“I am Lucy Waring. May I ask——?”
“My chum here is Gus Grier and I am Bill Brown.”
“I shall be indebted to you forever,” the girl said graciously. “You see I am in an awful fix. Those men deliberately stole our boat. This is my father’s auxiliary yacht, the X-Ray. My father is Doctor Louis Waring, of——”
“The great Doctor Waring, nerve specialist?”
“Nerves, yes. I believe people call him great sometimes. You see we have a summer home at Hawk’s Bill, just below the inlet here, and we girls, my two sisters and some friends are there now. Father and Mother are coming down to-morrow. I’m fond of boating, and sometimes, just to be on the water, I come down and sleep in the yacht. To-night I did and I waked up to feel that we were adrift and sailing, with somebody on board—two, I think. While I was wondering what to do, one came and tried my door and called to me, I said something to him, you may believe! But he would hardly listen to me, though he couldn’t force the door and I told him I’d shoot if he did. Presently we went aground and the men went back and started to work with the motor. I slipped out and got at the wireless, locking my door after me and locking the wireless room door. I don’t know how they didn’t hear me, though they were making an awful racket trying to hammer something. I sent several messages, then I listened and still heard them talking and slipped back. They couldn’t get the engine to run—it can hardly be cranked, but it has a starter which they didn’t understand. About half an hour ago they went off in the dory and I thought they were returning when you came.”
“And you have no idea who they are?”
“None whatever. I only know that the talk of the one that called to me sounded as though he were a foreigner, perhaps an Italian—about the other I couldn’t say. They surely meant to steal this boat, and if they had not stuck here, I don’t know whatever would have become of me. And now, may I ask of you to——?”
“Start that motor and get you back? You sure may—and it ought not to be much of a job.”
“My father will liberally reward you.”
“We don’t want any reward, Miss Waring. Doing mechanical stunts in trying to rescue people is our specialty.”