Motor Matt's "Century" Run; or, The Governor's Courier — Text and Context

CHAPTER I. WELCOME TAKES A SUDDEN DROP. CHAPTER II. A QUEER SITUATION. CHAPTER III. "RAGS." CHAPTER IV. A DANGEROUS MISSION. CHAPTER V. THE RED ROADSTER. CHAPTER VI. SURMOUNTING THE DIFFICULTY. CHAPTER VII. SMOKE-SIGNALS. CHAPTER VIII. ON THE DIVIDE. CHAPTER IX. A RUSE THAT WON. CHAPTER X. AT POTTER'S GAP. CHAPTER XI. JOE BASCOMB. CHAPTER XII. BOLIVAR TURNS UP. CHAPTER XIII. THE RED ROADSTER AGAIN. CHAPTER XIV. ON TO PHOENIX! CHAPTER XV. THE END OF THE MYSTERY. CHAPTER XVI. MATT REPORTS TO THE GOVERNOR. ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS REWARD.

CHARACTERS THAT APPEAR IN THIS STORY.

=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 Western town, the popular name of "Mile-a-minute Matt."

=Chub McReady=, sometimes called plain "Reddy," for short, on account of his fiery "thatch"--a chum of Matt, with a streak of genius for inventing things that often land the bold experimenter in trouble.

=Welcome Perkins=, a one-legged wanderer who lives with Chub and his sister while their father prospects for gold--Welcome is really a man of peace, yet he delights to imagine himself a "terror," and is forever boasting about being a "reformed road-agent."

=McKibben=, the sheriff who has both nerve and intelligence.

=Juan Morisco=, a Mexican of low degree, and a rascal as well.

=Tom Clipperton=, known generally as "Clip," a quarter-blood, who is very sensitive about his Indian ancestry.

=The Governor=, head of the State, and a friend of Matt.

=Gregory=, a rancher.

=Dangerfield=, the leader of the smugglers; who has another name.

=Burke=, another sheriff, who lands his man.

"=Rags=," a little girl waif whom Matt befriends, to his profit later.

WELCOME TAKES A SUDDEN DROP.

"Hold up there, Chub! Don't ye git in sich a tarnal hurry. What am I goin' to do with this here rope?"

"Why, cast it off, of course. How can you expect to fly with the rope holdin' you back?"

"Waal, now, wait; le's understand this thing. It's my idee, ain't it?"

"Sure. You drew the plans an' I put the machine together."

"If any picters is published in the papers, mine goes in bigger'n yours, don't it?"

"That's all to the good, Perk. When the reporters write this up, you'll be the king-pin. The invention is yours, and all I did was to put it together. But you're a pretty old man to try it out, Perk. You'd better let me take the first spin."

"Bein' the inventor, I reckon I got a right to show off a little. Purty nigh all my life I been a hootin', tootin' disturber o' the peace, committin' depperdations as makes me blush to think of; but right here is where I do somethin' fer civilization an' progress, which'll go a good ways to'rds makin' up fer the past. I'm plumb hungry, Chub, to hear folks say: 'That there flyin' machine is the biggest thing o' the twentieth century, an' Welcome Perkins done it. He used to be a howlin', cut-an'-slash desperado in his younger days, but now he's turned over a new leaf, an' is devotin' his shinin' abilities to forwardin' the cause o' progress as much as he used to be fer holdin' it back.' That's what I wants to hear folks say as they're p'intin' me out, an'----"

"Oh, slush! If you stand up there chinning much longer, Perk, somebody'll come. You want this to be a private flight, don't you?"

"Jest at the beginnin', till I see if everythin' works all right. If there ain't any hitch. I want to make it as public as possible. I'd be tickled to have the hull town come out an' see me cuttin' figger eight's in the clouds. 'It can't be that one-legged feller up there is Welcome Perkins, the ole ex-pirate o' the plains as has been living right here among us, can it?' the people will say, awed-like, turnin' to each other. Then I'll fly low, so'st to let 'em make sure, an' laugh exultin'-like----"

"Back to the woods for you, Perk; go ahead an' fly. Don't stand there talkin' about it."

"Sure Susie ain't got back yit, an' nobody else ain't lookin'?"

"Don't fret about that, Perk. We're all alone out here, but there's no tellin' how long we'll be by ourselves if you lose much more time."