Jack had told him he could do what he liked, and the boy was under the cover with his electric light turned on the engine when the evildoers came up and got to work. The first turn of the auger startled him, and he called out sharply wanting to know what they were doing.
Then he suspected mischief, and immediately threw aside the cover, and turned his light upon the fleeing rascals.
He was unable to identify them, because there were several of the boys of the same build, but he was satisfied that they would not return.
That was not enough, however, and he raised an alarm and brought out
Bucephalus and a number of the servants, and said:
"Somebody's been trying to monkey with Jack Sheldon's boat. There ought to be a watch kept. Other camps have sentinels, and this should have one. Stay on watch to-night, boys, and I'll give you a dollar apiece."
"A'right, sah," said Bucephalus with a broad grin. "So dey tried to hu't Mistah Jack's boat, did dey? Wha' yo' doin' in it you'se'f, sah? Was yo' goin' to sleep in it?"
"Me?" exclaimed the little fellow indignantly. "No indeed. I was looking over the engine to get the hang of it. Jack told me I might. Go to sleep nothing! If I had been asleep I would not have caught these rascals at their dirty work."
"But yo' didn' cotch dem, sah, dey done runned away."
By this time Jack, Percival, Harry and Arthur, and a number of the boys, aroused by the noise, had come down to see what was the matter.
Young Smith turned his light on the bottom of the boat, it having been drawn up on the beach, and saw the mark of the auger quite plainly.