And while the two chums are thus debating as to whether or not they ought to interfere sufficiently in Jerry’s affairs to offer to help him, I will take a few moments to tell my new readers something of the boys and of the previous books in this series in which my heroes have figured.
Bob Baker, son of Andrew Baker, a rich banker; Ned Slade, whose father, Aaron Slade, was the proprietor of a large department store; and Jerry Hopkins, the only son of a well-to-do widow, were the three “motor boys” with whom we are concerned. They lived in the town of Cresville, not far from Boston, and had been chums and companions ever since they were youngsters. They had been “lost” together, they had played ball on the vacant lots, they had gone swimming and fishing in one another’s company, and, when they grew older, they went bicycling together.
It was the bicycles that gained for them the name “motor boys,” for it was through the winning of a bicycle race that one of them gained a motorcycle as a prize, and in the first book of the series, entitled “The Motor Boys,” you may read of this thrilling contest.
But the motor boys were not content with one motorcycle, nor with winning one race. They obtained an automobile, and made a thrilling trip overland, afterward going to Mexico, where they located a buried city, coming home across the great plains.
Many and thrilling were the adventures our friends had on land, and not a few dangers encompassed them, some being due to the evil doings of Noddy Nixon and Bill Berry, two bad characters.
But action ashore was not sufficient for the motor boys. They were able to obtain a motor boat, and in the fifth volume of this series, entitled “The Motor Boys Afloat,” is related their adventures in that staunch craft. They had strenuous times on the Atlantic, in the strange waters of the Florida Everglades, and on the Pacific.
As might be expected, having, in a manner, conquered the problems of the land in their automobile, and of the water in their motor boat, the boys sighed, like Alexander, for new worlds. They found one in the air, and though they themselves were a little doubtful of their ability to navigate an aeroplane they did not hesitate to try.
In the ninth book, “The Motor Boys in the Clouds,” I had the pleasure of relating to you their adventures in their motorship. They flew over the Rockies, and over a part of the ocean, and again, taking wing, they went in search of a lost fortune.
Hovering over the border between the United States and Canada, the motor boys were able to help Uncle Sam capture some daring smugglers, and hardly had they finished that thrilling work than new activities presented themselves. The volume immediately preceding this one is entitled “The Motor Boys Under the Sea.”
While out in their motorship Comet, one day, the boys saw floating on the waters of Massachusetts Bay a strange object which at first they thought was a whale. It turned out to be a submarine, however, and when the boys encountered it, later, in a terrific storm, and were taken aboard the strange craft, being kept virtually prisoners, they realized that they were about to pass through some strange scenes.