Chapter XXX: An Important Letter--Conclusion

It was a week after the race before Mr. Baker fully made up his mind to let his son have the automobile. Before announcing his decision he had a talk with Mr. Slade and with Mrs. Hopkins.

“It isn’t so much letting Bob and his chums have the auto,” said Mr. Baker, with a smile, “as it is what they will do after they get it.”

“That’s so,” admitted Mr. Slade. “Still they are pretty careful boys, and their experience with the motor cycles has been good training for automobiling for them.”

When Bob was informed of the decision he could scarcely keep from jumping up in the air and giving an Indian war-whoop. He raced off to tell his chums.

“It’s all right! We get it! Dad just told me! The automobile--touring car--we’ll take a lot of trips--start next week--whoop!” Bob shouted.

“You’re as bad as Andy Rush!” exclaimed Ned.

“I feel like him!” cried Bob.

Little time was lost in notifying Mr. Wakefield of the boys’ decision.

“I’m glad you took that,” he said. “I know where I can get a fine, strong, serviceable touring car for the amount of the prize.”

“And will you order it at once?” asked Bob eagerly.

“By the next mail,” promised the instructor, with a laugh.

The three chums strolled down the main street of Cresville, their happiness showing on their faces. They passed the post-office, and Jerry happened to think of a letter his mother had given him to mail. He stepped inside and, after dropping the envelope in the slot, looked in the family box to see if there was any mail. There was one missive, and, when the clerk had handed it out, Jerry saw that it was addressed to himself. It was postmarked New York.

“I wonder who can be writing to me from there,” he said.

He tore open the envelope and took out a small folded paper. It bore no date and began abruptly.

“TO JERRY, NED AND BOB: You cubs are responsible for me
being an outcast. You drove me away from home, and forced me to
come here. I will not forget it, and some day I shall square
accounts. _Look out for me!_ It will not be well if we meet.
NODDY NIXON.”

“Well, I like his nerve!” said Jerry, after he had read the letter over a second time. “As if we made him take that money. Look here!” he called to Ned and Bob, showing them the letter.

They were much surprised at the veiled threats contained in the missive.

“I wonder what he thinks he can do to us?” asked Ned.

“How does he come to be in New York?” asked Bob.

“He probably went there in his father’s--I mean in his own--automobile,” said Jerry. “That isn’t much of a trip for a big car.”

“Well, I guess we will not let the letter worry us,” went on Bob.

“I wonder if when we happen to be touring the west we will meet with Noddy?” said Ned, presently.

“And I wonder if he’d really try to do anything to us,” put in Bob.

“Don’t talk about it,” said Jerry. “We are comfortable now, don’t worry about the future.”

And then the three chums went home, to wait as patiently as possible for the automobile to arrive. They did not know what was ahead of them, but, as Jerry said, what was the use of borrowing trouble? The future looked rosy indeed.

THE END.

_The Motor Boys Series_ (_Trade Mark, Reg. U. S. Pat. Of._)

_By Clarence Young_

Cloth. 12mo. Illustrated. Price per volume, 60 cents, postpaid

=THE MOTOR BOYS=
_Or, Chums Through Thick and Thin_

In this volume is related how the three boys got together and planned to obtain a touring car and make a trip lasting through the summer.

=THE MOTOR BOYS OVERLAND=
_Or, A Long Trip for Fun and Fortune_

With the money won at the great motorcycle race the three boys purchase their touring car and commence their travels.

=THE MOTOR BOYS IN MEXICO=
_Or, The Secret of the Buried City_

From our own country the scene is shifted to Mexico, where the motor boys journey in quest of a city said to have been buried centuries ago by an earthquake.

=THE MOTOR BOYS ACROSS THE PLAINS=
_Or, The Hermit of Lost Lake_

Unraveling the mystery surrounding an old hermit and a poor boy.

=THE MOTOR BOYS AFLOAT=
_Or, The Stirring Cruise of the Dartaway_

In this volume the boys take to a motorboat, and have many adventures.

=THE MOTOR BOYS ON THE ATLANTIC=
_Or, The Mystery of the Lighthouse_

How the lads foiled the bad men who wanted to wreck a steamer by means of false lights is dramatically related.

=THE MOTOR BOYS IN STRANGE WATERS=
_Or, Lost in a Floating Forest_

Telling of many adventures in the mysterious Everglades of Florida.

=THE MOTOR BOYS ON THE PACIFIC=
_Or, The Young Derelict Hunters_

The derelict was of great value, and the hunt for it proved full of perils.

=THE MOTOR BOYS IN THE CLOUDS=
_Or, A Trip for Fame and Fortune_

The boys fall in with an inventor and invest in a flying machine. After a number of stirring adventures in the clouds they enter a big race.

