The Motor Scout: A Story of Adventure in South America

BOMBASTES FURIOSOOne hot sultry afternoon in June the population of the little town of San Rosario in the Peruvian Andes was struck with sudden amazement at the sight of a motor-bicycle clattering its way through the main street with some risk to the dogs poultry and small boys who had been lazily disporting themselves there. It was not the bicycle itself that evoked their wonder: that was an object familiar enough. Nor was it the youth seated in the saddle and steering it deftly past all obstacles. It was a second figure mounted uneasily on the carrier behind: a rotund and portly figure which shook and quivered with the vibration of the machine as it jolted over the ill-paved road maintaining its equilibrium with obvious difficulty. Children and women shrieked; the men leaning against the walls took their cigars from their lips and gasped; and the noise of the engine was almost smothered by the mingled din of barking dogs and screaming fowls. It was the figure of the gobernador himself: land-owner chief magistrate and father of a family.The wondering populace might have supposed that the gentleman had taken leave of his senses-for surely no one of his mature years and serious responsibilities would have risked so much if he had been sane-had it not been plain to them that he was in desperate distress. His head was bare; his swarthy cheeks were shining with perspiration; his eyes rolled with fright; and his fat hands were clasped about the waist of the boy in the saddle with the convulsive grip of a man clinging for dear life. The face of the boy was on the contrary beaming with delight. His lips were parted in a wide smile; his blue eyes were dancing; and his mop of tow-coloured hair waved joyously in the breeze that the motion of the vehicle created.LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONSTHE GOBERNADOR RIDESCAPTURED BY BRIGANDSHORSEMEN ON THE TRACKTIM LEADS A CHARGETHE HOLE IN THE FLOORA CHECK AT THE CAVEMAPCONTENTS1. BOMBASTES FURIOSO2. COMINGS AND GOINGS3. BENEVOLENCES4. GAS5. PARDO DISMISSES HIMSELF6. TIM IS HELD TO RANSOM7. THE PREFECT MOVES8. SUSPENSE9. FLIGHT TO THE HILLS10. CINCINNATUS O'HAGAN11. THE MOTOR-CYCLE12. FREE WHEEL13. A COMMISSION14. HIS FATHER'S HOUSE15. THE RAID ON SAN ROSARIO16. A SIEGE AND A SORTIE17. IN POSSESSION18. THE ORDER OF THE NASTURTIUM19. PARDO SCORES A TRICK20. PARDO LOSES A TRICK21. RUN TO EARTH22. A PUNCTURE23. A LEAP FOR LIFE24. FROM DAN TO BEERSHEBA25. THE RAVINE26. HANDSOME ACKNOWLEDGMENTS