There was no doubt of it. The craft was not at the dock. Breaking into a run, Tom hastened to the boathouse. The ARROW was not in there, and a look across the lake showed only a few rowboats in sight.
"That's mighty funny," mused the youth. "I wonder—"
He paused suddenly in his thoughts.
"Maybe Garret took it out to try and see that it worked all right," he said hopefully. "He knows how to run a boat. Maybe he wanted to see how the rudder behaved and is out in it now. He got through dinner before I did. But I should have thought he'd have said something to me if he was going out in it."
This was the one weak point in Tom's theory, and he felt it at once.
"I'll see if Garret is in his shop," he went on as he turned back toward the house.
The first person he met as he headed for the group of small structures where Mr. Swift's inventive work was carried on was Garret Jackson, the engineer.
"I—I thought you were out in my boat!" stammered Tom.
"Your boat! Why would I be out in your boat?" and Mr. Jackson removed his pipe from his mouth and stared at the young inventor.
"Because it's gone!"