“Great Scott! I hope nothing goes wrong in this blow. Wait a second. I’ll be with you. I’ll lash the wheel. I guess it will be safe for a little while to keep on a straight course.”
Tom heard Bill tossing ropes about as he picked up some to lash the wheel. Then he staggered into the motor room, being tossed from side to side by the pitching of the launch.
Hardly had he reached the side of the young wireless operator, than, with a sigh and a moan—a sort of apologetic cough—the motor ceased working.
“Oh, my!” exclaimed Bill. “There she goes! I should say something was the matter.”
“What is it?” asked Tom.
“Don’t know yet. I’ll have to take a look. It may be the ignition, or the carburetor, or any of half a hundred things that can happen to a gasoline motor. I’ll have to take a look.”
“Should I have called you sooner?” asked Tom. “It was acting queer for several minutes. First it would go fast and then slow.”
“Well, I guess coming in any sooner wouldn’t have done much good. I’ll take a look now. You’d better help me. Get the lantern and bring it closer. We won’t need any one at the wheel when we aren’t moving.”
The launch was now drifting about at the mercy of the wind and waves. She fairly wallowed in the water, and it was no easy task to keep one’s footing, to say nothing of trying to get a balky motor back into commission. But the two set about their task bravely, while the storm raged about them.
First Bill tested the ignition system. Something was evidently wrong with that, for there came no responsive buzz in the coil when he threw the fly wheel over to make the connections.