Motor Matt's Triumph; or, Three Speeds Forward

"It's bound to before long," replied Arnold, creeping out to the very end of the log and peering down into the brown bayou.

Suddenly the water boiled violently, and out of the unseen depths the big alligator came flying as if he had been shot from a gun.

"Look out!" yelled Terry.

Too late. The monstrous tail smote the log with a force that sent Arnold flying up into the air. And Terry, wildly grabbing for his gun, saw with horror that his friend had dropped slap on top of the writhing, struggling monster.

For an instant both disappeared. Then up they came again, and Terry could hardly believe his eyes when he saw Arnold seated astride on the huge scaly neck, while the alligator, thrashing the water with its tail, swam round and round in wide circles.

Terry, finger on trigger, dashed out on the log. He was certain the brute would dive and take Arnold with him, and yet he dared not shoot for fear of hitting his friend.

"Don't shoot!" roared Arnold, catching sight of Terry out of the tail of his eye. "Hold on. I'll have him."

The alligator seemed unable to sink. Yet it was evidently trying to. Finding this impossible, it swung its great head round, snapping at Arnold with a sound like the clashing of a shunting train.

But Arnold had his knife out, and every time the brute came round at him drove the point deep into the soft flesh at the joint of the neck.

"The rope!" shouted Arnold.

Terry bounded ashore, and next moment was back with the rope coiled and a slipknot at the end of it.

Round and round went the alligator, churning the water to foam, and sending small waves slapping under the hollow banks. It was fast exhausting its mighty strength.

"Now!" yelled Arnold, as the beast came sailing straight under the log.

Quick as light Terry swung the noose into position. It passed neatly over the great, rugged head, and as it tightened Terry took a half hitch round the log, and the brute was brought up all standing with a jerk that made the tough rope sing and sent Arnold flying overboard.

Terry had him out in a moment, and the two rushed the end of the rope ashore, and, getting round a tree, began playing the alligator as a fisherman plays a salmon.

It was a good five minutes before the giant brute gave out and, more than half throttled, was lugged ashore.

Luckily for the boys, the bank was practically level with the water, or they never could have got the huge weight ashore. Even when he was on land they had a terrible job to noose the great, thrashing tail that was leveling the bushes like a giant scythe.

At last he was safe, tied head and tail to two trees, and the boys, gasping, mopped the perspiration from their dripping faces.

"'Twas mighty funny medicine ye gave him, Arnold," said Terry, as he surveyed their captive with huge satisfaction.

"Can't you guess what it was?"

Terry shook his head.

"Tartaric acid and carbonate of soda, my boy. Turned him into a balloon. He couldn't sink for the life of him."

"Tartaric acid!" gasped Terry; "carbonate of soda! Sure no wonder the poor brute was onaisy!" Then the comic side of it struck him, and he burst into shrieks of mirth. Arnold joined, and the two laughed till they rolled helpless in the long grass beside their ugly captive.

"Geewhillikens!" exclaimed Crundall as he surveyed the monster which four oxen were tugging in a cart through the hotel grounds. "I'll need a new pond for that le-vi-athan!"

"Give us the job to dig it?" put in Arnold quickly.

For the first time since they had met him Hiram Crundall actually laughed.

"I reckon I've got a better job for you two fellers than digging sand. Say, how'd you like to come into my office and learn this hotel business. Don't mind telling you there's a pot of money in it."

"We accept, sir!" cried Arnold briskly. "Whatever it is, it's better than growing frozen oranges."

"I've made half a million at it in ten years, so I ought to know," replied Crundall dryly.

Here Terry put in a word. "I say, Arnold, how about Cassidy?"

"Cassidy—who's he?" asked Crundall.

Terence told the story of the bet.

Crundall slapped his great knee. He pulled out a huge pocketbook, counted out bills for two hundred dollars, and handed them to Arnold. "You git right along," he said, "and collect. And if Cassidy don't pay on demand wire me. I'll come an' make him."

