“Why, the gasoline tank is empty,” exclaimed the other.
“What?” cried the young engineer. “But that is impossible, unless there is a leak somewhere, because I just filled it this morning. By Jove,” he added, with a steely light in his eye that looked dangerous, “well of all the——” his voice died away and the two boys exchanged a long and meaning look.
The girls could not help laughing. They were like the two Dromios, these two young men. The resemblance was even more striking when Edward Paxton had waked into life.
“But what is it?” demanded Miss Campbell. It was so difficult to have anything but agreeable sensations in this pleasant land.
“All the gasoline’s gone,” said the engineer. “There’s not a drop of it left in the tank and we started with plenty. There has been foul play somewhere,” he added in a lower voice.
“Are you sure you started with plenty?” asked Billie, who was accustomed to the appetite of a gasoline motor engine.
“Perfectly,” answered the self-reliant young man. “I cleaned and overhauled the machinery and filled the tank this morning.”
“There’s lots of gasoline here,” observed Mary Price, “only it’s all outside.”
Suddenly they became aware that there was a strong odor of gasoline in the air and that the waters about them were covered with a bluish gray film.
“Ho ho,” cried Edward Paxton, with some excitement. “I’ve found the leak. A hole has been bored straight through the side of the boat, tank and all.” He was leaning far over the boat. “It’s just above the water line,” he added.