“Catch!” he cried to Dent, throwing the end of his line aboard, and Dent, forgetting his usual lazy habits, made a quick grab for the painter. He reached it, took a turn around a cleat, and in another moment Tom was aboard.

“Pull my rowboat closer up,” he ordered Dent. “I’m going to have a try at the motor, and if she doesn’t go, we’ll have to row out of danger.”

He gave a quick look at the engine, and then cried:

“Well, you’re a dandy!”

“What’s the matter?”

“You didn’t have the gasolene turned on.”

“I did so. Else how could I have run out from the dock?”

“With what was in the carbureter, of course. But when that was used up, you didn’t get any more from the tank. You’re a peach to run a motorboat! Don’t you ever take mine out again!”

“I won’t,” murmured Dent, thoroughly ashamed of himself.