"Matt," called George huskily, "one of those men is my father!"
"Great guns!" gasped Matt. "He started across the lake in the Stella. We didn't leave the Catfish quick enough. But keep your nerve, George. We're going to save them if we have to run into the breakers and pull the Stella off the cliff!"
[CHAPTER XVI.]
A RECONCILIATION.
McGlory aroused himself for a moment, and learned what the excitement was all about. Straightway he forgot his physical ills and became absorbed in the wonderful race Motor Matt was running with death. By every trick in his power the king of the motor boys was doing his utmost to urge the Sprite onward. The boat's speed became a terrific dash, a headlong hustle, with wind and wave helping the propeller.
"We'll never make it!" groaned George.
"Buck up, George!" cried McGlory. "Motor Matt has done harder things than this."
"But the Stella will be on the rocks before we can get to her! And there's the governor, likely to meet his fate right under my eyes! Oh, what a scoundrel I have been! Seeing the governor like this, perhaps for the last time, makes me realize what I have done. He was crossing the lake to find me, Joe."
George's voice died to a whisper and ended in a dry sob.