Motor Matt's Daring Rescue; or, The Strange Case of Helen Brady Read online

  Produced by David Edwards, Demian Katz and the OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (Imagescourtesy of the Digital Library@Villanova University(https://digital.library.villanova.edu/))

  MOTOR STORIES

  THRILLING ADVENTURE

  MOTOR FICTION

  NO. 11 MAY 8, 1909

  FIVE CENTS

  MOTOR MATT'S DARING RESCUE

  OR THE STRANGE CASE OF HELEN BRADY

  _Step lively, mate! cried Dick as Motor Matt assisted the girl into the car._]

  _STREET & SMITH, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK._

  MOTOR STORIES

  THRILLING ADVENTURE MOTOR FICTION

  _Issued Weekly. By subscription $2.50 per year. Entered according toAct of Congress in the year 1909, in the Office of the Librarian ofCongress, Washington, D. C., by_ STREET & SMITH, _79-89 Seventh Avenue,New York, N. Y._

  No. 11. NEW YORK, May 8, 1909. Price Five Cents.

  Motor Matt's Daring Rescue;

  OR,

  THE STRANGE CASE OF HELEN BRADY.

  By the author of "MOTOR MATT."

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER I. THE DISAPPEARANCE OF HELEN BRADY. CHAPTER II. THE IMPORTANT LETTER. CHAPTER III. BY THE OLD QUARRY. CHAPTER IV. A QUEER SITUATION. CHAPTER V. PETE AND WHIPPLE MAKE A CAPTURE. CHAPTER VI. BRADY'S PROPOSITION. CHAPTER VII. A SURPRISE AT HOOLIGAN'S. CHAPTER VIII. THE TROUBLE AT THE AIR SHIP. CHAPTER IX. BACK TO THE CANAL. CHAPTER X. BRADY RETURNS--WITH HOT NEWS. CHAPTER XI. THE MANSION ON THE RIVER. CHAPTER XII. THE FIGHT. CHAPTER XIII. DARING WORK. CHAPTER XIV. HELEN'S ORDEAL. CHAPTER XV. THE CAPTURE OF PETE AND WHIPPLE. CHAPTER XVI. CONCLUSION. A FALL TO FORTUNE. TIP FOR RABBIT HUNTERS.

  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."

  =Carl Pretzel=, a cheerful and rollicking German lad, who is led by a fortunate accident to hook up with Motor Matt in double harness.

  =Dick Ferral=, a Canadian boy who has served his time in the King's navy, and bobs up in the States where he falls into plots and counter-plots, and comes near losing his life.

  =Hector Brady=, a convict who breaks prison to wreak vengeance upon two members of his former band.

  =Helen Brady=, Hector Brady's daughter, who helps Motor Matt.

  =Whipple and Pete=, two members of Hector Brady's old band of air-ship thieves who are engineering a treacherous plot aimed at Brady. It is against them that Brady has vowed vengeance--and a queer twist of circumstances causes Brady to ask aid of Motor Matt in order that the scoundrels may be captured and Helen rescued.

  =Hooligan and his wife=, scoundrelly caretakers in charge of a mansion in River Forest.

  =Harris=, a policeman of South Chicago who aids Motor Matt in his work against the Bradys.

  =Burton and Sanders=, two police officers from La Grange, Ills., who assist Harris and Motor Matt and his friends in the daring rescue of Helen Brady.

  CHAPTER I.

  THE DISAPPEARANCE OF HELEN BRADY.

  "Your name King?"

  "Yes."

  "You de feller dey calls Motor Matt?"

  "You've struck it."

  "Chee! I seen yer mug in de poipers an' I t'ought yous must be defeller. I'm de kid wot woiks f'r Hagenmyer, an' here's a letter dat hetold me t' give t' yous."

  Motor Matt and Dick Ferral had been sunning themselves in front ofthe balloon house, a little way out of the town of South Chicago. Ayoungster of ten or eleven had climbed the roadside fence and made hisway toward the big, shed-like building in the centre of the swampymeadow. Of the two boys, the youngster had instinctively picked outMatt, had halted in front of him, and had started the foregoingcolloquy. He finished by taking a letter out of his pocket and passingit over to the young motorist.

