The boys jollied and talked with the man aboard the tug for a few minutes, long enough to be courteous, and thanked the skipper for his work in holding back the speed of the huge bulk until they could get control of their own craft.
Then Frank got the Rocket under way again, and was soon well past the obstacle, past the hairpin bend of the river, and headed downstream again toward Coville.
“There it is!” Paul Bird, his spirits still high notwithstanding his ducking in the river, was the first to sight the far-off lights of the town to which they were going.
All the boys looked through the darkness, past the strong beam of the searchlight as it tried to find everything on the surface of the water, and saw the flickering lights of the town.
“But I can’t understand,” Frank was still thinking of the incident, “what became of that motor boat back there and why it disappeared right at the moment when most folks would have stopped to help.”
“Guess they were like a whole lot of folks on the roads,” replied Lanky Wallace. “You see lots of them in cars who won’t stop to give a fellow a helping hand when they see he’s in trouble.”
Fifteen minutes more of steady running of the Rocket brought them to the landing place at Coville, and there, standing under an electric light, was a man waving to them to come to him.
It was the druggist with the package for the doctor at the hospital in Columbia.
“Doc told me to meet you boys down here at the wharf—and here is the package. Keep your motor running and turn her upstream right away. And here’s another package I brought. It’s a lot of cold drinks for you and a sandwich for each one. You’ll need them, boys.”
“That’s mighty good of you.” Frank felt very grateful to the man for his kindness. “Send the bill up to the doctor and it’ll be paid right away. Thank you ever so much.”