The Motor Boys Afloat; or, The Stirring Cruise of the Dartaway

The meal was eaten with appetites such as only come from perfect health and a life in the open. The boys filled themselves with no fear of future consequences, and then, having...

The _Dartaway_ continued to approach the schooner. In the stern Bob and Ned pretended to be trolling. Jerry held the motor craft on her course, going at first speed, and kept he...

Sure enough the _Dartaway_ was slackening speed. She was headed toward shore. The _Terror_ was gaining rapidly now. Chief Dalton stood up and drew his revolver in preparation of...

“We’ve got to find her!” he exclaimed. “She’s somewhere on the river, up or down, and we’ve got to go after her. She can’t have been taken very far, for we’ve not been gone more...

Carefully he went through the lines of printing and writing. They resolved themselves into a notice that at the freight station of the Atlantic & Northern Railroad there was a p...

Wondering whether their chief had taken leave of his senses the men obeyed. A curious crowd gathered to see what was going on. Some even deserted the bucket brigade lines.

It was a little lonesome for the two boys after Jerry had gone. For as long as possible they listened to the exhaust from the motor boat. When that died away, and silence, broke...

“Father’s,” replied Ned. “They just discovered it, and I came to tell you we’d have to delay the trip. They got in last night, and got away with about three thousand dollars in...

“Not exactly, though I have an interest in her,” the chief went on. “You see the Police Commissioners a few meetings ago decided to purchase a motor boat. We have quite a river...

The shock threw the _Dartaway_ back. Jerry had already turned off the power, and was slowing down for the reverse when the smash came. The motor boat had fairly poked her nose i...

About seven o’clock the two pursuing boats were about ten miles above Cresville. They made a short stop at a little village and coffee was prepared. While the simple breakfast w...

At first it seemed as if Noddy was about to run away, like a child surprised in some mischief. But he saw that he could not escape without going past the motor boys, unless, ind...

“Why of course!” exclaimed Bob. “It must be the schooner _Bluebird_ he’s referring to, and he means your father’s things will be found in her, Ned. It’s as plain as the nose on...

It was rather late when the motor boys got home after locking up the _Dartaway_. They did not go out again until Friday afternoon when they started for a park resort up stream.

“Yes! Look here!” spoke Mr. Nixon, his hands trembling with excitement as he extended a piece of paper to the chief. “Noddy did not come home all night. This morning I found thi...

“Slow down, Chunky!” called Jerry. “You stand by and Ned and I will get the girls. Watch out you don’t run us down. There, they’ve both sunk! We’ll have to dive for ’em!”

At the sight of the motor boys, Noddy started and seemed to turn back. Bill Berry, however, was troubled by no such timidity. He pushed forward while his companion hung back.

The barge, with its load of hay was no light weight to tow, but the boys were satisfied to get it out of the way of the schooner. They steered over toward the bank, and, as Ned...

There was no sound save the ripple of water past the side of the craft, and the distant gurgle where the stream flowed over a stony place that formed miniature rapids.

“Well if this isn’t--” began the tramp more excited than before. “I must--no I must not. Pray excuse me,” he went on, with an assumption of his former grand air, “I must not ref...

“Look here!” exclaimed Jerry sternly. “You girls are old enough to know better. There’s no danger, even if the boat has broken down, and we are stuck fast. If worst comes to wor...

Bill Berry was a big burly fellow, pretty much of a brute in his ways, and, though the boys knew he was a coward at heart, they realized that he might prove an ugly customer in...

Jerry and the two detectives had gone ashore by this time. They observed several footprints, indicating that a number of men had been tramping around near where the schooner was...

“Hold on,” came from Ned, who had been reading a card of instructions that was attached to the engine. “This says it is best to let the boat rest in the water a few hours after...

Slowly but surely the rowboat was pulled away from the dangerous brink of the falls. The two girls, who were pale with fear, regained their courage, and ventured to get up from...

The boys found Mr. Jaeger so busy hauling all sorts of freight and merchandise from the depot and other parts of Cresville that he could not promise to go after the boat that day.

What shouting and cheers greeted the motor boys as they slowed up their craft! The din was deafening, augmented as it was by the shrill whistles. The _Tortoise_, too, was receiv...

Right after dinner each of the boys wrote a message home, and the colored man drove off with them to the village about five miles away. Then, having recovered from their fatigue...

Jerry’s voyage to the head of the lake and then up the river was without incident. It was rather a lonely trip, but he had no time to feel any alarm.

Ned was steering, and, having passed two or three large craft he put the boat over to the Cresville side of the river, to gain the advantage of the better current. He was peerin...