{"product_id":"2940148250968","title":"The Motor Boys Afloat (Illustrated)","description":"The shrill vibration of the postman’s whistle brought Bob Baker to the front door on the run.\u003cbr\u003e“Only a postal!” he exclaimed as the mail-man handed it to him. “It’s for me though. Wonder what it is?”\u003cbr\u003eHe turned it over and glanced at what seemed to be only a printed form with, here and there, a word written in.\u003cbr\u003e“What’s it all about?” mused Bob.\u003cbr\u003eCarefully he went through the lines of printing and writing. They resolved themselves into a notice that at the freight station of the Atlantic \u0026amp; Northern Railroad there was a piece of merchandise shipped from the International Gas Engine Company, which article could be had on application to the freight agent.\u003cbr\u003e“It’s our motor boat!” exclaimed Bob. “It’s come! Hurrah! I must hurry over and tell Ned[2] and Jerry! Whoop! I’m glad it’s Saturday. We can put in the whole day getting the boat from the station. Hurrah!”\u003cbr\u003e“Is anything the matter, Bob?” asked Mrs. Baker, coming to the head of the stairs and looking at her son, who, at that instant was standing on his head in the lower hall.\u003cbr\u003e“Matter? I should say there was, mother!” he cried, jumping to an upright position. “Our motor boat’s here!”\u003cbr\u003e“Oh dear!” exclaimed Mrs. Baker. “Now I suppose you’ll be going off on cruises which will be worse than the automobile trips.”\u003cbr\u003e“Worse? Better you mean, mother,” remarked Bob. “But I must run over to Ned’s house. Where’s my hat?”\u003cbr\u003e“Where did you leave it?”\u003cbr\u003e“I don’t know,” replied the boy, who seldom could keep track of the head covering. “Never mind, it’s warm, I’ll go without it.”\u003cbr\u003eHe ran from the house into the pleasant spring sunshine, and soon was racing down the street toward the home of one of his chums, Ned Slade. Reaching there he gave a shrill whistle on his fingers.\u003cbr\u003e“What is it?” asked Ned, poking his head out of a window.\u003cbr\u003e[3]\u003cbr\u003e“She’s here!” shouted Bob.\u003cbr\u003e“What! Our boat?”\u003cbr\u003e“Sure! Just got a postal from the freight office. Come on, we’ll get Jerry and have the boat taken to the river. Shiver my timbers, I can hardly wait! Hurry up, Ned!”\u003cbr\u003eNed needed no urging, and soon the two boys were at Jerry Hopkins’ house. He was not home, but his mother told his chums where they could find him, and they started off to a neighbor’s house, where Jerry had gone on an errand.\u003cbr\u003eThe three boys had gone into partnership in the purchase of a motor boat. They lived in Cresville, Mass. Bob Baker was the son of a rich banker, while Ned Slade’s father was the proprietor of a large department store. Jerry Hopkins was the son of a well-to-do widow.\u003cbr\u003eThe lads had been chums for a number of years, and had been closely associated in a series of adventures which began with the purchase of motor cycles and which were destined to be continued with the acquisition of the motor boat.\u003cbr\u003eAs told in the first volume of this series, “The Motor Boys,” the three took part in some bicycle races under the auspices of the Cresville Athletic Club. They won, but in doing so incurred the enmity of Noddy Nixon, a town bully, whose[4] wealth had made him a spoiled son. One of the chums won a motor cycle as a prize and, soon after this the other boys also discarded their bicycles for the more rapid vehicles.\u003cbr\u003eThey had many adventures on the motor cycles, in some of which Noddy Nixon played a prominent, if a mean part. The boys entered a motor cycle race and were successful, winning the first prize, a big automobile touring car. Because of a robbery at a local mill Noddy Nixon had to flee from Cresville, running off one night in his father’s automobile.\u003cbr\u003eIn the second book, “The Motor Boys Overland,” I told of how Ned, Bob and Jerry started west. They had many exciting adventures, being put to considerable trouble by Noddy, who heard of their trip and followed them. The motor boys got permission from their folks to search for an old mine which a prospector whom they befriended told them of. They found the mine with the help of Jim Nestor, and secured possession, though they had a close race with Nixon, and two of his cronies, Jack Pender and also Bill Berry, a Cresville ne’er-do-well.\u003cbr\u003eThe mine proved to be a rich one, and the shares the boys received were considerable. They arranged to have Jim Nestor work the claim for[5] them, as he was the largest shareholder, because of having known of the mine previously.\u003cbr\u003eBut the finding of the mine did not end the adventures of the motor boys. They had picked up on their trip west an old professor, Uriah Snodgrass, who had heard of a buried city in Mexico.","brand":"Lost Leaf Publications","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47067776712944,"sku":"2940148250968","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940148250968_p0.jpg?v=1763699100","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940148250968","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}