As soon as the bridge settled back into place the motor car was put in motion. Tom directed his course along East Water Street, driving with great caution, until he reached an important business section. Not far from Wisconsin Street he found a garage and left his machine.
The next thing that Tom Clifton did was to hunt up a restaurant and refresh himself with a good meal. This acted so wonderfully upon his spirits that he walked out on the street feeling renewed confidence in the correctness of his deductions.
“Bet I’ll find the yacht in half an hour,” he said to himself. “Here’s where the hunt begins.”
But although Tom Clifton thoroughly explored the river in the neighborhood of the East Water Street bridge, the late afternoon found him still searching, with hope gone down to the zero point.
“I’ve made the circuit of the bases and been put out at home,” he muttered. “What do you think of that for awful luck!”
CHAPTER XI
GETTING A JOB
Benjamin Rochester was not the only person in Kenosha into whose brain a germ of suspicion concerning the boys had found lodgment. The very dapper and polite hotel clerk, having overheard scraps of conversation between Dave and Victor which plainly indicated an unusual state of affairs, set his thoughts in motion.
“It did seem mighty odd to me when that long-legged chap beat it,” he murmured, softly. “Queer, too, that a parcel of boys should be sporting around in a machine fit for a multi-millionaire. I won’t say there’s anything wrong about it, but——”
A step attracted his attention.
Dave Brandon, wearing his usual good-natured smile, had approached the desk.