“Which way, sir?” asked George, wisely paying no attention to this shout, which, after all, was Nick’s only method for getting even, after all the agony he had endured in that cranky narrow motor boat.
“Turn to port, and head for the upper part of the island. We haven’t wasted much time, and I hope to discover that boat somewhere,” replied the agent.
“If we do,” said George, with firmness, “make up your mind the good old Wireless is going to hang on like a bulldog till she cuts down the lead, and overhauls that Flash. Always said she had the look of a pirate, and others thought the same thing, it seems, since those men picked her out as the boat they could use.”
“Just think of Clarence and Joe being in their hands all this time,” remarked Jack, as they tore through the water. “Must seem like a pretty tough vacation for those boys, all right.”
“Oh! I don’t suppose Glenwood has really harmed them,” said the agent; “but he’s a hard man to deal with; and unless they knuckled down to him perhaps they’ve felt his fist before now. I’m hoping that, perhaps, when Clarence sees who is after him he may find some way to slow down and let us overhaul him.”
George only laughed at this and remarked:
“That’s because you don’t know Clarence, sir. He hates me like poison, and sooner than have me beat him with my boat I believe he’d take the chances of staying in the power of those smugglers for a month. Oh! no, when he sees who is after him he’ll put things at top-notch speed, and try every trick he knows how to win out. But I’m not afraid, if only things go right with my engine.”
“Look yonder!” cried the eagle-eyed agent just then, the Indian having pulled his coat sleeve and pointed ahead.
“Say, that’s her, as sure as fate!” cried George, as he altered the course of his own boat a little.
“And they know we’re after them, too,” remarked Jack.