“You mean the houseboat folks? Well, but they don’t get the launch, do they?”
“Not so you’d notice it,” answered Toby. “We’ll call around tomorrow and get it. And then we’ll see if anybody’s lost one. If they haven’t, we’ll sell her, eh?”
“Or keep her ourselves. She looks pretty good, doesn’t she?” Arnold peered back at the following launch. “Wonder what her name is?”
“Maybe it’s painted out. She’s a jim-dandy little launch, all right, and that makes me think those fellows stole her. Look at the lines of her. She can’t be much over four feet wide. If she only had some gas in her tank we could get home a lot quicker, because one of us could get in and run her.”
“It would be you, then,” replied Arnold promptly. “Is she holding us back much?”
“I guess we’re doing about nine. That’s fast enough. Only dad will give me the dickens when I get home!”
“He won’t when you tell him what you’ve been doing,” said the other encouragingly.
“Won’t he?” Toby asked grimly. “You don’t know my dad!”
The journey back was uneventful, which was just as well, since the two boys were surfeited with adventure for once, and a little bit tired as well. Sleepy they were not, and Arnold declared that he didn’t believe he would ever get to sleep before morning. But by the time Nobbs Island Light was showing well the conversation had begun to dwindle and Toby was yawning frankly.