Penny and Clip gave him a shove. Pop, pop, pop, snapped the motor, the explosions presently coming so fast that they sounded like a dull roar. Off went the exhaust, and Motor Matt slipped down the slope like a brown streak, kicking the dust up behind him.
"He'll win, he'll win!" cried Clipperton. "The men in the motor-car see him. The cowboy is getting into the front seat alongside the driver. They can't head him! Hurrah for Motor Matt!"
Hawley and those with him had seen the sliding streak rushing down from the hill and making for the canal. There was a scramble about the motor-car, a frantic cranking-up and jumping start on the high-gear. But it was plain to the two boys on the hill that Matt would pass the forks of the road before the car and its passengers could get there.
Penny danced around excitedly.
"Why did Hawley drop that man off at the bridge?" he fumed. "That's what I can't understand. That man at the bridge spells trouble with a big T. What's Hawley butting into this game for, anyway?"
"He's been plunging on O'Day," answered Clip. "He knows O'Day loses if Matt gets to the park in time. Of course, he wants to stop him. Put two and two together, Penny."
"That's right, Clip," explained Penny. "It's up to Matt, now."
"Leave it to him. The game couldn't be in better hands."
Then, with staring eyes, Clip and Penny watched the two dust flurries. The cloud kicked up by the Comet passed the forks of the road a full minute ahead of the fog raised by the motor-car.
"Three groans for Hawley!" chortled Clip.