"I'm going to run a race wid the same to Cape Newagen!"
"Why, you have no more chance of overtaking the boat than you have of out-swimming the Mauretania."
But Mike made no reply. Spitting on his hands and rubbing them together, he broke into a lope and quickly passed from sight in the woods.
Despite the alarming situation, Alvin and Chester looked in each other's face and laughed.
"Did you ever know of anything so crazy?" asked the Captain.
"Never; the idea of putting his short legs against a boat that can run twenty odd miles an hour and has a good start, is worthy of Mike Murphy alone."
"But we must do something," said the puzzled Alvin; "some one has stolen the launch and should be headed off."
"How shall we do it?"
"The easiest way is to cross the long bridge to Wiscasset on the other side of the river and telegraph to different points down stream."
They were about to start when Alvin said: