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  MOTOR STORIES

  THRILLING
  ADVENTURE

  MOTOR
  FICTION

  NO. 4
  MAR. 20, 1909

  FIVE
  CENTS

  MOTOR MATT'S
  RACE

  THE LAST FLIGHT
  OF THE COMET

  _By STANLEY R. MATTHEWS_

[Illustration: "I've got it, pard!" shouted Chub, snatching the letter
from Motor Matt's fingers.]

  _STREET & SMITH,
  PUBLISHERS,
  NEW YORK._




  MOTOR STORIES

  THRILLING ADVENTURE MOTOR FICTION


_Issued Weekly. By subscription $2.50 per year. Entered according to
Act of Congress in the year 1909, in the Office of the Librarian of
Congress, Washington, D. C., by_ STREET & SMITH, _79-89 Seventh Avenue,
New York, N. Y._

  No. 4.       NEW YORK, March 20, 1909.        Price Five Cents.




MOTOR MATT'S RACE

OR,

THE LAST FLIGHT OF THE _COMET_.

By the author of "MOTOR MATT."




CONTENTS


  CHAPTER I. TROUBLE ON THE ROAD.
  CHAPTER II. THE STAMPEDE.
  CHAPTER III. CLIP'S NOTE.
  CHAPTER IV. M'KIBBEN'S TIP.
  CHAPTER V. A VICTIM OF CIRCUMSTANCES.
  CHAPTER VI. THE PRIDE OF TOM CLIPPERTON.
  CHAPTER VII. LAYING PLANS.
  CHAPTER VIII. THE RIFLED CACHE.
  CHAPTER IX. THE BREAK IN THE ROAD.
  CHAPTER X. PRESCOTT.
  CHAPTER XI. MATT MAKES A NEW MOVE.
  CHAPTER XII. THE OLD HOPEWELL TUNNEL.
  CHAPTER XIII. QUICK WORK.
  CHAPTER XIV. STEAM VERSUS GASOLINE.
  CHAPTER XV. IN COURT.
  CHAPTER XVI. CONCLUSION.
  THE TENNIS-GROUND MYSTERY.
  MAKE QUEER CATCHES AT CAPE COD.
  COLD FIRE.




CHARACTERS THAT APPEAR IN THIS STORY.


  =Matt King=, concerning whom there has always been a mystery--a lad
  of splendid athletic abilities, and never-failing nerve, who has won
  for himself, among the boys of the Western town, the popular name of
  "Mile-a-minute Matt."

  =Chub McReady=, sometimes called plain "Reddy," for short, on account
  of his fiery "thatch"--a chum of Matt, with a streak of genius for
  inventing things that often land the bold experimenter in trouble.

  =Welcome Perkins=, a one-legged wanderer who lives with Chub and his
  sister while their father prospects for gold--Welcome is really a
  man of peace, yet he delights to imagine himself a "terror," and is
  forever boasting about being a "reformed road-agent."

  =Tom Clipperton=, known generally as "Clip," a quarter-blood, who is
  very sensitive about his Indian ancestry.

  =McKibben=, the sheriff who has both nerve and intelligence.

  =Fresnay=, a cowboy who performs some mighty queer stunts.

  =Pima Pete=, an Indian to whom Clip is related.

  =Hogan=,         }
  =Leffingwell=,   } two deputy sheriffs.

  =Short=, a lawyer.

  =Burke=, sheriff of an adjoining county.

  =Jack Moody=, an engineer friend of Chub.




CHAPTER I.

TROUBLE ON THE ROAD.


"Ye're afeared! Yah, that's what ye are! Motor Matt's scared, an' I
never thought ye was afeared o' nothin'. Go ahead! I dare ye!"

An automobile--a high-powered roadster--was nosing along through the
hills a dozen miles out of the city of Phoenix. The vehicle had the
usual two seats in front and a rumble-seat behind--places for three,
but there were four piled aboard.

Matt King was in the driver's seat, of course, and equally, of course,
he had to have the whole seat to himself. On his left were Chub McReady
and Tom Clipperton, sitting sideways and wedged into their places like
sardines in a can. In the rumble behind was the gentleman with the
wooden leg--Welcome Perkins, the "reformed road-agent."

Matt was giving his friends a ride. The red roadster, in which they
were taking the spin, was an unclaimed car at present in the custody
of McKibben, the sheriff. It had been used for lawless work by its
original owners, and had fallen into the hands of the sheriff, who was
holding it in the hope that the criminals would come forward and claim
it.[A]

[A] See MOTOR MATT WEEKLY, No. 3, "Motor Matt's 'Century' Run; or, The
Governor's Courier."

McKibben and Motor Matt were the best of friends, and McKibben had told
Matt to take the red road