CHAPTER XVII
"THERE SHE IS!"
Anticipating that he would be some time on his search, the younginventor had gone prepared for it. He had a supply of provisions andhe had told Mrs. Baggert he might not be back that night. But he didnot intend to sleep aboard the RED STREAK, which, being a racing boat,was not large enough to afford much room for passengers. Tom hadplanned, therefore, to put up at some hotel near the lake in case hishunt should last beyond one night.
That it would do this was almost certain, for all that morning hesearched unavailingly for the ARROW. A distant mill whistle soundingover Lake Carlopa told him it was noon.
"Dinner time," he announced to himself. "Guess I'll run up along shorein the shade and eat."
Selecting a place where the trees overhung the water, forming a quiet,cool nook, Tom sent the boat in there, and, tying it to a leaning tree,he began his simple meal. Various thoughts filled his mind, but chiefamong them was the desire to overtake the thieves who had his boat.That it was Happy Harry's gang he was positive.
The lad nearly finished eating and was considering what direction hemight best search in next when he heard, running along a road thatbordered the lake, an automobile.
"Wonder who that is?" mused Tom. "It won't do any harm to take a look,for it might be some of those thieves again. They probably still havetheir auto or Happy Harry couldn't have gotten from Sandport to Shoptonso quickly."
The young inventor slipped ashore from the motor-boat, taking care tomake no noise. Stealing silently along toward the road, he peeredthrough the underbrush for a sight of the machine, which seemed to begoing slowly. But before the youth had a glimpse of it he was madeaware who the occupant was by hearing someone exclaim:
"Bless my shoe laces if this cantankerous contraption isn't going wrongagain! I wonder if it's going to have a fit here in this lonely place.It acts just as if it was. Bless my very existence! Hold on now. Benice! Be nice!"
"Mr. Damon!" exclaimed Tom, and, without knowing it, he had spokenaloud.
"Hold on there! Hold on! Who's calling me in this forsaken locality?Bless my shirt studs! But who is it?" and the eccentric man who hadsold Tom the motor-cycle looked intently at the bushes.
"Here I am, Mr. Damon," answered the lad, stepping out into the road."I knew it was you as soon as I saw you."
"Bless my liver, but that's very true! I suppose you heard myunfortunate automobile puffing along. I declare I don't know what ailsit. I got it on the advice of my physician, who said I must get out inthe air, but, bless my gears, it's the auto who needs a doctor morethan I do! It's continually out of order. Something is going tohappen right away. I can tell by the way it's behaving."
Mr. Damon had thrown out the clutch, but the engine was still running,though in a jerky, uncertain fashion, which indicated to the trainedear of the young inventor that something was wrong.
"Perhaps I can fix it for you as I did before," ventured Tom.
"Bless my eyebrows! Perhaps you can," cried the eccentric manhopefully. "You always seem to turn up at the right moment. How doyou manage it?"
"I don't know. I remember the time you turned up just when I wantedyou to help me capture Happy Harry and his gang, and now, by, a strangecoincidence, I'm after them again."
"You don't say so! My good gracious! Bless my hatband! But that'sodd. There!" he ejaculated suddenly as the automobile engine stoppedwith a choking sigh, "I knew something was going to happen."
"Let me take a look," proposed the lad, and he was soon busy peeringinto the interior of the machine. At first he could not find thetrouble, but being a persistent youth, Tom went at it systematicallyand located it in two places. The clutch was not rightly adjusted andthe carburetor float feed needed fixing. The young inventor was notlong in making the slight repairs and then he assured Mr. Damon thathis automobile would run properly.
"Bless my very existence, but what a thing it is to have a head formechanics!" exclaimed the odd man gratefully. "Now it would bother meto adjust a nutmeg grater if it got out of order, but I dare say youcould fix it in no time."
"Yes," answered Tom, "I could and so could you, for there's nothingabout it to fix. But you can go ahead now if you wish."
"Thank you. It just shows how ignorant I am of machinery. I presumesomething will go wrong in another mile or two. But may I ask what youare doing here? I presume you are in your motor-boat, sailing aboutfor pleasure. And didn't I understand you to say you were after thosechaps again? Bless my watch charm, but I was so interested in mymachine that I didn't think to ask you."
"Yes, I am after those thieves again."
"In your motor-boat, I presume. Well, I hope you catch them. Whathave they stolen now?"
"My motor-boat. That's why I'm after them, but I had to borrow a craftto chase them with."
"Bless my soul! You don't tell me! How did it happen?"
Thereupon the lad related as much of the story as was necessary to putMr. Damon in possession of the facts and he ended up with:
"I don't suppose you have seen anything of the men in my boat, haveyou?"
Mr. Damon seemed strangely excited. He had entered his auto, but asthe lad's story progressed the odd gentleman had descended. When Tomfinished he exclaimed:
"Don't say a word now--not a word. I want to think, and that is aprocess, which, for me, requires a little time. Don't speak a wordnow. Bless my left hand, but I think I can help you!"
He frowned, stamped first one foot, then the other, looked up at thesky, as if seeking inspiration there, and then down at the ground, asif that would help him to think. Then he clapped his hands smartlytogether and cried out:
"Bless my shoe buttons!"
