But Jack was bound that both boats must keep in touch all the time, and that George should hold his “bucking broncho” engine, as Buster called it, in sufficiently to avoid leaving the Tramp behind.
There were lots of good reasons for this, too.
In the first place Jack knew only too well that on most occasions when George had had trouble with his engine, it was when he was playing all sorts of pranks with it, taking chances, in the hope of causing his boat to make a record for the class to which it belonged. And if he were compelled to moderate his speed just a little, there would be a far better opportunity for him to keep right along to the finish.
Then again, this was no good-natured race intended to test the racing abilities of the two rival boats. Jack had always admitted frankly enough that if the Wireless only behaved herself, she was in a class by herself, insofar as the other boats of the fleet were concerned. The only trouble was, that six times out of seven she insisted on “cutting up” just when George was congratulating himself that he had finally conquered that turbulent spirit.
They would, provided they caught up with the stolen Saunterer, find themselves pitted against a couple of bad men, who would not hesitate at anything in order to escape with their stolen plunder.
And that was the main reason why Jack had insisted upon George binding himself to an agreement to stay by the others, come what would. Why, he was that reckless, that, should he overtake the fugitive thieves, with only Andy back of him, chances were he would dash at them, and somebody was bound to get hurt, probably George himself.
Everything seemed to be going along nicely, after they had gotten well away from the island. Jack wondered whether Herb would insist on following after them in his slow boat, or stay by the camp. Perhaps finding that Buster and Algernon were both eager to get on the move, no matter if they could not hope to arrive in time to lend a helping hand, Herb might make the start.
“Josh, can you see the island still?” the skipper of the Tramp called out, for he was himself too busy watching how his machine worked to take his eyes off it; and then, again, what was the use, when he could get the information second-hand just as well.
“Yep, though it’s getting kind of faint now, Jack,” came the reply. “You see, this here moonlight ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. I’ve proved it, too. ’Nother feller’d me we made a wager that we could tell anybody half a mile away; then we went outside to prove it! My conscience! there was a black thing in the country road just about sixty yards away; he said it looked like a bear, and I was just dead certain ’twas a cow a-lyin’ down. Well, we walked up to it, and what d’ye think, it was only an old stump after all.”