“Put us ashore! We’ll sink!” screamed Mollie.
“Look here!” exclaimed Jerry sternly. “You girls are old enough to know better. There’s no danger, even if the boat has broken down, and we are stuck fast. If worst comes to worst we can row you ashore. Now, if you’ll keep quiet, I’ll see what’s the matter.”
As Ned had guessed, they were on a sand bar. The boat had been moving quite swiftly before the accident happened, and, what with the momentum and the drift of the current, had run well up on the obstruction.
“Well,” remarked Jerry when matters had quieted down somewhat, “I guess the first thing to do is to look and see what the trouble is with the motor.”
With the assistance of Ned and Bob, Jerry tested the engine to see if there was good compression, that is if there was the proper mixture of air with the vapor from the gasolene to produce the explosive gas which made the piston move. He found that there was no trouble from this source.
“How’s the spark?” asked Ned.
“I haven’t tried that yet,” said Jerry. “I will now.”
He detached one of the wires connected with the batteries and magneto or small dynamo from the binding post of one of the cylinder heads and adjusting the contact breaker, touched the end to the set screw. There was no answering spurt of greenish flame.
“That’s the trouble,” said Ned. “No spark. Wire must be broken.”
“Let’s see if it’s the faults of the batteries or the magneto,” spoke Bob, who was inclined to go slow.