  "Yous has been doin' a lot o' t'ings here in dis little ole burg,"grinned the youngster, as he started back toward the road, "an' I wantst' go on record as sayin' yous is Class A, an' all t' de good."

  "Much obliged," laughed Matt.

  The kid from Hagenmyer's waved his hand, then turned around and madehis way briskly toward the fence.

  "Who's this Hagenmyer, mate?" queried Ferral, drawing closer to hischum and looking at the latter curiously.

  "He's the fellow that bought this balloon house from Brady," explainedMatt. "That was before the police found out that Brady was a thief, butBrady knew the discovery was coming, so he got rid of everything heowned in South Chicago."

  "What business has Hagenmyer got with you?"

  "We'll know in a minute, Dick."

  Matt tore off the end of the envelope and pulled out the enclosedsheet. He gave a low whistle as he read; then, after he had finished,he passed the letter over to Ferral. The communication ran as follows:

  "MOTOR MATT: My workmen will begin tearing down the balloon house to-morrow morning. It will be necessary, therefore, for you to remove your air ship sometime this afternoon or to-night.

  "ISIDORE HAGENMYER."

  A look of satisfaction crossed Ferral's face.

  "That means we've got to trip anchor and bear away," said he. "I'm notsorry. We've been hung up here for two weeks, old ship, and what goodhas it done us?"

  "Not much, that's a fact," answered Matt discontentedly. "Hagenmyer hasheld off on tearing down the balloon house for that length of time,just to give us a safe place to keep the Hawk. We can't blame him forgetting busy on the old shed to-morrow morning."

  "Well, our movable canvas shelter is ready, and stowed in the car. Wecan use that, now that the shed is to be taken away from us."

  "The canvas is not a safe shelter, by any means, Dick."

  "It's the only one we can use on our fly from here to New York. Youwon't try to stay here any longer, will you?"

  "I hate to leave without learning something about Helen Brady. Thatgirl has done a lot for us, pard, and it looks kind of heartless forus to pull out without doing what we can to settle the mystery of herdisappearance."

  "But what can we do, mate, if the detectives are all aback and not ableto find a trace of her? Miss Brady went to visit friends on ArcherAvenue, Chicago; she was there three days while her father, HectorBrady, was being tried and railroaded to the penitentiary; then,the fourth day after Miss Brady goes to Archer Avenue, she suddenlyvanishes, and not a trace of her can be found. No matter how youoverhaul the situation, it's queer, and I'm inclined to think thatthe girl's brother, Hector Brady, Jr., has spirited her away. Eitherthat, or else the girl went away with her brother of her own free will.If Brady, Jr., is mixed up in this, matey, what right have we got tointerfere? Looks like a family affair."

  Although Matt's brow wrinkled perplexedly, yet his eyes gleamedresolutely, as he replied:

  "We know young Brady is a crook, just like his father, Dick, and ifthere wasn't something wrong, Helen would not have left her friendswithout giving some explanation. I don't care whether Brady, Jr., ismixed up in the affair or not, I intend to discover what's happened,and to give the girl help if she needs it. If it hadn't been for Helen,you and I would never have been able to chase Brady, Sr., over intoMichigan, capture him, and get our air ship back. We mustn't forgetwhat we owe Helen Brady, and that she's entitled to our aid if sheneeds it."

  "Right-o, messmate!" returned Ferral heartily. "The girl helped us getback the Hawk, but that's the least of what
she did. If it hadn't beenfor her, the pair of us would have gone to Davy Jones, right here inthis old balloon house.[A] I'm for doing everything we can for her, butif the police can't do anything, I don't see where we come in."

  [A] See MOTOR MATT WEEKLY NO. 10, "Motor Matt's Hard Luck; or, TheBalloon-house Plot."

  Matt was gloomily silent for a little while, turning his helplessnessover and over in his mind.

  "Well, Dick," he finally answered, "something may turn up."

  "But we can't wait for it. Hagenmyer will be jerking the old sheddown over our heads if we don't slant away sometime between this andmorning."

  "I'm hoping that telegram from the Lestrange people may result insomething. That letter they have for me may be from Helen Brady."

