CHAPTER XVII
THE MOONLIGHT CHASE
Doubtless those boys would never be apt to forget that chase on theriver, even though in times to come they might have a part in many otherexciting scenes.
The moon was very bright at this hour, not a cloud dimming its lustre;and upon the water objects could be seen for quite some distance away.Although these might not be as distinct as in the daytime; still, if itwas a moving boat, any one could recognize familiar features about it.And should it happen to be a peculiar boat, or one that was painted snowwhite, surely they could tell it, once they chanced to come within acertain radius.
George was of course fidgety.
That old spirit of wanting to let loose, and shoot away at the very topof speed of which his high-powered motor was capable, must be grippingthe boy, for it is hard to make one of his impulsive temperament act inreason.
But Jack was bound that both boats must keep in touch all the time, andthat George should hold his "bucking broncho" engine, as Buster calledit, in sufficiently to avoid leaving the Tramp behind.
There were lots of good reasons for this, too.
In the first place Jack knew only too well that on most occasions whenGeorge had had trouble with his engine, it was when he was playing allsorts of pranks with it, taking chances, in the hope of causing his boatto make a record for the class to which it belonged. And if he werecompelled to moderate his speed just a little, there would be a farbetter opportunity for him to keep right along to the finish.
Then again, this was no good-natured race intended to test the racingabilities of the two rival boats. Jack had always admitted franklyenough that if the Wireless only behaved herself, she was in a class byherself, insofar as the other boats of the fleet were concerned. Theonly trouble was, that six times out of seven she insisted on "cuttingup" just when George was congratulating himself that he had finallyconquered that turbulent spirit.
They would, provided they caught up with the stolen Saunterer, findthemselves pitted against a couple of bad men, who would not hesitate atanything in order to escape with their stolen plunder.
And that was the main reason why Jack had insisted upon George bindinghimself to an agreement to stay by the others, come what would. Why, hewas that reckless, that, should he overtake the fugitive thieves, withonly Andy back of him, chances were he would dash at them, and somebodywas bound to get hurt, probably George himself.
Everything seemed to be going along nicely, after they had gotten wellaway from the island. Jack wondered whether Herb would insist onfollowing after them in his slow boat, or stay by the camp. Perhapsfinding that Buster and Algernon were both eager to get on the move, nomatter if they could not hope to arrive in time to lend a helping hand,Herb might make the start.
"Josh, can you see the island still?" the skipper of the Tramp calledout, for he was himself too busy watching how his machine worked to takehis eyes off it; and then, again, what was the use, when he could getthe information second-hand just as well.
"Yep, though it's getting kind of faint now, Jack," came the reply. "Yousee, this here moonlight ain't all it's cracked up to be. I've provedit, too. 'Nother feller'd me we made a wager that we could tell anybodyhalf a mile away; then we went outside to prove it! My conscience!there was a black thing in the country road just about sixty yards away;he said it looked like a bear, and I was just dead certain 'twas a cowa-lyin' down. Well, we walked up to it, and what d'ye think, it was onlyan old stump after all."
"Look as close as you can, and tell me if you see anything of anotherboat coming out," Jack went on, as soon as he could work a few words in;for when Josh felt the inclination to tell one of his little stories,nothing in all creation could stop him, unless some one threw a lump ofmud squarely into his open mouth, as once happened when he was inswimming; and even then, as soon as he had managed to get rid of it, hehad gone on deliberately, "As I was a-sayin'----" and so on.
"Why," he went on to remark, dubiously, "I c'n see somethin' a-movin'over there, somethin' dark, too, and just in the same place we cameout of; but whether it's a boat, say, Jack, don't ask me to take myaffidavy, for I won't, that's all."
"I won't ask you, because I'm sure now it must be a boat, and of courseComfort, with the rest of the crowd aboard," remarked Jack.
"But shucks! everything'll be over, even the shouting, when that tubcomes along. What's the use in Herb startin' at all, Jack?"
"He had that privilege," returned the skipper. "I didn't just want totell him he had ought to stay by the camp, to look after things. Andbesides, there's our new friend, Algernon, of course he'll be just asanxious as anything to know as soon as he can whether we've recoveredhis Saunterer or not. But I guess you don't see anything of that movingthing, now, eh, Josh?"
"That's right, she's blotted out; and I could crack my eyes lookin'without getting a peep," replied Josh, immediately he had looked again.
