He
was not as well acquainted with it as he was with the one in his
boat, but he knew, even better than Andy Foger, how to make it do
efficient work. It was a foregone conclusion that the RED STREAK,
if rightly handled, could beat the ARROW, but there were several
points in favor of the thieves. The motor of Tom's boat was in
perfect order, and even an amateur, with some knowledge of a boat,
could make it do nearly its best. On the other hand, the RED
STREAK's machinery needed "nursing." Again, the thieves had a
good start, and that counted for much. But Tom counted on two
other points. One was that Happy Harry and his gang would
probably know little about the fine points of a motor. They had
shown this in letting the motor of the boat they had first stolen
get out of order, and Tom knew the ins and outs of a gasoline
engine to perfection. So the chase was not so hopeless as it
seemed.
"Do you think you can catch them?" asked Mr. Damon anxiously.
"I'm going to make a big try," answered his companion.
"They're heading out into the middle of the lake!" cried the
eccentric man.
"If they do, I can cut them off!" murmured Tom as he put the wheel
over.
But whoever was steering the ARROW knew better than to send it on
a course that would enable the pursuing boat to cut across and
shorten the distance to it.
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