He was back in but little more than the time stated and the two boys walked out to the end of the pier where their boat, The Sprite, was tied. While Jack was unfastening the rope Bob took from his pocket a brass cylinder about eight inches long which he slipped into place beneath one of the side seats.
“Let her go,” Jack cried from his place in the bow.
Bob touched a small lever and the boat began moving through the water. There was no sound save that of the water as it was thrown from the bows, for the Sprite was equipped with an electric motor instead of a gas engine. The brass cylinder which Bob had taken from his pocket was a powerful storage cell which the two boys had invented.
“I’m glad we don’t have an engine to tinker with half the time,” Bob said as the boat gained speed.
“Oh, it’s not so bad at that,” Jack laughed. “That is when you can get them to go.”
The two boys, Bob and Jack Golden had come up to the lake from their home in Skowhegan the night before intending to go at once to their cottage on the other side of the lake. But a heavy thunder storm, which continued far into the night, had caused them to change their plans and so they had spent the night at the little hotel in the grove.
“There’s the Jenkins boys in their new speed boat,” Jack said when they were a little more than half way across the lake.
“And she’s sure coming. Look at the way she throws the water. She must be making twenty-five.”
“Well, we’ll give her a wide berth. Fred ran into me once and while perhaps he didn’t exactly try to do it I never could believe that he tried very hard not to.”
“He can be pretty mean but I hardly think he’d do a thing like that on purpose.”