Chapter XVII: The Moonlight Chase

Doubtless those boys would never be apt to forget that chase on the river, even though in times to come they might have a part in many other exciting 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 it was 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 snow white, surely they could tell it, once they chanced to come within a certain radius.

George was of course fidgety.

That old spirit of wanting to let loose, and shoot away at the very top of speed of which his high-powered motor was capable, must be gripping the boy, for it is hard to make one of his impulsive temperament act in reason.

But Jack was bound that both boats must keep in touch all the time, and that George should hold his “bucking broncho” engine, as Buster called it, 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 when George had had trouble with his engine, it was when he was playing all sorts of pranks with it, taking chances, in the hope of causing his boat to make a record for the class to which it belonged. And if he were compelled to moderate his speed just a little, there would be a far better opportunity for him to keep right along to the finish.

Then again, this was no good-natured race intended to test the racing abilities of the two rival boats. Jack had always admitted frankly enough that if the Wireless only behaved herself, she was in a class by herself, insofar as the other boats of the fleet were concerned. The only trouble was, that six times out of seven she insisted on “cutting up” just when George was congratulating himself that he had finally conquered that turbulent spirit.

They would, provided they caught up with the stolen Saunterer, find themselves pitted against a couple of bad men, who would not hesitate at anything in order to escape with their stolen plunder.

And that was the main reason why Jack had insisted upon George binding himself to an agreement to stay by the others, come what would. Why, he was that reckless, that, should he overtake the fugitive thieves, with only Andy back of him, chances were he would dash at them, and somebody was bound to get hurt, probably George himself.

Everything seemed to be going along nicely, after they had gotten well away from the island. Jack wondered whether Herb would insist on following after them in his slow boat, or stay by the camp. Perhaps finding that Buster and Algernon were both eager to get on the move, no matter 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 called out, for he was himself too busy watching how his machine worked to take his eyes off it; and then, again, what was the use, when he could get the information second-hand just as well.

“Yep, though it’s getting kind of faint now, Jack,” came the reply. “You see, this here moonlight ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. I’ve proved it, too. ’Nother feller’d me we made a wager that we could tell anybody half 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 cow a-lyin’ down. Well, we walked up to it, and what d’ye think, it was only an old stump after all.”

“Look as close as you can, and tell me if you see anything of another boat 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 of mud squarely into his open mouth, as once happened when he was in swimming; and even then, as soon as he had managed to get rid of it, he had 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 came out of; but whether it’s a boat, say, Jack, don’t ask me to take my affidavy, for I won’t, that’s all.”

“I won’t ask you, because I’m sure now it must be a boat, and of course Comfort, with the rest of the crowd aboard,” remarked Jack.

“But shucks! everything’ll be over, even the shouting, when that tub comes along. What’s the use in Herb startin’ at all, Jack?”

“He had that privilege,” returned the skipper. “I didn’t just want to tell him he had ought to stay by the camp, to look after things. And besides, there’s our new friend, Algernon, of course he’ll be just as anxious as anything to know as soon as he can whether we’ve recovered his Saunterer or not. But I guess you don’t see anything of that moving thing, 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 the finish of the race. George is holding in pretty well, you see, Josh. He can put a crimp in that speed mania, when he wants to.”

“But gee! listen to him growling, would you?” remarked the other, with a dry 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. “I pity 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 he couldn’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; and no matter what other faults George may have, he never goes back on his promises. That’s his best point. I’d as soon take his word as lots of fellows’ binding written agreement.”

“Well, I guess that’s so, Jack,” said Josh, slowly, for he wanted to be fair toward his impulsive chum; and in spite of his many faults, these comrades, 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 be honest and true.

For some little time they continued to shove along down the river, with both boats doing splendidly. Just how many miles an hour they were making Jack could not say positively; but he thought it must be in the neighborhood of fifteen.

George called out a number of times, and begged the other skipper to do something more than just crawl. It seemed to be a painful experience to the captain of the Wireless, and yet when he was taken to task later on for his impatience, and made to see how well his engine had behaved when not constantly meddled with, and pushed to its utmost limit, George candidly admitted that Jack’s plan was by long odds the best for all concerned, indeed, the only one they could have followed, under the circumstances.

They were certainly putting the miles behind them as they kept on flying down with the current. Jack had to figure it out, so as to see about what sort of a lead the fugitive white boat had on them.

He could give something of a guess as to about how many minutes had elapsed between the time the other craft had started past the lower end of the island, and that marking their own departure. That was not over ten minutes all told, he believed, though had any of the others been asked they would have said twice that because they were excited at the time, and seconds were drawn out doubly long.

Well, saying that it was ten minutes, and the boat was going at the rate of twelve miles an hour that would mean the stolen craft had a lead of about two miles all told. Jack knew that they should cut this down before 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 more or less anxiety as to whether any signs of the white boat could be seen down-stream. In order to find this out at the earliest opportunity Jack had stationed his “crew” up forward in the bow, where he could have nothing in the way; and as the moon was about in the east he was not compelled to stare into its bright shaft of silvery light.

Every once in a while Jack would call out to ask whether there had anything appeared in sight. Josh answered him three separate times, and then laughingly said:

“Say, d’ye know what you make me think of, Jack? Remember in the old nursery tale of Bluebeard, where the poor wife, whose head is going to be cut off by the bad man keeps calling up to her sister, who is watching the road for the coming of their brothers: ‘Sister Ann, Sister Ann, is there anything coming?’ Well, just now, Jack, I can’t even say I see 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 seeing things that hadn’t ought to be there?”

He bent forward the better to look. Just then from the other boat the voice of Andy was heard to call out eagerly:

“Sure, ’tis something I say beyant there; and to me way of thinkin’ it looks 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 play what he called “second fiddle.”

“Right you are, Andy, though a bit late, because I was just telling Jack here that our intended prey was in sight. But I’m real glad to hear you say you can see it too, better two heads than one, even if--well, I won’t finish that sentence, because you might think I was comparing your coco to a mere vegetable. There, Jack, look for yourself and see,” he went on, as the skipper managed to leave his engine long enough to push forward a little.

So Jack did take a good look, and when he had done so, he added his opinion to that of the other two boys.

“Guess there isn’t a shadow of doubt about that, fellows; because I can see 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.”