But Cassidy did pay, and then the boys let him foreclose on the ruined grove. They had better fish to fry.

A TIGERS' HAUNT.

Lonely—difficult to traverse—haunted by wild beasts. Such is the picture of the great delta of the Ganges, as drawn by Mr. Edmund Candler in Blackwood's Magazine. The region of the Sundarbans occupies four thousand square miles, and is intersected by six hundred named and ten times as many unnamed channels. What is not water is thick jungle. The banks of the channels are haunted by crocodiles and red and brown crabs.

"Seeds fall all day long, and germinate at once in the mud, and spring up and choke one another, and writhe and struggle for light and room." But this seething mass of vegetation is all mapped out into sections by the Forest Department. Each section, when the timber is cut, is left alone for forty years. This statement of itself makes us realize the loneliness of the place.

Wild animals have their lairs in this forest, and the tiger is a serious danger to the woodcutters of the forest, many of whom fall to the tigers yearly.

LATEST ISSUES

MOTOR STORIES

The latest and best five-cent weekly. We won't say how interesting it is. See for yourself. High art colored covers. Thirty-two big pages. Price, 5 cents.

1—Motor Matt; or, The King of the Wheel.
2—Motor Matt's Daring; or, True To His Friends.
3—Motor Matt's Century Run; or, The Governor's Courier.
4—Motor Matt's Race; or, The Last Flight of the "Comet."
5—Motor Matt's Mystery; or, Foiling a Secret Plot.
6—Motor Matt's Red Flier; or, On The High Gear.
7—Motor Matt's Clue; or, The Phantom Auto.
8—Motor Matt's Triumph; or, Three Speeds Forward.
9—Motor Matt's Air-Ship; or, The Rival Inventors.

TIP TOP WEEKLY

The most popular publication for boys. The adventures of Frank and Dick Merriwell can be had only in this weekly. High art colored covers. Thirty-two pages. Price, 5 cents.

669—Frank Merriwell's Great Work; or, Getting the Right Start.
670—Dick Merriwell's Mind; or, The Ideal of Manhood.
671—Dick Merriwell's "Dip;" or, The Mysterious Movements of a Hat.
672—Dick Merriwell's Rally; or, Making a Fighting Finish.
673—Dick Merriwell's Flier; or, The Champions of the Ice.
674—Frank Merriwell's Bullets; or, A Steady Nerve and a Sure Hand.
675—Frank Merriwell Cut Off; or, The Result of the Great Spring Rise.
676—Frank Merriwell's Ranch Boss; or, Big Bruce and the Blossoms.
677—Dick Merriwell's Equal; or, The Fellow with the Flying Feet.
678—Dick Merriwell's Development; or, The All-around Wonder.
679—Dick Merriwell's Eye; or, The Secret of Good Batting.
680—Frank Merriwell's Zest; or, The Spirit of the School.

NICK CARTER WEEKLY

The best detective stories on earth. Nick Carter's exploits are read the world over. High art colored covers. Thirty-two big pages. Price, 5 cents.

632—The Timelock Puzzle; or, Nick Carter's Bank Vault Case.
633—The Moving Picture Mystery; or, Nick Carter's Blindest Trail.
634—The Tiger-tamer; or, Nick Carter's Boldest Strategy.
635—A Strange Bargain; or, Nick Carter's Dead-shot Circus Case.
636—The Haunted Circus; or, Nick Carter Lays a Ghost.
637—The Secret of a Private Room; or, Nick Carter Makes an Experiment.
638—A Mental Mystery; or, Nick Carter on a Difficult Trail.
639—The Sealed Envelope; or, Nick Carter's Search for a Lost Fortune.
641—The Message in Blue; or, Nick Carter's Clue to a Vast Conspiracy.
641—A Dream of Empire; or, Nick Carter and the Queen of Conspirators.
642—The Detective's Disappearance; or, Nick Carter is Saved by Adelina.
643—The Midnight Marauders; or, Nick Carter's Telephone Mystery.

