"Stolen?"
"Yes."
"You don't say so! Hope you get her back."
"Who was on board?"
"Four men, so far as we could see. We weren't very close to her."
"We are on the right trail!" cried Tom. "Now the question is, How can we follow her down the river?"
"On the houseboat, of course," answered his elder brother. "If we stop to do anything else we'll lose too much time."
"But that launch can run away from us."
"Perhaps, but you must remember that they'll have to be cautious, because the craft is strange to them. They won't dare to run full speed for fear of blowing up or of striking a snag."
"I vish da struck a hundred of dem snags alretty!" cried Hans.