The Motor Boys on the Pacific | Page 4

dad
to look out for his money."
"That was paid by the man who was just in in here," replied the agent.
"Queer chap. Seemed as if he didn't want to be found out. First he was
going to ship his stuff by fast freight, and then he concluded it would
be better by express, though it cost a lot more. But he had plenty of
money."
"Who was he?" asked Jerry.
"That's another funny part of it. He didn't tell me his name, though I
hinted I'd have to have it to give him a receipt. He said to make it out X.
Y. Z., and I done it. That's the way them boxes come, several days ago,
from Boston. They arrived by express, consigned to X. Y. Z., and was
to be called for. I thought of everybody in town, but there ain't nobody
with them initials. I was just wondering what to do with 'em when in be
comes an' claims 'em."
"What's in em?" asked Jerry.
"Blessed if I know," responded Mr. Hitter. "I couldn't git that out of
him, either, though I hinted that I ought to know if it was dynamite, or
anything dangerous."
"What did he say?" inquired Ned.
"He said it wasn't dynamite, but that's all he would say, an' I didn't have
no right to open 'em. He paid me the expressage, and seemed quite
anxious to know just when I could ship the boxes, and when they'd
arrive in San Francisco. I could tell him the first, but not the last, for
there's no tellin' what delays there'll be on the road.
"He was a queer man-- a very queer man. I couldn't make him out. An'
he went off in a hurry, as if he was afraid some one would see him. An'
he shut the door, jest as if you boys would bother him,-- Well, it takes

all sorts of people to make a world. I don't s'pose you or I will ever
meet him again."
Mr. Hitter was not destined to, but the boys had not seen the last of the
strangely acting man, who soon afterward played a strange part in their
lives.
"What you chaps after, anyhow?" went on the freight agent, when he
had put the money in the safe.
"Our motor boat's smashed!" exclaimed Bob. "We want damages for
her! How are we going to get 'em?"
"Not guilty, boys!" exclaimed the agent holding up his hands, as if he
thought wild-west robbers were confronting him. "You can search me.
Nary a boat have I got, an' you can turn my pockets inside out!" and he
turned slowly around, like an exhibition figure in a store show window.
CHAPTER II
A DESPERATE RACE
"WELL," remarked Mr. Hitter, after a pause, during which the boys,
rather surprised at his conduct, stood staring at him, "well, why don't
you look in my hip pocket. Maybe I've got a boat concealed there."
"I didn't mean to go at you with such a rush," apologized Jerry. "But
you see--"
"That's all right," interrupted the freight agent. "Can I put my hands
down now? The blood's all runnin' out of 'em, an' they feel as if they
was goin' to sleep. That'll never do, as I've got a lot of way-bills to
make out," and he lowered his arms.
"Do you know anything about this?" asked Jerry, handing Mr. Hitter
the telegram.
"What's that? The Dartaway smashed!" the agent exclaimed, reading

the message. "Come now, that's too bad! How did it happen?"
The boys explained how they had shipped the craft north.
"Of course the accident didn't happen on the line of railroad I am agent
for," said Mr. Hitter, after reading the telegram again. "If it had, we'd
be responsible."
"What can we do?" asked Bob. "We want to get damages."
"An' I guess you're entitled to 'em," replied the agent. "Come on inside,
and I'll tell you what to do. You'll have to make a claim, submit
affidavits, go before a notary public and a whole lot of rig-ma-role, but
I guess, in the end you'll get damages. They can't blame you because
the boat was smashed. It's too bad! I feel like I'd lost an old friend."
Mr. Hitter had had several rides in the Dartaway for he had done the
boys many favors and they wished to return them, so he was given a
chance to get intimately acquainted with the speedy craft.
Taking the boys into his office, Mr. Hitter instructed them how to write
a letter to the claim department of the Florida Coast Railway,
demanding damages for the smashing of the boat.
"Be respectful, but put it good and strong," he said. "I'll write on my
own account to the general freight agent.