CUPPLES & LEON CO., Publishers, NEW YORK

_New Alger Books_

JOE, THE HOTEL BOY
_Or, Winning Out by Pluck_

By HORATIO ALGER, Jr.

=Illustrated, 12mo. Cloth, 60 cents=

This is one of the last stories penned by that prince of all juvenile writers, Horatio Alger, Jr., and is one of his best. It describes the adventures of a youth brought up in the country by an old hermit. When the hermit dies the boy obtains work at a nearby hotel, and later on drifts to the city and obtains a position in another hotel. There is a mystery concerning the lad’s identity and likewise the disappearance of a certain blue box, but in the end all terminates satisfactorily.

BEN LOGAN’S TRIUMPH
_Or, The Boys of Boxwood Academy_

By HORATIO ALGER, Jr.

=Illustrated, 12mo. Cloth, 60 cents=

This story was penned by Mr. Alger some years before his death, but has never appeared in book form. Ben was a city newsboy, rather rough, but with a heart of gold. He did a great service for a good-hearted farmer, and the latter took Ben home with him. The lad had never been in the country before, and his eyes were opened to a new world. Then the youth was sent to a boarding school, where he made his way to the front amid many difficulties. Mr. Alger’s charm as a juvenile writer is so well known it is needless to mention it here, and this story is in his best vein.

_CUPPLES & LEON CO., Publishers, NEW YORK_

_The Jack Ranger Series_

_By Clarence Young_
Author of the Motor Boys Series

=Cloth. 12mo. Illustrated. Price per volume, $1.00, postpaid=

=JACK RANGER’S SCHOOLDAYS=
_Or, The Rivals of Washington Hall_

You will love Jack Ranger--you simply can’t help it. He is so bright and cheery, and so real and lifelike. A typical boarding school tale, without a dull line in it.

=JACK RANGER’S SCHOOL VICTORIES=
_Or, Track, Gridiron and Diamond_

In this tale Jack gets back to Washington Hall and goes in for all sorts of school games. There are numerous contests on the athletic field, and also a great baseball game and a football game, all dear to a boy’s heart. The rivalry is bitter at times, and enemies try to put Jack “in a hole” more than once.

=JACK RANGER’S WESTERN TRIP=
_Or, From Boarding School to Ranch and Range_

This volume takes the hero and several of his chums to the great West. Jack is anxious to clear up the mystery surrounding his father’s disappearance. At the ranch and on the range adventures of the strenuous sort befall him.

=JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE=
_Or, The Wreck of the Polly Ann_

Here is a tale of the bounding sea, with many stirring adventures. How the ship was wrecked, and Jack was cast away, is told in a style all boys and girls will find exceedingly interesting. There is plenty of fun as well as excitement.

=JACK RANGER’S GUN CLUB=
_Or, From Schoolroom to Camp and Trail_

Jack, with his chums, goes in quest of big game. The boys fall in with a mysterious body of men, and have a terrific slide down a mountain side.

CUPPLES & LEON CO., Publishers, NEW YORK

_The Dorothy Dale Series_

_By Margaret Penrose_

=Cloth. 12mo. Illustrated. Price per volume, 60 cents, postpaid=

=DOROTHY DALE: A GIRL OF TO-DAY=

Dorothy is the daughter of an old Civil War veteran who is running a weekly newspaper in a small Eastern town. When her father falls sick, and the newspaper property is in danger of going to pieces, the girl shows what she can do to support the family.

=DOROTHY DALE AT GLENWOOD SCHOOL=

More prosperous times have come to the Dale family, and Major Dale resolves to send Dorothy to a boarding school to complete her education. At Glenwood School the girl makes a host of friends and has many good times. But some girls are jealous of Dorothy’s popularity, and they seek to get her into trouble in more ways than one.

=DOROTHY DALE’S GREAT SECRET=

A splendid story of one girl’s devotion to another. Dorothy’s chum ran away to join a theatrical company. What Dorothy did, and how she kept the secret, makes a tale no girl will care to miss.

=DOROTHY DALE AND HER CHUMS=

A story of school life, and of strange adventures among the gypsies. Dorothy befriends a little French girl and also a gypsy waif, in a manner sure to touch the hearts of all readers.

=DOROTHY DALE’S QUEER HOLIDAYS=

Relates the details of a mystery that surrounded Tanglewood Park. There is a great snowstorm, and the young folks become snowbound, much to their dismay.

CUPPLES & LEON CO., Publishers, NEW YORK

Transcriber’s Notes:

--Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_); text enclosed
by equal signs in bold face (=bold=).

--Punctuation and spelling inaccuracies were silently corrected.

--Archaic and variable spelling has been preserved.

--Variations in hyphenation and compound words have been preserved
(e.g. motor-cycle/motor cycle and ice-cream/ice cream).