  Matt took the message from his pocket and read it over again. It wasfrom the people for whom he had been driving a racing automobile,and had been received about eleven o'clock that morning. It merelystated that they had received a letter for Matt, that it was marked"important," and that they would hold it until Matt told them what todo with it. The young motorist had immediately sent his Dutch pard,Carl Pretzel, to Chicago after the letter.

  "Perhaps you're right, matey," said Ferral. "Anyhow, we'll know as soonas Carl gets back. He ought to be here by eight bells of the afternoonwatch. Hello!" and here Ferral's eyes wandered to the road, "who's thatsteering this way? He's coming full and by, and seems to be in a hurry."

  Matt stared in the direction indicated by his chum. Carl had not hadtime to get to Chicago and back, so he knew it could not be him.

  As the hurrying figure drew closer, and became more distinct, itresolved itself into the form of a man in blue and brass buttons.

  "Harris!" exclaimed Matt.

  "That's right!" agreed Ferral excitedly; "Harris, or I'm a Fiji!He's got something mighty important stowed away in his locker, or hewouldn't be bearing down on us at that gait."

  Harris was a member of the South Chicago police force, and was a goodfriend of Motor Matt.

  "Perhaps he's got something to tell us about Helen Brady!" cried Matt,starting up. "If he has, then the news couldn't come at a better time."

  While Harris was climbing the fence, both boys started across theswampy ground to meet him.

  "Howdy, Matt!" called the officer, jerking a handkerchief from hispocket and wiping his perspiring face. "Hello, Ferral. Pretty hot dayfor a fast walk, and I didn't let any grass grow under me."

  "What's the trouble, Harris?" queried Matt.

  "There's plenty, I'm telling you. I guess we'll have to put anotherdetail of officers on guard at this balloon house; if we don't, youlads are liable to get done up and lose the Hawk."

  "How's that?" demanded Ferral.

  "Why, that pesky Brady has escaped from the 'pen' at Joliet, and----"

  "Escaped?" echoed Matt.

  "Well, sink me!" exclaimed Ferral. "Why, he made his brags that the'pen' couldn't hold him."

  "That fellow's as slippery as an eel," went on Harris. "He's been atlarge for two days, and the prison authorities have kept it quiet,hoping they'd be able to bag him; but they failed to catch him, and nowit's got into the papers. I wonder if you understand what that means toyou, Matt?" and here the officer fixed a significant look on the youngmotorist.

  "Brady swore he'd get even with Matt," spoke up Ferral.

  "That's it," said Harris, "and he's the sort of fellow that don't saythings just to hear himself talk. He's been out of the 'pen' two days,and I'd like to bet something handsome he's been thinking of Motor Mattand the air ship ever since he got clear of the stone walls and theiron bars. I rushed out here as soon as I could, to warn you boys tolook out for yourselves, and for the Hawk."

  "Brady will have enough to do keeping his liberty," remarked Matt; "hewon't have any time to bother with me."

  "That's where you're wrong, Matt, according to my notion. You knowhow anxious Brady has been, every time the law got after him, to gethold of the air ship. With the Hawk, he can snap his fingers at allthe detectives and police officers, and it's a cinch he'll come thisway. Some of the rest of the gang may be helping him. You know Pete,Whipple, Grove, and Brady, Jr., are still at large. You don't want tohave another balloon-house plot worked on you, so I think you lads hadbetter pull out, and go east, if that's where you're headed for."

  "But I don't want to leave until I can learn something about HelenBrady!" protested Matt.

  "You can't help the girl any," continued Harris. "Who knows but someof her father's gang are mixed up in her disappearance? If it comes tothat, who knows but the girl is with her father now? You can't affordto have any more dealings with that gang, Matt. Besides, you owe it tothe authorities to take the Hawk where there won't be any possibilityof Brady's getting hands on her. If he gets the Hawk, he'll never becaptured; if he doesn't get the air ship, he can't possibly keep fromgetting laid by the heels."

  The officer's position was logical. Matt's disappointment on HelenBrady's account was keen, but events seemed to be shaping themselvesso that he and his friends would have to leave South Chicago thatafternoon, whether they wanted to or not.