"Have you seen them?" asked Tom eagerly.
"Was your boat one with a red arrow painted on the bow?" asked Mr.Damon in turn.
"It was!" and the lad was now almost as excited as was his friend.
"Then I've seen it and, what's more, this morning! Bless my sparkplug, I've seen it!"
"Tell me about it!" pleaded the young inventor, and Mr. Damon, calminghimself after an effort, resumed:
"I was out for an early spin in my auto," he said, "and was travelingalong a road that bordered the lake, about fifteen miles above here. Iheard a motor-boat puffing along near shore, and, looking through thetrees, I saw one containing three men. It had a red arrow on the bow,and that's why I noticed it, because I recalled that your boat wasnamed the DART."
"ARROW," corrected Tom.
"The ARROW. Oh, yes, I knew it was something like that. Well ofcourse at the time I didn't think that it was your boat, but Iassociated it in my mind with yours. Do you catch my meaning?"
Tom did and said so, wishing Mr. Damon would hurry and get to thepoint. But the eccentric character had to do things in his own way.
"Exactly," he resumed. "Well, I didn't think that was your boat, but,at the same time, I watched the men out of curiosity, and I was struckwith their behavior. They seemed to be quarreling, and, from what Icould hear, two of them seemed to be remonstrating with the third onefor having taken some sort of a piece of wood from the forwardcompartment. I believe that is the proper term."
"Yes!" Tom almost shouted. "But where did they go? What became ofthem? What was the man doing to the forward compartment--where thegasoline tank is?"
"Exactly. I was trying to think what was kept there. That's it, thegasoline tank. Well, the boat kept on up the lake, and I don't knowwhat became of the men. But about that piece of wood. It seems thatone of the men removed a block, from under the tank and the othersobjected. That's why they were quarreling."
"That's very strange," exclaimed the lad. "There must be some mysteryabout my boat that I don't understand. But that will keep until I getthe boat itself. Good-by, Mr. Damon. I must be off."
"Where to?"
"Up the lake after those thieves. I must lose no time," and Tomstarted to go back to where he had left the RED STREA
K.
"Hold on!" cried Mr. Damon. "I have something to propose, Tom. Twoheads are better than one, even if one doesn't know how to adjust anutmeg grate. Suppose I come along with you? I can point out thedirection the men took, at any rate."
"I'll be very glad to have you," answered the lad, who felt that hemight need help if there were three of the thieves in his craft. "Butwhat will you do with your automobile?"
"I'll just run it down the road a way to where a friend of mine has astable. I'll leave it in there and join you. Will you let me come?Bless my eye glasses, but I'd like to help catch those scoundrels!"
"I'll be very glad to have you. Go ahead, put the auto in the barn andI'll wait for you."
"I have a better plan than that," replied Mr. Damon. "Run your boatdown to that point," and he indicated one about a mile up the lake."I'll be there waiting for you, and we'll lose no time. I can coverthe ground faster in my auto than you can in your boat."
Tom saw the advantage of this and was soon under way, while he heard onshore the puffing of his friend's car. On the trip to the point Tompuzzled over the strange actions of the man in taking one of the bracesfrom under the gasoline tank.
"I'll wager he did it before," thought the lad. "It must be the sameperson who was tampering with the lock of the forward compartment theday I bought the boat. But why--that's the question--why?"
He could find no answer to this, puzzle over it as he did, and he gaveit up. His whole desire now was to get on the trail of the thieves,and he had strong hopes, after the clew Mr. Damon had given him. Thelatter was waiting for him on the point, and so nimble was the owner ofthe auto, in spite of his size, that Tom was not delayed more than thefraction of a minute ere he was under way again, speeding up the lake.
"Now keep well in toward shore," advised Mr. Damon. "Those fellowsdon't want to be observed any more than they can help, and they'llsneak along the bank, They were headed in that direction," and hepointed it out. "Now I hope you won't think I'm in the way. Besides,you know, if you get your boat back, you'll want some one to help steerit, while you run this one. I can do that, at all events, bless myvery existence!"
"I am very glad of your help," replied the lad, but he did not take hiseyes from the water before him, and he was looking for a sight of hisboat with the men in it.
For three hours or more Tom and Mr. Damon cruised in and out along theshore of the lake, going farther and farther up the body of water. Tomwas beginning to think that he would reach Sandport without catchingsight of the thieves, and he was wondering if, after all, he might notbetter stop off and see his father when, above the puffing of the motorin the RED STREAK, he heard the put-put of another boat.
"Listen!" cried Mr. Damon, who had heard it at the same time.
Tom nodded.
"They're just ahead of us," whispered his companion.
"If it's them," was the lad's reply.
"Speed up and we'll soon see," suggested Mr. Damon, and Tom shoved thetimer over. The RED STREAK forged ahead. The sound of the other boatcame more plainly now. It was beyond a little point of land. Theyoung inventor steered out to get around it and leaned eagerly forwardto catch the first glimpse of the unseen craft. Would it prove to bethe ARROW?
The put-put became louder now. Mr. Damon was standing up, as if thatwould, in some mysterious way, help. Then suddenly the other boat cameinto view. Tom saw it in an instant and knew it for the ARROW.
"There she is!" he cried.