CHAPTER XXIII
“MOTORBOAT AHOY!”
Glad as they all were that the storm was abating, there was a little feeling of gloom when the engineer made his announcement about the second accident.
“Oh, daddy! Isn’t it too bad!” exclaimed Grace. “Now we may not be able to catch those men!”
“Oh, I think we will,” replied her father. “That is, if we can see them. If we can once get within sight of them I believe we can run them down, even if we’re only working one motor. All right,” he nodded to the engineer. “Do the best you can. Is there no way you make new gaskets?”
“Well, sir, we might be able to cut them out of some washer stuff we have on board, but I’m afraid they wouldn’t hold under pressure. They’d blow out again, and they might do more serious damage than they did this time.”
“Damage!” exclaimed Mr. Potter. “Was any one hurt?”
“Oh, one of the men had his hand slightly bruised, when the gasket blew out, but it doesn’t amount to much. I wanted him to lay off, but he wouldn’t.”
“Why not?”
“Well, sir, he says he’s got a boy of his own, and he knows how he’d feel if he was kidnapped. You see, sir, the crew all know what sort of a chase we’re on.”