+-------------------------------------------------+ |Transcriber's note: | | | |Obvious typographic errors have been corrected. | | | +-------------------------------------------------+ [Illustration: INTO THE WATER SPLASHED THE BIG TOURING CAR. _Dick Hamilton's Touring Car._ _Frontispiece_--(_Page 168._)] DICK HAMILTON'S TOURING CAR OR A YOUNG MILLIONAIRE'S RACE FOR A FORTUNE BY HOWARD R. GARIS AUTHOR OF "DICK HAMILTON'S FORTUNE," "DICK HAMILTON'S STEAM YACHT," "FROM OFFICE BOY TO REPORTER," "LARRY DEXTER AND THE STOLEN BOY," ETC. _ILLUSTRATED_ THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING CO. AKRON, OHIO NEW YORK MADE IN U. S. A. Copyright, 1913, by _Grosset & Dunlap_ PREFACE MY DEAR BOYS: I am not going to detain you long over this, for, if you are anything like I was, when I was your age, you don't want a lengthy introduction. But I just want a moment or so of your time, to explain something of the kind of story this is--a sort of bill of fare, as it were. This is an account of how the young millionaire, Dick Hamilton, unexpectedly did a great service for a stranger, and how, later learning that this same stranger needed help in saving his fortune, Dick took strenuous action. For excellence in his studies at the Kentfield Military Academy, Dick's father gave him his choice of any automobile he wished. Dick found just the kind of a touring car he wanted--one large enough to sleep and live in, as he and his friends traveled about. In this car, which Dick named the _Last Word_, the boys set out for San Francisco. What happened to them on the way, how they foiled the plans of Dick's Uncle Ezra, how they came upon the strange man in the great salt desert, and how, in an exciting race, they tried to save him and blocked the plans of those who would take Mr. Wardell's fortune from him--all this you may read of in this book. It is the fifth volume of the "Dick Hamilton Series," and that you will like it as well as you have the preceding ones is the sincere wish of your friend, HOWARD R. GARIS. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I QUEER ACTIONS 1 II UNCLE EZRA 11 III GOOD NEWS 20 IV TO THE AUTO SHOW 28 V THE BIG CAR 41 VI THE RUINED MILLIONAIRE 48 VII ON THE ROAD 56 VIII UNCLE EZRA LAUGHS 64 IX DICK MAKES PLANS 73 X MR. WARDELL'S CONFESSION 81 XI OFF ON THE TRIP 89 XII UNCLE EZRA PLOTS 96 XIII THE HAND IN THE DARK 105 XIV A BLOCKED ROAD 114 XV PUZZLED 121 XVI THE LAME MAN 129 XVII GIVING HIM A LIFT 137 XVIII A DISAPPEARANCE 142 XIX A SIMPLE TRICK 147