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Yet the thought of returning to tell Lucile's brother that they had lost his motorboat was disheartening. To go on seemed dangerous. True, they had rifles but they were, after all, but two girls against three rough men. In spite of all this, they decided in the end to go on. Pushing the boat into the sea they rowed out a few fathoms, then set the sail and bore away before the brisk breeze.
"But the motorboat!" cried Ruth, who had conquered her desire to flee to the cabin, and hide her eyes and ears from such nerve-racking sights and sounds. "Where is the Ajax and Mr. Sneed and Russ?" she faltered. "They'll probably be coming in now," the captain said, but he did not take the trouble to look around and see. "We can't wait for them in this wind," he went on.
And quickly on the heels of this sound came a low, threatening growl that, strangely enough, made Bobolink chuckle softly, he was so pleased over having his announcement proven true to the Commodore of the motorboat fleet. "Look out, Paul," he whispered; "he's laying for you in those bushes. Better keep your gun handy, and be ready to give him Hail Columbia!" Paul did not answer.
"Exactly," agreed Lord Hastings. He led the way to the rail. "See," he said, waving a hand in the direction of the others of the motorboat fleet, "they are all getting ready for action." It was true. There were signs of great activity aboard some of the other little vessels. "Just overhauling to see that everything is shipshape," said Lord Hastings. "We may as well do the same."
"No, I don't, sir," was the reply. "I was in hopes that we were to feel a real vessel beneath our feet once more. What good is a motorboat against a submarine, anyway?" "That's what I would like to know," agreed Frank. "I'll tell you," replied Lord Hastings. "But first let me ask you something. Do you remember, the other day, of asking me to explain the mystery of the vanishing submarines?"
Come and stay with me until morning." So Uncle Wiggily went back to the giant's house, and the next day quite a surprising adventure occurred to him, and in case the gasoline in my motorboat doesn't wash all the paint off my red necktie I'll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and Grand-daddy Longlegs.
Both girls were thoroughly out of breath as they finally parted the branches of a fir tree and peered through to where the beach, a yellow ribbon of sand, circled away to the north. "Not there," whispered Marian. Lucile gripped her cousin's arm. "What's that thing two-thirds of the way down, at the water's edge?" "Don't know. Rock maybe. Anyway, it's not our motorboat." "No, it's not.
When the little motorboat had capsized, four French soldiers had run down to the bank and thrown themselves into the stream. Almost at the same time a squad of perhaps a dozen Germans had performed the same maneuver. Now, from both sides of the river, men were closing in upon the almost exhausted lads. But the Germans were the best swimmers and overtook them first.
When the boys were on their way back to the wharf they met Herring and Merritt in the motorboat they had seen, Herring shouting out with his usual sneer and a contemptuous look: "We'll race you for ten dollars, Percival, if you think you can trust your helper. Two to one we'll beat you hands down." "This happens not to be my boat," said Percival, "and I would not race with you if it was."
"Had some of the admiralty officials been convinced half so easily, this submarine menace might have been effectually stopped long before this." As the motorboat continued down the Thames, each occupant remained busy with his thoughts. It was Frank who broke the silence. "What has happened to the torpedoboat destroyers, sir?" he asked.
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