Originally published: April 3, 1909
Genres: Adventure, Children's
Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199572684-motor-matt-s-red-flyer-or-on-the-high-gear
Gutenberg link: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/47491
Chapters: 17
Warning: This may include outdated and derogatory language and attitudes.
CHAPTER I
STRANDED "UNCLE TOMMERS"
"Help! Some ob yo' folks ahead, dar! Unc' Tawm's in de ruvver! He drapped de box, an' went in afteh hit head first lak er frawg. He's drowndin', he sholey is! By golly! Legree! Eliza! Come back hyeh dis minyit! Unc' Tawm's drowndin'!"
Topsy was making a terrific commotion. While she screeched for help she ran circles on the riverbank, tossing her hands wildly. If she had put some of her aimless energy into helping Uncle Tom, the kinky-headed old black man in the water would have been a whole lot better off. He was floundering and thrashing and making a good deal of noise himself.
"Hit's ovah mah haid!" he spluttered. "Ah's done got de crampus en mah lef' laig an' Ah's monsus bad off! Bl-r-r-r! Dat's twicet Ah's gawn down, en de nex' time Ah's gwine down tuh stay. Doan' put yo'se'f out none—doan' scramble so ha'd yo' lose yo' bref. Hit's only a coon whut's drowndin', so take yo' time gittin' hyeh an'—"
Uncle Tom swallowed a bucket of water, more or less, just then, and his language was submerged.
"Mercy sakes!" cried Eliza breathlessly, hurrying back through the brush, closely tagged by Little Eva and Legree. "Do something, somebody! Oh, I wish we had a rope. Hang onto the box, Uncle Tom," she added encouragingly; "we'll get you out!"
"Oh, biscuits!" scoffed Little Eva. "Stop t'rowin' yerself around like dat an' try ter float. De way yous handles yerself, Uncle Tom, gives me a pain. Can't y' swim?"
Legree was carrying a blacksnake whip.
"Here," he yelled, posting himself on the edge of the bank and reaching out to throw the whip-lash toward the old black man, "grab hold of that and I'll snake you ashore too quick for any use."
Uncle Tom was beyond talking, but he shook the water from his eyes, saw the whip, and grabbed it. Thereupon Legree laid back on the handle and pulled. Uncle Tom was brought upright, his feet on the riverbed. The water came just above his knees, and he waded ashore.
"Well, de old geezer!" exploded Little Eva. "Say, give me a pair o' high-heeled shoes an' I'll walk acrost dat roarin' torrent widou' never wettin' me kicks. How much water does it take ter drown yous, Uncle Tom? Oh, sister, what a jolt."
Little Eva began to laugh.
"Dat's right," gurgled Uncle Tom, splashing around on one foot to get the water out of his ear, "laff, laff an' show yo' ignunce. Dat didun' git away f'um me, nohow," and he threw a small tin box on the ground in front of Legree.
Eliza stooped and picked up the box.
"You take care of that, Eliza," said Legree. "Uncle Tom must have been careless. What were you and Topsy walking along by the river for?" he added, turning to the old black man.
"We reckons we mout hook er fish," explained Topsy, pointing to the ground where a stick with a fish line attached to its end had been dropped.
"Ah'm gettin' pow'ful hongry," complained Uncle Tom, "en Ah doan' see how we-all's gwine tuh eat if we doan' ketch er fish er kill er possum, er somepin lak dat. Mah goodness, but Ah'm holla cleah down tuh mah shoes. If a piece ob bresh hadun' switched dat box out'n mah han', Ah wouldn't hab got en de ruvver. Anybody dat wants tuh kin tote dat 'ar box. Ah done had enough ob it."
"Cheer up, Uncle Tom," said Eliza. "When we get to the next town we'll have something to eat."
"Huccome yo' allow dat, Miss 'Liza? Whah we git de money, huh?"
"I've got a ring," answered Eliza, with a little break in her voice, "and I'll pawn it."
"No, you don't, Eliza," said Legree. "I've got a watch, and I'll pawn that."
"Wisht I had somet'in' t' soak," said Little Eva. "Brisco's head wouldn't be a bad t'ing, eh? Say, mebby I couldn't hand dat mutt a couple o' good ones if he was handy!"
Legree brought his hand around and boxed the boy's ears—for "Little Eva," in this case, was a boy of nine.
"Stow it," growled Legree, who happened to be the boy's father. "You can talk a lot without saying much, kid. Come on, everybody," he added. "The quicker we get to Fairview the quicker we eat. You and Topsy keep in the road, Uncle Tom, and don't lag behind."
"How's Ah gwine tuh git dried off?" fretted Uncle Tom. "De rheumatix is li'ble tuh come pesterin' erroun' if Ah ain't mouty keerful wif mahse'f."
"Walk fast, Uncle Tom," said Legree, starting back toward the road.
