“I’ll run back to the house and get in touch with the police,” Mr. Dunstan shouted back over his shoulder.
Tom sprinted aft along the pier, throwing the stern-line aboard. He leaped aboard forward with the bowline, not stopping then to coil it.
Not even calling to Joe, whose head was barely six feet away, young Captain Tom Halstead gave the bridge bellpull a single jerk. As the response sounded in the engine room alert Joe gave the engine slow speed ahead. Tom threw the wheel over and the fine boat glided out from her berth.
Two bells! Full speed ahead! The “Meteor” forged forward, gaining headway every moment. The hunt for missing Ted Dunstan was started in earnest.
CHAPTER IV—SIGHTING THE “PIRATE”
“How much speed do you want for this trip?” asked Joe, poking his head up through the hatchway as soon as the “Meteor” was running smoothly northward.
“On a hunt like this I think Mr. Dunstan will want us to burn gasoline,” Tom answered. “Give her about all the speed she can make.”
“That means twenty-five miles—or more?” insisted Dawson.
“Twenty-five will be close enough to going fast,” Tom replied.
Almost immediately the fast motor boat began to leap through the water. Though the boat minded her helm sensitively, Halstead rested both hands upon the wheel, watching intently ahead.