“Of course it will go,” answered Ned. “I wonder if we have any gasolene?”
“I sent some down last night on the chance that she would come to-day,” said Jerry. “Now to launch the Dartaway!”
“The Dartaway? Is that her name?” asked Ned.
“Sure,” replied Jerry. “I forgot to tell you when I wrote out the order that I told the manufacturers to give her that name. If you don’t like it, we can change it.”
“That’s a fine name,” came from Ned, and Bob said it suited him.
The boat was twenty-five feet long and about six feet beam. The engine was a four cylinder one, with all the latest improvements, arranged with three speeds forward and a reverse just as an automobile is, and the craft also steered with a bright colored wheel in the front, similar to a touring car.
There was a little cockpit forward where there was room for six to sit comfortably and leave a place for the steersman. The engineer had a little place partitioned off for himself, and amidships were roomy lockers and an arrangement where a table could be set.
There was even a small galley with a stove which burned gasolene, and food could be cooked on board. There was a camping outfit of dishes and kitchen utensils, and the lockers could be made into fairly comfortable bunks in case one wanted to sleep on board.
There was a portable awning that could be put up to cover the whole of the craft and side curtains that could be fastened shut. The one in front was fitted with a celluloid window so that in stormy weather the boat could be worked and steered under shelter. Also, if the occupants desired they could pass a night on board and keep dry in the hardest rain.