For sale by all newsdealers, or will be sent to any address on receipt of price, 5 cents per copy, in money or postage stamps, by

STREET & SMITH, Publishers, 79-89 Seventh Avenue, New York

IF YOU WANT ANY BACK NUMBERS of our Weeklies and cannot procure them from your newsdealer, they can be obtained from this office direct. Fill out the following Order Blank and send it to us with the price of the Weeklies you want and we will send them to you by return mail. POSTAGE STAMPS TAKEN THE SAME AS MONEY.

THE BEST OF THEM ALL!!

MOTOR STORIES

IT IS NEW AND INTENSELY INTERESTING

We knew before we published this line that it would have a tremendous sale and our expectations were more than realized. It is going with a rush, and the boys who want to read these, the most interesting and fascinating tales ever written, must speak to their newsdealers about reserving copies for them.

MOTOR MATT sprang into instant favor with American boy readers and is bound to occupy a place in their hearts second only to that now held by Frank Merriwell.

The reason for this popularity is apparent in every line of these stories. They are written by an author who has made a life study of the requirements of the up-to-date American boy as far as literature is concerned, so it is not surprising that this line has proven a huge success from the very start.

Here are the titles now ready and also those to be published. You will never have a better opportunity to get a generous quantity of reading of the highest quality, so place your orders now.

No. 1.—Motor Matt; or, The King of the Wheel.
No. 2.—Motor Matt's Daring; or, True to His Friends.
No. 3.—Motor Matt's Century Run; or, The Governor's Courier.
No. 4.—Motor Matt's Race; or, The Last Flight of the "Comet."

TO BE PUBLISHED ON MARCH 22nd

No. 5.—Motor Matt's Mystery; or, Foiling a Secret Plot.

TO BE PUBLISHED ON MARCH 29th

No. 6.—Motor Matt's Red Flier; or, On the High Gear.

TO BE PUBLISHED ON APRIL 5th

No. 7.—Motor Matt's Clue; or, The Phantom Auto.

TO BE PUBLISHED ON APRIL 12th

No. 8.—Motor Matt's Triumph; or, Three Speeds Forward.

Price, Five Cents To be had from newsdealers everywhere, or sent, postpaid, upon receipt of the price by the publishers

STREET & SMITH, Publishers, NEW YORK

Transcriber's Notes:

Images may be clicked to view larger versions.

Some missing punctuation has been inserted without comment in cases where spacing of the type indicates that a position was left for the marks but they did not make it to the printed page in the source copy. Many question marks appear to be missing from Carl's dialogue.

Retained some inconsistent hyphenation (e.g. bellboy vs. bell-boy).

Retained some questionable spellings in dialect.

Page 1, changed "abrutly" to "abruptly" ("died abruptly").

Page 2, changed "blindfolded" to "blindfold" in "blindfold him, and place him."

Page 3, changed ? to ! after "had a scrap!"

Page 4, changed "hs" to "his" in "envelope from his pocket."

Page 8, added missing "a" to "name to a boy."

Page 10, removed extra "i" from "findt" in "ven ve do findt dem."

Page 11, added missing period after "if you want to talk."

Page 12, changed "the" to "they" in "they could not waste much time."

Page 15, changed . to ? after "was to receive?"

Page 16, removed extra space before period in "they left the garage."

Page 17, changed "then" to "than" in "than take part." Removed space before period in "attention to anything else."

Page 20, changed "carred" to "carried" in "carried their alarm." Removed duplicate "of" from "things of which."

Page 21, changed double quotes to single quotes around "Thousand and One Nights."

Page 22, changed "immeditaely" to "immediately" in "immediately to jail."

Page 24, changed "hopelssly" to "hopelessly" in "standing hopelessly by."

Page 25, changed "tremedously" to "tremendously" in "racing tremendously."

Page 28, changed "You" to "Your" in "Your desire does you credit."

Page 29, changed "rung" to "hung" in "hung limp and blackened."

"LATEST ISSUES" ad, changed "detetective" to "detective."