A SERIOUS SITUATION
It was six o’clock when Case awoke that morning. He was dressing when he discovered that the boat was not running.
He listened but could hear neither voices nor footsteps on the deck. The other boys were still sleeping soundly, and he did not awaken them. Thede, the surgeon, was stirring, and the boy asked him:
“What’s the matter with the boat?”
“I hadn’t noticed anything the matter with her,” was the surgeon’s reply.
“She has stopped,” explained Case.
“Then we’d better see what’s up,” responded Thede.
The two finished dressing and went out on deck. Then they saw what was wrong. The Rambler, with no one to guide her, had kept on a straight course until she had reached a bend in the river, and had then tried to climb out on the bank.
How the boys slept through all that followed was a mystery.
The chain which connected the motor with the rudder was broken and the boat had stopped when the power went astray. There were numerous other things the matter with the boat—enough to keep her in the repairer’s hands for a full day.