"Great!" he muttered breathlessly. "If you win it will be the biggest thing on record. Won by wireless, and a jump of twenty miles on the _Comet_. Fine! Motor Matt, Mile-a-minute Matt, King of the Wheel. Say, you're a wonder." "Not so you can notice it, Clip, not yet. Just now, all I can do is to hope for the best." For some time they continued on through the hills, finally reaching a high part of the road which gave them a view of a flat stretch of desert leading away to the Arizona Canal. There were several canals in Salt River Valley and contiguous to Phoenix, all constructed for irrigation purposes. It was the "Town Canal" that ran past the McReady home, and between that and the Arizona Canal there was still another of the artificial streams. The Arizona Canal, however, formed the outpost of the waterways. Pausing on the "rise," Matt and Clipperton peered across the glimmering yellow sands. A fork in the road lay below them. "The branch goes to Pedro Garcia's old _jacal_ and beyond," said Clip. "Look!" he added excitedly. Matt followed Clip's extended finger with his eyes. Off along the branch road, trudging slowly toward the main trail, a distant form could be seen. "The cowboy!" muttered Matt. At that distance he could not identify the figure, but intuition told him who it must be. "Yes," returned Clipperton grimly. "He thinks we started for Phoenix." "What time is it now, Clip?" "We're four miles from the Bluebell. It's taken us an hour. So it must be nearly three." "Sixteen miles from Phoenix and only a little more than an hour left! I'm expecting too much, Clip. Susie has had an hour to find the major and get Penny started this way with the _Comet_. Somebody hasn't been able to make good and I guess I'm let out." "No!" shouted Clip. "What's that coming this way? See!" Clipperton pointed along the main road where it ran in a light streak across the desert. A cloud of dust, more like a column of smoke than anything else, was sweeping toward the hills. Matt held his breath as he gazed. The dust cloud seemed fairly to jump at them; then, suddenly, the wind whipped it aside, and brave Ed Penny, glorious old Penny, could be seen crouching upon the saddle of the _Comet_. He was shooting for the hills like a cannon-ball. "Hurrah!" yelled Clipperton, jerking off his cap and throwing it into the air. "Motor Matt is going to win!" The _Comet_ took the "rise" like a bird on the wing. Penny, covered with dust and half-blinded, halted only when he heard Matt's voice calling to him. Clip sprang to support the machine while Penny got off. "That you, King?" queried Penny, dizzy and staggering. "Yes!" shouted Matt, gripping the brave fellow's hand. "Bully boy, Penny! How's everything at the park?"