So the rowboat was fastened to the stern of the Dartaway and Jerry started the motor up again.
“Isn’t this lovely!” exclaimed Mollie Horton. “Where did you ever get such a beautiful boat?”
“It’s a perfect dream!” came from Alice.
“You bet!” put in Andy. “Nightmare when you smell the gasolene—whoop! Crank her up—don’t explode—get mad—say all sorts of things—turn off the batteries—throw on the magneto—test the spark plugs—get a shock—get madder—then all of a sudden—off you go—whoop!”
“It’s the same old Andy,” said Jerry with a smile.
“I’m going to try her on full speed now,” said Jerry, when after several miles the boat was turned around. He threw the lever over as far as it would go and advanced the spark lever to the end of the rachet.
The Dartaway sprang forward almost as if alive. The water fairly boiled under the stern and she shot down the river at top speed. The engine was purring, throbbing and humming as the explosions came faster and warmed the cylinders up.
“This is something like going!” cried Bob.
Suddenly there was a snap as if something had broken and with a cough and wheeze the engine came to a stop. Jerry sprang forward and shut off the gasolene to avoid flooding the cylinders with it. Then he threw out the clutch.