"All right, let's forget all about Herb, and the rest from now on,because there's little chance that they'll have anything to do with thefinish of the race. George is holding in pretty well, you see, Josh. Hecan put a crimp in that speed mania, when he wants to."
"But gee! listen to him growling, would you?" remarked the other, with adry chuckle, for he dearly loved to see George held under Jack's thumb,for the skipper of the Wireless was so boastful most of the time. "Ipity poor old Andy havin' to play crew for such a bear with a sore head.Wouldn't surprise me a whit, Jack, if the Wireless man just found hecouldn't stand bein' held in, and let go for all he's worth, shootin'up ahead like fun."
"No, you're way off there, Josh; you heard George give me his word; andno matter what other faults George may have, he never goes back on hispromises. That's his best point. I'd as soon take his word as lots offellows' binding written agreement."
"Well, I guess that's so, Jack," said Josh, slowly, for he wanted to befair toward his impulsive chum; and in spite of his many faults, thesecomrades, tried and true, loved George Rollins; strange, but impulsive,hot-tempered people always make more and warmer friends than cold,calculating ones, no matter how much these latter show themselves to behonest and true.
For some little time they continued to shove along down the river, withboth boats doing splendidly. Just how many miles an hour they weremaking Jack could not say positively; but he thought it must be in theneighborhood of fifteen.
George called out a number of times, and begged the other skipper to dosomething more than just crawl. It seemed to be a painful experience tothe captain of the Wireless, and yet when he was taken to task later onfor his impatience, and made to see how well his engine had behavedwhen not constantly meddled with, and pushed to its utmost limit, Georgecandidly admitted that Jack's plan was by long odds the best for allconcerned, indeed, the only one they could have followed, under thecircumstances.
They were certainly putting the miles behind them as they kept on flyingdown with the current. Jack had to figure it out, so as to see aboutwhat sort of a lead the fugitive white boat had on them.
He could give something of a guess as to about how many minutes hadelapsed between the time the other craft had started past the lower endof the island, and that marking their own departure. That was not overten minutes all told, he believed, though had any of the others beenasked they would have said twice that because they were excited at thetime, and seconds were drawn out doubly long.
Well, saying that it was ten minutes, and the boat was going at the rateof twelve miles an hour that would mean the stolen craft had a lead ofabout two miles all told. Jack knew that they should cut this downbefore an hour had crept by, unless something happened to hold them up,an accident to the Wireless, or to his own motor.
So when something like half an hour had gone, he began to exhibit moreor less anxiety as to whether any signs of the white boat could be seendown-stream. In order to find this out at the earliest opportunity Jackhad stationed his "crew" up forward in the bow, where he could havenothing in the way; and as the moon was abou
t in the east he was notcompelled to stare into its bright shaft of silvery light.
Every once in a while Jack would call out to ask whether there hadanything appeared in sight. Josh answered him three separate times, andthen laughingly said:
"Say, d'ye know what you make me think of, Jack? Remember in the oldnursery tale of Bluebeard, where the poor wife, whose head is going tobe cut off by the bad man keeps calling up to her sister, who iswatching the road for the coming of their brothers: 'Sister Ann, SisterAnn, is there anything coming?' Well, just now, Jack, I can't even say Isee a cloud of dust in the distance, as Sister Ann--hold on there, Josh,don't be in such a big hurry. Is that a moving object, or are you seeingthings that hadn't ought to be there?"
He bent forward the better to look. Just then from the other boat thevoice of Andy was heard to call out eagerly:
"Sure, 'tis something I say beyant there; and to me way of thinkin' itlooks as much loike a white boat as two peas resimble aich ither!"
That started Josh, who did not exactly relish the idea of having to playwhat he called "second fiddle."
"Right you are, Andy, though a bit late, because I was just telling Jackhere that our intended prey was in sight. But I'm real glad to hear yousay you can see it too, better two heads than one, even if--well, Iwon't finish that sentence, because you might think I was comparing yourcoco to a mere vegetable. There, Jack, look for yourself and see," hewent on, as the skipper managed to leave his engine long enough to pushforward a little.
So Jack did take a good look, and when he had done so, he added hisopinion to that of the other two boys.
"Guess there isn't a shadow of doubt about that, fellows; because I cansee the thing moving right along; yes, that's the runaway motor boat,and we're going to catch up with the same inside of twenty minutes,unless something that isn't down on the bills comes to pass."