer from the little crowd that had gathered on the dock to see our heroes start. Andy Rush was among them.

“That’s the stuff!” cried the excitable little chap. “Off you go--wish I was along--never say die--blow up the boiler--whoop--off for Pittsburg!”

“Say, I wonder if he ever will calm down?” remarked Bob, helplessly.

“I’m afraid not,” commented Ned.

“I wish he hadn’t said that last,” said Jerry in a serious tone.

“Why not?” asked Ned, as the _Dartaway_ swung out from the dock.

“Because I’d just as leave everyone wouldn’t know where we are going. It might get to the ears of----”

“Look!” cried Bob in a low, tense voice.

“What is it?” asked Ned.

“There’s Bill Berry, and Noddy Nixon is with him,” went on the stout lad, pointing across the water, to where, a short distance away, there floated a rowboat, containing the two enemies of the motor boys.