Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.fadedpage.net [Illustration: "RAH! RAH! RAH! RAH!" SCREAMED PAUL JONES IN THE MOST EXTRAVAGANT DELIGHT IMAGINABLE.] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ THE AUTO BOYS' VACATION By James A. Braden AUTHOR OF "THE AUTO BOYS," "THE AUTO BOYS' OUTING," "THE AUTO BOYS' QUEST," "FAR PAST THE FRONTIER," "CONNECTICUT BOYS IN THE WESTERN RESERVE," ETC. ILLUSTRATED BY E. A. FURMAN THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY CHICAGO--AKRON, OHIO--NEW YORK ------------------------------------------------------------------------ COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I Again the Lonely South Fork Road 1 II The Search Is Continued 13 III Mr. Billy Worth Does Some Thinking 27 IV Detective Bob Rack Has Something to Say 43 V A Bit of Advice From a Stranger 59 VI A Little Kindness and What Came of It 71 VII A Swift Ride Through the Darkness 85 VIII In Most Excellent Good Season 103 IX The Detective's Strange Story 111 X Eastward Ho! 127 XI Passing the Load of Hay 143 XII Nan and the Jersey Bull 163 XIII The Kidnapers 183 XIV Under the Car 199 XV At the Old Tavern 219 XVI Conclusion 239 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ THE AUTO BOYS' VACATION CHAPTER I AGAIN THE LONELY SOUTH FORK ROAD "You can't hide anything from the chief," observed Willie Creek, when Chief Fobes had left his garage, the scene of the mystery related in _The Auto Boys' Big Six_. "Well, he didn't seem to be a whole lot interested to find out who broke in here--who killed our dog," replied Billy Worth, severely. "You don't _know_ him," returned Mr. Creek. "You just show him the fellow that done the deed and he'll arrest him mighty quick." "Maybe if we'd see a man robbing a bank here, then called Fobes so he could see, too, that the man _was_ robbing the bank, he'd do something," remarked Billy, as the lads returned to the hotel. "I'll tell you what _he'd_ do," growled Paul Jones. "He'd say--'now from the standpoint of the law, maybe that man is going to commit a crime. From the standpoint of the law, he better go a little careful or I'll tell his mother on him.'"