“Come on then!” cried Tom.
The man in the “red tub” removed the pipe from his mouth, knocked the ashes out on the edge of the washboard, dropped it into his pocket, and began leisurely to busy himself with valves and switches.
“Turn her on, Nel,” said Tom. “Give her full speed.”
“All right,” laughed Nelson, “but I don’t believe we’ll need quite full speed to walk away from that boat.” He disappeared into the cabin.
“He’s a sport, anyhow,” declared Dan. “I like a chap that’s not afraid of being beaten.”
The Vagabond began to move through the water at a faster pace and Tom allowed himself a final gibe at the rival boat.
“So long!” he shouted.
The smaller boat was already several lengths behind and her crew was still bending over the engine.
“It takes him long enough to get her started,” said Bob. “I wonder——”
But what Bob wondered was never disclosed. For at that moment there came a series of pistol-like reports from the So Long’s exhaust and the “red tub” suddenly dug her straight, sharp nose into the water, threw it away from her on each side in two long green waves and came alongside.