"First time it has gone
back on me." The boat was drifting down the lake, and, at the
sound of another motor craft approaching, Tom looked up. He saw
the RED STREAK, containing Andy Foger and his cronies. They had
observed the young inventor's plight.
"Want a tow?" sneered Andy.
"What'll you take for your second-hand boat that won't run?"
asked Pete Bailey.
"Better get out of the way or you might be run down," added Sam
Snedecker.
Tom was too angry and chagrined to reply, and the RED STREAK swept
on.
"I'll make her go, if it takes all night!" declared Tom
energetically. Once more he tried to start the motor. It coughed
and sighed, as if in protest, but would not explode. Then Tom
cried: "The spark plug! That's where the trouble is, I'll wager.
Why didn't I think of it before?"
It was the work of but a minute to unscrew the spark plugs from
the tops of the cylinders. He found that both had such
accumulations of carbon on them that no spark could ever have
reached the mixture of gasoline and air.
"I'll put new ones in," he decided, for he carried a few spare
plugs for emergencies. Inside of five minutes, with the new plugs
in place, the motor was running better than before.
"Now for home!" cried Tom, "and if I meet Andy Foger I'll race
him this time.
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