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  MOTOR STORIES

  THRILLING
  ADVENTURE

  MOTOR
  FICTION

  NO. 10
  MAY 1, 1909

  FIVE
  CENTS

  MOTOR MATT'S
  HARD LUCK
  OR THE BALLOON
  HOUSE PLOT

  [Illustration: "This way, Dick" yelled Motor Matt
  as he struck down one of the
  ruffians.]

  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. 10.      NEW YORK, May 1, 1909.      Price Five Cents.


Motor Matt's Hard Luck

OR,

THE BALLOON-HOUSE PLOT.

By the author of "MOTOR MATT."




CONTENTS


  CHAPTER I. AN OLD FRIEND.
  CHAPTER II. A TRAP.
  CHAPTER III. OVERBOARD.
  CHAPTER IV. RESCUED.
  CHAPTER V. BUYING THE "HAWK."
  CHAPTER VI. MATT SCORES AGAINST JAMESON.
  CHAPTER VII. AT THE BALLOON HOUSE.
  CHAPTER VIII. THE PLOT OF THE BRADY GANG.
  CHAPTER IX. CARL IS SURPRISED.
  CHAPTER X. HELEN BRADY'S CLUE.
  CHAPTER XI. JERROLD GIVES HIS AID.
  CHAPTER XII. GRAND HAVEN.
  CHAPTER XIII. THE LINE ON BRADY.
  CHAPTER XIV. THE WOODS BY THE RIVER.
  CHAPTER XV. BRADY A PRISONER.
  CHAPTER XVI. BACK IN SOUTH CHICAGO.
  THE RED SPIDER.
  PIGEON-WHISTLE CONCERTS.




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."

  =Carl Pretzel=, a cheerful and rollicking German lad, who is led by a
  fortunate accident to hook up with Motor Matt in double harness.

  =Dick Ferral=, a Canadian boy and a favorite of Uncle Jack; has
  served his time in the King's navy, and bobs up in New Mexico where
  he falls into plots and counter-plots, and comes near losing his life.

  =Helen Brady=, Hector Brady's daughter, who helps Motor Matt.

  =Hector Brady=, a rival inventor who has stolen his ideas from
  Hamilton Jerrold. His air ship is called the Hawk and is used for
  criminal purposes. Brady's attempt to secure Motor Matt's services as
  driver of the Hawk brings about the undoing of the criminal gang.

  =Hamilton Jerrold=, an honest inventor who has devoted his life to
  aëronautics, and who has built a successful air ship called the Eagle.

  =Jameson=, a rich member of the Aëro Club, who thinks of buying the
  Hawk.

  =Whipple=, =Pete=, =Grove=, =Harper=, members of Brady's gang who
  carried out the "balloon-house plot," which nearly resulted in a
  tragedy, and finally proved the complete undoing of Hector Brady.

  =Ochiltree=, an ex-convict whose past record nearly got him into
  trouble.

  =Harris=, a policeman of South Chicago who aids Motor Matt in his
  work against the Bradys.

  =Dennison and Twitchell=, police officers of Grand Haven, Michigan,
  who take a part in the final capture of Brady.




CHAPTER I.

AN OLD FRIEND.


"Py chimineddy!" muttered Carl Pretzel to himself, starting up on the
couch, where he had been snatching forty winks by way of passing the
time. "Vat's dot? Der voice has some familiar sounds mit me. Lisden
vonce."

A loud, jovial voice floated in through the open window, a voice with a
swing to it that set Carl's nerves in a flutter.

        "'In Cawsand bay lying,
        And a Blue Peter flying,
    All hands were turned up the anchor to weigh,
        There came a young lady,
        As fair as a May-day,
    And modestly h