“To us?” temporized Nat. “I don’t see where we could be of any use to Professor Thaddeus Grigg, the most noted scientist of investigation of this age.”
The professor raised a deprecatory hand.
“As if you had not been of the highest service to me and to my companion already,” he exclaimed. “Had it not been for you, we might have—oh, well, let us not talk about it. That coward of a captain——”
He broke off abruptly. Nat waited for him to resume speaking.
“What I wanted to approach you about was this,” resumed the professor, after a minute. “From the moment I met you, you appeared to me to be self-reliant, enterprising boys, who mixed coolness and common sense with courage. Such being the case, you are just the combination I have been seeking for, to carry out a project which awaits me on my return to America. It is a scheme involving danger, excitement and rich rewards.”
He paused impressively. In spite of himself, Nat’s eyes began to dance, his pulse to beat a bit faster. Adventure was as the breath of life to the young leader of the Motor Rangers, and, to tell the truth, he had faced the prospect of a life of inactivity with mixed feelings.
“Well, sir?” was all he said, however.
The scientist continued, with apparent irrelevance.
“You three lads, from what you have told me, have operated motor cars, motor boats, and endured much in both forms of transportation?” he asked.
Nat nodded.