CHAPTER XXXI A BREAKDOWN
Each one of Dick's chums said, afterward, that he thought the same thing at the moment Mr. Cameron made his statement—that the affair was more desperate than they had at first suspected. True, the men racing after them in the swift car might only be trying to attract their attention by the firing of revolver shots, but, knowing what he did, Dick was more inclined to think that it was done with the intention of injuring some one.
"Do you really think they're shooting at us?" asked Innis.
"Well, not so much at us, as at our car," said the young engineer.
"The tires!" cried Paul, with sudden thought.
"What kind have you?" asked Mr. Cameron.
"Not pneumatic!" exclaimed Dick, as he put on a little more power. "Cushions instead. It won't hurt them to get a few bullets inside."
"Good! For I think that's their intention," went on Mr. Cameron. "They're not in effective range yet, though. But they think they can disable us, and then get me back in their control again. They're going to have their own troubles doing that though!" and he shut his teeth grimly. His former light-hearted manner seemed to have left him.
Paul took a backward glance at the oncoming car. Behind it there floated a little haze of smoke from the firing of the revolver.
"They're coming on," murmured the youth. "Can you get any more speed up, Dick?"
"I think so. I'm sort of doing it gradually, though, for this going is hard on the running gear, and I don't want a breakdown."
The Last Word responded well to the demand made on her for increased speed. Faster and faster she raced over the sandy stretch of the desert, and now, Innis, looking back, reported:
"We're giving them the go-by, Dick, old man!"
"Glad of it. I thought we would. I have something left in reserve, too. I guess we'll make a get-away, all right."
"That water in the gasoline ought to work pretty soon, I should think," said Mr. Cameron. "They must have used up all that was in the feed pipe and carbureter, and the small auxiliary tank."
"I guess that's what's the trouble now, all right!" went on Innis. "See, they have stopped."
"Then they're stuck!" cried the engineer, joyfully. "It's all right, boys. They won't be able to find out what's the matter for an hour or more. They'll tinker with every part of the engine, and when they do find it's the gas we'll be far enough off."
"That's right," agreed Dick. "It was a good thing to do."
"The nerve of them, though—firing at us!" exclaimed Paul. "They might have hit one of us."
"I don't believe they would have done so intentionally," spoke the engineer. "The men are not as desperate as that. But the bullets might have glanced off. I imagine they fired low, just at the tires. But they had nerve even to chase after us, as if I were an escaping criminal."
"Do you think they had orders to prevent you from going away?" asked Dick.
"I believe they did," was the answer, "and to use force, if necessary. I didn't realize it before, but those men, including your Uncle Ezra, Mr. Hamilton, are probably desperate at the fear of losing control of this road. It means a big thing to them, and they want to beat Mr. Wardell if possible. But they shan't, if I can prevent it."
Dick, now that he realized that the chase was over for the time being, slowed up his car. They looked back along the level desert road, and saw, in the dim distance, the two men busy about their stalled machine.
"That will hold them for a while," said Mr. Cameron. "Now we can take our time about getting away."
Four hours later they had reached the end of the desert and had passed into Nevada.
"Into civilization once more," remarked Paul, as they saw the different nature of the country before them.
"And I'm glad of it," exclaimed Dick. "I've had enough of desert travel for a while."
"What is your programme?" asked Mr. Cameron, as they came to a pleasant place, where Dick decided they would stay for the night. It was sufficiently far from the main road to preclude the possibility of their pursuers finding them, even should they be able to get under way again. And that part of Nevada was not thickly populated.
"I think we'll head for Carson City," said our hero. "It will be the most direct route to reach San Francisco, and now that the matter of filing the papers within a certain date isn't so important, I want to get to the court as soon as possible."
"That's right," agreed the young engineer. "As soon as I can make affidavit to what I know your friend Wardell will be safe. Then it will be a matter of fighting it out legally, but he'll have a chance for his white alley, as the boys say. It won't be all one-sided. He'll have an opportunity to put his side of the case in, and I think the courts will restore his fortune to him. I'll do all I can for him, anyhow."
"That's very good of you," said Dick.
"Not at all. It's up to me to do that much, especially after what I did to knock him out—though I didn't mean to, and it was because I was deceived. I'll have a talk with your uncle, when I see him, Dick Hamilton," he added significantly.
"I don't imagine Uncle Ezra will show up around these parts, once he knows he is likely to be defeated," said the young millionaire, with a smile.
"He'll rather have it in for you; won't he, Dick?" asked Paul, as he patted Grit on the head.
"Well, he may," Dick admitted, with a peculiar smile; "but I'm not as afraid of my uncle as I used to be. I may tell him some things, too, the way I did when he tried to kidnap me."
"How was that?" asked Mr. Cameron, interestedly.
"Oh, when I went on a cruise in my ship," answered the owner of the Last Word, and he related the main incidents as I have set them down in "Dick Hamilton's Steam Yacht."
"He's as bold as an old-fashioned pirate—your uncle," remarked the young engineer when Dick had finished. "But, say, this is something like living!" he exclaimed, as he saw the preparations under way for getting a meal. "I'm glad I eloped with you boys. Can I help at anything?"
"You might see if you can get some water," suggested Dick. "That in the tanks is a bit stale, I fancy."
Soon they were merrily eating, and talking over their plans for the next few days. They slept that night in the auto, and in the morning were off again, no signs of their pursuers having been seen.
In due time they reached Carson City, and laid in a supply of food and gasoline. Then they hurried onward again. The road was fine in some places, and miserable in others, but they made fairly good time.
They were in California now, and the end of their journey was almost in sight. They might have taken a train, and gotten to San Francisco sooner, perhaps, and very likely it would have been safer to do so, considering the risks they ran. But if this occurred to them they did not give it a second thought.
Besides, Dick did not want to abandon his car, and he had a sort of pride in sticking to it throughout the whole journey across the continent.
True, Mr. Cameron might have gone on by himself, but when Dick suggested this the engineer said:
"No, I'm going to stick by the ship. I don't believe those fellows can get ahead of us. Anyhow, I want your testimony, Dick, to go in with mine. Besides, I hold the trump cards, so to speak. They can't do anything without me, and the evidence I will give is the most important in the case.
"Another thing, I feel as if I needed protection, and you boys can provide it. If I started for 'Frisco all alone they might get hold of me somehow, and keep me out of the way until it was too late to do anything. So I'll just stick with you. Four are harder to handle than one, as they'll find if they come any of their funny tricks on us."
"That's right!" agreed Paul, while Innis clenched his fists suggestively.
The way was rougher now, and they were proceeding more slowly. The trip across the desert had somewhat delayed them, for the heavy car sank deeper into the sand than they had counted on, and the trip had consumed nearly three times as much time as it ordinarily does.
They were within a few hours' run of Sacramento, passing through a rather lonely region, when Dick, who was at the wheel, leaned forward, and through the open front windows of the car seemed to be listening to the chug-chug of the motor.
"What's the matter?" asked Paul.
"She doesn't seem to be running just right," he answered. "Something seems to be out of gear. Maybe it's one of the timers. I guess I'll have a look."
As he put out his hand to shut off the gasoline by the lever provided for that purpose, the big car came to a sudden stop of its own accord.
"A breakdown, I guess," murmured Dick. "And a bad place to have it in," he added as he looked about him. As he alighted, followed by the others, there came up behind them a powerful auto containing three men. This car stopped, and two of the strangers got out, approaching Dick and his friends.