"Yes," suggested Pat, "you run out and get them while we find the Manhattan! That will be a nice little job for you!"
"I wouldn't let them tie me up, anyway," growled Jimmie, annoyed at the chaffing of his friends. "Say!" he added, "here's our little bay now, but where is that bloomin' motor boat? Some one's come and carried it away while we've been in the woods, an' took Jack and Frank away with it!"
CHAPTER VIII.
WIGWAGS FROM THE BEACH.
For a long time after the departure of Ned, Jack and Frank sat in the cabin of the Manhattan, looking out on the steady downpour. They were not quite satisfied with their share in the activities of the day. Instead of being housed in the cabin, they preferred an exciting hunt even in the rain, over the hills of the little island in view.
"If we stand for it," grumbled Jack, "we'll have to spend most of our time keeping house! Jimmie will scatter himself all over the Asiatic division of the map, and Ned will spend most of his time looking him up!"
Frank laughed at this outbreak of ill humor, although he was as anxious as his chum to be on the firing line.
"I wish we'd not taken the Manhattan," Jack continued. "I'm the only one in the party that can operate it, and I'll be tied down like a galley slave!"
"Go it!" laughed Frank. "Growl your head off, if you want to, Mr. Black Bear! Instead of snarling, why don't you tell me what makes the boat go when you do something to the wheel and that switch?"