c coughs. Then the hood began to incline
slowly and Gregory felt the hull rising. Perhaps the craft was not dead
after all, but only sleeping. Watching Bronson's fingers on the spark
and throttle, he noticed that the man was advancing them cautiously.

"Watch out for your hat," Bronson admonished.

Gregory moved his hand carelessly to his head and caught his hat just in
time. With an angry roar the _Richard_ shot forward, raising her great
hood higher and higher in air while the hull seemed scarcely to be in
the water at all. The wind blew in their faces like a hurricane carrying
with it great clouds of spray which drenched their skins and blinded
Gregory's eyes. Gasping for breath, he noticed that the _Richard_ was
climbing higher. Then Bronson opened the cut-out and the craft sped away
like an angry sea-bird.

The roar of the exhaust was deafening and Gregory was obliged to shout
to the man beside him before he was able to make himself heard.

"Is she wide open?" he shrieked.

Bronson directed his gaze to the position of the throttle device and
Gregory saw with a gasp of astonishment that the throttle was only half
open.

On they sped, the hull rising from the water and hurling itself along
the crest of the waves, tossing them to the sides in great clouds of
whirling, blinding spray. Could it be possible that the propeller was
still in the water?

Suddenly he felt the _Richard_ collapse and drop sullenly into the sea.
The "machine-guns" had ceased firing and Bronson was regarding him with
a smile. The boatman's face was crusted with salt and his eyes were
twinkling.

"How about it?" he asked. "Do you think Barrows made any mistake?"

When Gregory recovered his breath, he observed: "Yes. I wanted a
motor-boat. Not an aeroplane."

Bronson laughed.

"Easier to go through the air than the water," he said. "That's why we
made your boat plane. It takes a lot of power to put her on her 'high
horse.' But once she's there, she makes her speed on a minimum of
horse-power. That's why we bank on the _Richard_ to beat the _Fuor
d'Italia_. Your boat is heavier than Mascola's, closer ribbed, but you
have more power. We're backing this one against his in any weather and
the rougher it is the better it will suit us."

Gregory glowed with satisfaction. The _Richard_ was all boat. He noticed
that she did not tremble like Mascola's boat, but did her work in a
businesslike way with no ostentation. He admired people like tha