[CHAPTER VII]
IN DANGER
Jerry, Ned and Bob were gazing straight into the faces of Bill Berry and Noddy Nixon. The two cronies, in turn, returned the stare, and to our friends it seemed as if there was an insolent look on Noddy’s face—a sort of half smile of triumph, as if he had divined their plans, and was going to try to frustrate them.
“Mind your wheel!” suddenly called Ned sharply to the tall steersman. “There’s a rock just ahead of you, Jerry!”
“That’s so, I forgot about that,” and Jerry twisted the rudder about so that the Dartaway swung toward the middle of the stream, missing the rock by a narrow margin.
“Too close for comfort,” murmured Bob.
“That’s right,” agreed Jerry. “I don’t know why I should have stared so at Noddy.”
“It looks as if he and Bill came out on purpose to see us off,” commented Ned, as the motor boat rapidly opened up a gap between herself and the rowing craft. “I wonder if he heard what Andy said about Pittsburg?”
“I’m afraid so,” said the tall lad. “Sounds carry very clearly over the water, you know, and Andy has rather a loud voice. Well, it can’t be helped, and I suppose the only thing for us to do is to be on our guard.”
“That’s all,” agreed Ned, and by this time they had gone around a bend, losing sight of the rowboat, and the dock from which they had started. The last glimpse they had of Andy Rush was when that excitable chap was dancing up and down, waving his hands to them, and doubtless letting off all sorts of explosive expressions.