"Ah kain't walk fast," said the old man; "hit's all Ah kin do tuh walk at all, kase Ah's mighty nigh tuckered. Dishyer walkin'-match is monsus tough on er ole man, sho' as yo's bawn. Ain't dey no wagons in dis country? Whaffur dey got er road if dey ain't got no wagons? Ah'd give a mulyun dollahs if Ah had it fo' a mu-el en a wagon."
Topsy pushed close to Uncle Tom's side, grabbed his wet sleeve, and helped him along. In a few minutes, they broke away from the riverbank into the road.
Little Eva didn't seem to mind walking. He pranced along with a pocket full of stones, and every once in a while, he stopped to make a throw at a road runner or a chipmunk.
Trees and brush lined the road on each side, growing so thickly that it was impossible to see very far into the timber. Eliza and Legree, talking over the difficulties in which they found themselves and trying to plan some way for surmounting them, were pretty well in advance, while Uncle Tom and Topsy were pretty well in the rear. Little Eva was dodging around in between, now and then shying at something with a stone.
The strange little party had not proceeded far before the boy heard a noise in the brush. Heedless of what he might find in such a wild country, he jumped into the thicket. And then he jumped out again, yelling like a Comanche.
"Run!" he piped frenziedly, tearing along the road. "Dere's somet'ing chasin' me an' it's as big as a house an' has a mout' like a church door. Sprint! Sprint fer yer lives!"
The other four gave their immediate attention to Little Eva, and then changed it to something that rolled out of the undergrowth directly behind them.
"A bear!" yelled Legree. "Hunt a tree, kid! Everybody climb a tree!"
This is exactly what everybody proceeded to do. Little Eva shinned up a sapling, Legree gave Eliza a boost into a scrub oak and then started for a neighboring pine himself, and Uncle Tom displayed a tremendous amount of reserve force, considering his age and his recent experience.
"Ah knows dis trip is gwine tuh be de deaf ob me," he fluttered, getting astride a limb and hugging the trunk of the tree with both arms. "Mah goodness!" he chattered, craning his neck to get a good look at the cause of the disturbance. "Go 'way f'um hyeh, you! We-all doan' want no truck wif you."
The bear was a grizzly—not a large grizzly, but plenty large enough. There were lots of bigger bears in that part of Arizona, but this was the biggest one Fate had to run into among those unlucky "Uncle Tommers."
Having gained a position about halfway up and down the line of treed actors, the bear sat down in the road and proceeded to enjoy the situation.
"Are you all right?" sang out Legree from the top of the pine: "is everybody all right?"
"If bein' hung up like dis is wot yous call all right, dad," answered Little Eva, "den it's a lead pipe dat we's all t' de good. But, say, I ain't feelin' real comfertable in me mind."
"Shoo dat animile away, Mistah Legree," begged Topsy. "Hit ain't right tuh make us stay hyeh lak dis when we's all tiah'd out."
"Go right up to de beah, Legree," suggested Uncle Tom, "en tie dat whip erroun' his neck an' strangle de life outen him. Beah meat is mighty nigh as good as possum, an' we kin git fo' er five dollahs fo' de pelt."
"Oh, dear!" murmured Eliza. "I do wish he'd go away. I guess he's thinking more about making a meal off of us than letting us make one from him."
"Dey trabbles in paihs," called Uncle Tom in trembling tones, by way of enlivening the situation. "Hit's lak snakes, en wherebber yo' finds one yo' sholey is gwine tuh fin' anudder."
"Ah hears de odder!" screamed Topsy. "He's champin' down de road lak er singed cat. Heah him! Oh, mah golly! We's all as good as daid—we's all gwine tuh be et up."
Strange noises were coming from along the back track, coming rapidly and growing louder and louder.
"Dat odder one's bigger 'n a efelunt!" palpitated Uncle Tom, climbing a couple of limbs higher. "All Ah hopes is dat he ain't big enough tuh reach up en take me outen de tree. Ah's a gone niggah, Ah feels hit en mah bones."
The bear heard the approaching noise, and it seemed to puzzle him. He sniffed the air, shook his head forebodingly, and then dropped down on all fours and ambled into the brush.
The next moment, to the astonishment of the four actors, a sparkling red automobile rushed into sight, coming from the direction of Ash Fork and headed toward Fairview.
A youth in a leather cap and jacket was in the driver's seat; beside him was a young German in a "loud" suit and a red vest.
"Pretzel!" yelled Little Eva; "I'm a jay if it ain't Pretzel!"
"Saved!" cried Eliza.
The big red touring car came to a halt in about the same place where the bear had recently held the fort.
The faces of the two boys in the car were pictures of amazement as they stared at the odd assortment of actors hanging in the trees.
"Vell, py shinks," exclaimed the Dutch boy, "dis vas a jeerful pitzness und no mistake. It iss der fairst time I efer knowed it bossiple to pick actor-peoples oudt oof der drees. Vat you t'ink oof dot, Motor Matt?"
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