And they were amazed at the speed which she had gained. The lads looked at each other with questioning eyes.
“There’s something wrong!” almost shouted Jule. “The Rambler is running away from us!”
“That’s right!” was the quick reply. “Do you think we can catch her at the pace she is going?”
“Never!” was the discouraged reply.
There was silence for a moment, a silence broken only by the rippling of the Rio Grande and the call of a bird a-wing. Then Alex made a hopeful suggestion.
“The river makes a long bend just below,” he explained, “and, if we can get to the bottom of the turn, perhaps we can catch her. Nice thing, to run away and leave us like this!”
“There is evidently something wrong on board, though I can’t for the life of me see what it is,” Jule answered.
“If we cut across this point of land, we’ll have to come back for the rowboat,” suggested Alex.
“Provided some river character doesn’t see it first we may find it,” wailed Jule.
“Well, there’s nothing like trying,” Alex returned.