“I guess all the cocoanuts he’ll raise wouldn’t make enough pies to satisfy Bob’s appetite,” remarked Jerry. “But we’d better hurry, if we want to get to school before noon.”
None of the chums realized what a part Noddy and his cocoanut plantation were to play in their experiences that summer, nor in what an unexpected manner they were to render the bully a service.
The three chums quickened their pace and were soon at the academy, where they were greeted by a number of boy friends.
“Where are you fellows going this vacation? Out west, down to Mexico or the North Pole? Lots of fun--never say die--right side up with care--automobiles--motor boats--flying machines--don’t stop--red flag--danger--never mind--go on--whoop!”
“Let up, Andy Rush!” exclaimed Jerry, laughing. “Give us a chance to catch our breath, please,” and he looked at a small boy who, in the stress of excitement, (which was the state he was continually in), was trying to talk to the three chums at once.
“We don’t know ourselves,” replied Bob. “Go get a drink of ice water, Andy. Your windpipe must be hot after all that.”
There was a general laugh at the small boy’s expense, and then the pupils went inside. While they are thus off the stage for a brief period opportunity will be afforded to make the reader better acquainted with them.
The three chums, who, because of their long association with each other, and the part an automobile and motor boat had played in their adventures, had come to be known as the “Motor Boys,” lived in the town of Cresville, not far from Boston. They were Jerry Hopkins, son of a widow who was well-to-do, Ned Slade, whose father owned a large department store, and Bob Baker, the offspring of a rich banker.
In the first volume of this series, entitled “The Motor Boys,” was related how the chums became possessed of motor cycles and how, by taking part in races, they won a large touring car. Their adventures on the motor cycles were more than equalled by those that happened to them when they had their auto, as was told in the second book, “The Motor Boys Overland.” They conducted a successful search for a gold mine in Nevada, and aided an old prospector in securing it, though Noddy Nixon and his crony Bill Berry tried to get it away from them. It was on this trip that the boys became acquainted with Professor Uriah Snodgrass, a learned man whose hobby was collecting bugs and butterflies.