Four Afloat Part 15

"Is he du-du-du-du-down there?" asked Tom excitedly. Nelson nodded.

"What?" cried Dan. "The kid's on board? Well, I'll be blowed!" Then he sat down on the stern seat and laughed till the tears came. "Oh, say, this is great! And there I stood, lying up and down to him! Say, don't you know he's peeved?"

"Well, you didn't know he was here," said Nelson, "so you weren't really lying."

"Pshaw!" said Dan. "I'd have said the same thing if I had known. It isn't lying to fool an old brute like that!"

"A lie's a lie, no matter who you tell it to," answered Tom.

"Look out for that schooner coming in, Bob," Nelson cautioned. "When you pa.s.s the Point, swing her straight across the bay. We'll try for Provincetown, seeing that I told him we were going to Duxbury."

"h.e.l.lo!" cried Dan. "Look there!"

The boat containing the captain of the _Henry Nellis_ was returning as fast as oars could send it, and now it was alongside the tugboat and the captain had leaped aboard her.

"What's he up to?" muttered Dan.

The _Vagabond_ was dipping her nose into the waves of the bar.

"Oh, he's beaten," said Tom, "and he knows it!"

"Like fun he does!" cried Dan. "They're casting off the tug, and he's still aboard. I'll bet you anything--"

"Nonsense!" exclaimed Nelson.

"Nonsense be blowed! He's after us in the tugboat!"

Dan turned and faced the others with a broad smile.

"Now for some fun!" he chuckled.

At that moment the _Vagabond_ swung around the Point and shook herself clear of the harbor waters. But over the low sandspit a sudden cloud of black smoke floated upward, showing that the captain had taken up the chase.

CHAPTER IX-PROVES THAT A STERN CHASE IS NOT ALWAYS A LONG CHASE

For a moment there was silence in the c.o.c.kpit of the _Vagabond_. Nelson and Bob looked serious, Tom somewhat frightened, and Dan as happy as a lark. It was Bob who first broke the silence.

"How fast can one of those tugs travel?" he asked. Nelson shook his head.

"It depends on the tug," he answered. "That one looked pretty small, and so I guess her engine isn't very powerful. But even so, it's likely she can give us a mighty good run."

"How's our engine running?" asked Bob.

"Full speed," was the reply. "If it was dark we could lose them easily, but it won't be dark for an hour and a half yet. Well, we'll give them a good chase of it, anyway."

"Even if they catch us, what can they do?" scoffed Dan. "I'd just like to see them try to set foot on this boat!"

"Well, I guess they could do it if they got alongside," answered Nelson dryly. "I noticed about five men on that tug."

"But they haven't any right to!" protested Tom.

"I don't believe they'd care much about that," said Bob. "So what we've got to do is to keep away from them. Watch for her at the mouth of the harbor."

They watched in silence. One minute pa.s.sed, another; then the tug stuck her blunt nose around the sandspit and headed after the _Vagabond_. She was a good half mile astern, but from the way in which she was coming it seemed to the boys extremely unlikely that she would stay at that distance very long.

"Gee!" quoth Tom anxiously. "Isn't she humming!"

"She certainly is," answered Bob. "But, then, so are we, for that matter."

"I'll go down and have a look at the oil cups," said Nelson. "I'd hate like thunder to have the engine stop at this stage of the game."

"Gu-gu-gee! If it did!" muttered Tom fearfully.

"Keep your courage up, Tommy," laughed Dan. "What you need is something to eat. So do I, for that matter. But I suppose we can't talk supper yet, eh?"

"No; let's wait until we see how this thing's coming out," said Bob.

"Where's the runaway, Nelson?"

"He's down here," answered Nelson from below. "I've told him what's up, and he says he'll go back to his friend if it's going to get us into trouble."

"To the captain? Get out!"

"Nu-nu-nu-not on your lu-lu-life!" cried Tom.

"That's the stuff, Tommy," said Dan, clapping him on the back. "The old guard dies, but never surrenders, eh? Now, look; you go down and see if you can't find something we can nibble on-crackers or bread and b.u.t.ter-will you?"

"Yes, there's plenty of pilot bread," answered Tom. "Shall I b.u.t.ter some?"

"No; let's have it _au natural_, Tommy. That's French and means something, but I don't remember just what. No; pilot bread is better without b.u.t.ter. Scoot along, now; we may have a desperate battle before us," with a wink at Bob, "and we must have our bodies fortified.

Whatever that is," he added, as Tom went below.

"I don't see that she's gained any," said Bob presently.

"No," answered Dan. "Lost, if anything."

The welcome news was pa.s.sed below to Nelson, and he came up to see for himself.

"That's right," he said. "They've dropped back a little, and I'm mighty glad of it. The fact is, we aren't getting all our speed. There's something wrong somewhere, and I guess it's the gasoline. It was probably pretty poor stuff; full of water, I dare say."

"But there's no fear of the engine stopping, is there?" asked Bob.

Nelson shook his head.

"Not likely; but she's missing a spark now and then, and she may do worse than that. I don't believe we're doing better than ten and a half miles."