Part 23 (2/2)
”Not so bad,” said Dave, dryly. ”If she filled the boxes the married pair must have proved a well-bred couple.”
”Hark to that!” roared Phil. ”Say, Dave, go and take a roll!”
”When it comes to a joke, Dave is the flower of this flock,” was Luke's comment.
”Anyway, he takes the cake,” murmured Ben.
”Ben, say something; don't loaf on the job,” came from the senator's son.
”A joke like that is pie for Roger,” murmured Polly Vane.
”Even so, n.o.body has a right to get crusty,” murmured Plum.
”Or pious!” continued Dave, and then Shadow made a pa.s.s for him with a shoe box. Then Roger started to run, and the others came after him, and away they went in a merry bunch, along the road leading to Oak Hall.
Soon they came out at a point where the highway ran along the Leming River, and there halted to rest, for the run had deprived some of them of their wind.
”I hear a motor-boat,” said Roger. ”Wonder if it is Nat Poole's craft?”
”It is!” answered Plum. ”Here he comes, right close to sh.o.r.e!”
The river was a good fifteen feet below the level of the roadway, and gazing down through the bushes lining the water's edge, the students beheld Nat Poole's motor-boat gliding along in a zig-zag fas.h.i.+on. Nat was not in the craft, which was evidently running without an occupant.
CHAPTER XV
A RUNAWAY MOTOR-BOAT
”What do you make of that?”
”The motor-boat must have run away from Nat!”
”Either that or Nat has fallen overboard!”
”Maybe Nat has been drowned!”
These and other remarks were made, as the boys on the highway gazed down at the craft that was speeding along in such an erratic fas.h.i.+on over the surface of the river. A closer look confirmed their first opinion, that n.o.body was on board.
”I'm going to try to stop her!” shouted Dave, and ran back along the highway, and disappeared into the bushes. Roger followed him closely, and some of the others trailed behind.
”I am going up the river--to see if I can find Nat!” shouted Phil, and away he sped, and Sam and Ben went along.
It was no easy matter for Dave to work his way down the bank of the stream. The bushes were thick and the footing uncertain, and once his jacket caught on a root and he had to pause to free himself. But at last he came out on a narrow strip of rocks and sand, at a point where the Leming River made a broad turn.
The water at this point was quite shallow, and here he thought the progress of the motor-boat would be stayed. His surmise was correct, the craft bringing up between several smooth rocks. The engine continued to work, pounding the boat back and forth, and threatening to sink her.
Fortunately, Dave had on a pair of gaiters he had borrowed, and they were so big that he slipped them off with ease. His socks followed, and then he rolled up his trousers to his knees, and waded into the stream.
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