"Short circuited!" she exclaimed. "That happened when we struck the buoy. It jarred the battery wires together," and the next instant she had adjusted the difficulty and the engine, glad to be off again, seemed to try to make up for the lost seconds.
Every one in the Petrel breathed a sigh of relief. The anxiety had been intense.
"I was certainly afraid we would have to row to shore," Belle said, taking a more comfortable position.
"We will make up for it," declared Cora, throwing on full speed and directing Hazel as to the best way to hold the wheel exactly straight and in doing so to get all possible distance out of each explosion of the engine.
They finished in a tie over the first course. This was encouraging, for the little Mischief, their closest opponent, was acknowledged a fine boat.
Two more courses were to finish the race, unless there was another tie. The girls scarcely noticed the frantic efforts of the boys in the Peter Pan who were encouraging and directing at the top of their lungs. The young men in the Mischief were anxious. They could never stand it to be beaten by a couple of country girls! But, on the second trial Cora's boat won, and then came the final test.
Up the lake they went again! Now the Petrel was ahead and now the
Mischief until the closeness of the two became absorbing.
"The best race of the day!" the judges were declaring. "Neither has it all her own way!"
"Plucky girls," said another of the men at the stand. "Whatever happened when they stopped they must have been well able to handle, from the way they caught up again. I thought they were out of it that time!"
"We all did," put in some one else, "but I have seen that little girl on the lake before. She knows something about a motor boat."