“That was a close shave!” remarked Jerry, as he released the brake.

“I should say yes,” agreed Bob.  “That was a six-cylinder car.  Bur-r-r-r!  If she’d hit us—­” He did not finish, but the boys knew what he meant.

They proceeded to the garage, leaving their machine to be repaired.  It would be ready for them the next day, the man said, and they arranged to call for it, and go for a trip in the country.

“Let’s go to Riverton,” suggested Bob, naming a summer resort about a hundred miles away.  “The season is just about to close there, and, as it isn’t crowded, we can get better attention and—­”

“Better meals, he means,” finished Ned.  “All right, Chunky, we’ll go.”

“It wouldn’t be a bad idea,” agreed Jerry.  “We could make it in one day easily, and wouldn’t have to hurry.  We could stay there a couple of days, making little side strips, and come back Saturday.  That would put us in good shape for Monday, when school opens.”

There was no dissension from this plan, and, having secured the consent of their parents, the boys, early the next day, started off on their journey.  It was a short one, compared to those they had been in the habit of taking, but they did not have time for a longer jaunt.

They arrived at Riverton in the afternoon, having stopped on the road for dinner.  They found the place rather livelier than they expected, for there had been an automobile meet the day previous, including a big race, and several lovers of the sport still remained, for the weather was very pleasant.  The sheds about the hotel were filled with all sorts of cars, so that the boys had hardly room to store their machine.

“This is a little more exciting than we counted on,” remarked Jerry, as he and his chums entered the hotel to register.  “I’m afraid we’ll not get such good attention as Bob thought.”

“Oh, it’s all the better,” was the answer of the stout youth.  “They’ll have all the more to eat, with this crowd here.”

“Chunky can argue it any way he likes,” declared Ned.  “No use trying to corner him, Jerry.”

“No, I guess not.  But I’m hungry enough to eat almost anything.”

As they were turning away from the clerk’s desk, having been assigned to rooms, the boys saw a youth, about their own age, standing near a bulletin board fastened on the side wall.  The youth was tacking up a notice and, as he turned, having finished, Jerry exclaimed in a whisper: 

“Noddy Nixon!  What’s he doing here?”

At the same moment, Noddy, the long-time enemy of the motor boys, saw them.  His face got red, and he swung quickly aside to avoid speaking to the three chums.

The last they had seen of the bully was when he started to accompany them back to Cresville, after his disastrous attempt to make money from a Florida cocoanut grove.  Noddy was wanted as a witness by the government authorities, in connection with the attempted wreck of a vessel, in which Bill Berry was concerned; but, after the motor boys had rescued Noddy from an unpleasant position in Florida, and he had agreed to return to Cresville, he suddenly disappeared in the night.  This was the first they had seen of him since.  They had learned that the government no longer desired his testimony.