Not a moment too soon had he acted, for an instant later
the other boat shot past the stern of the ARROW, hitting it a
severe but glancing blow. Tom's boat quivered from end to end and
he quickly shut off the power. By this time Andy had succeeded in
slowing down his craft. The young inventor hastily looked over
the side of the ARROW. One of the rudder fastenings had been torn
loose.
"What do you mean by running me down?" shouted Tom angrily.
"I--I didn't do it on purpose," returned Andy contritely. "I was
seeing how near I could come to you when my steering gear broke.
I hope I haven't damaged you."
"My rudder's broken," went on Tom "and I've got to put back to
repair it. I ought to have you arrested for this!"
"I'll pay for the damage," replied Andy, and he was so frightened
that he was white, in spite of his tan and freckles.
"That won't do me any good now," retorted Tom. "It will delay me
a couple of hours. If you try any tricks like that again, I'll
complain to the authorities and you won't be allowed to run a boat
on this lake."
Andy knew that his rival was in the right and did not reply. The
bully and his cronies busied themselves over the broken steering
gear, and the young inventor, finding that he could make a shift
to get back to his boathouse, turned his craft around and headed
for there, in order to repair the damage.
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