"I never saw anything like her," said Dick. "You say she's fast, too?"
"Twenty-five miles an hour easily, Dick! That's fast enough for anything she's ever likely to have to do. The Austrians have launches, armed and armored ones, but nothing that's in a class with this boat for speed and power."
"She doesn't carry any guns, though?"
"No. She's meant to run away, not to fight. There are a couple of rifles and automatic pistols and ammunition aboard, but really she is a scout, pure and simple, and she would only fight to escape. You see, with such a lot of armor plate and defensive equipment generally, they had to figure pretty carefully on weight, or they'd have lost speed. And speed's the most important thing with a boat like this. All aboard, now! We'll be off in a minute!"
Dick took his place aboard, and found that there was plenty of room under the plate of steel that covered almost the whole length of the little boat. Then Steve followed him, and in a moment the engine was purring and they were moving away.
"That's the quietest motor I ever heard in a power boat," said Dick.
"Exhaust under water and a special muffler as well," said Steve. "She'd be useless if she gave herself away when she was a mile from anyone, wouldn't she?"
"It means less speed, though."
"Yes, that's so. But it doesn't make difference enough to make up for the safety it gives. You see, we could pass within a cable length of one of those Austrian monitors now and they'd never know it. We'll have to do just about that, too, before the night's over, I'm afraid."
"Where are you going to land, Steve? In Semlin itself?"