ng if, after all, he might not
better stop off and see his father when, above the puffing of the motor
in the RED STREAK, he heard the put-put of another boat.

"Listen!" cried Mr. Damon, who had heard it at the same time.

Tom nodded.

"They're just ahead of us," whispered his companion.

"If it's them," was the lad's reply.

"Speed up and we'll soon see," suggested Mr. Damon, and Tom shoved the
timer over. The RED STREAK forged ahead. The sound of the other boat
came more plainly now. It was beyond a little point of land. The
young inventor steered out to get around it and leaned eagerly forward
to catch the first glimpse of the unseen craft. Would it prove to be
the ARROW?

The put-put became louder now. Mr. Damon was standing up, as if that
would, in some mysterious way, help. Then suddenly the other boat came
into view. Tom saw it in an instant and knew it for the ARROW.

"There she is!" he cried.

CHAPTER XVIII

THE PURSUIT

For an instant after Tom's exultant cry the men in the boat ahead were
not aware that they were being pursued. Then, as the explosions from
the motor of the RED STREAK sounded over the water, they turned to see
who was coming up behind them. There was no mistaking the attitude of
the young inventor and his companion. They were leaning eagerly
forward, as if they could reach out and grasp the criminals who were
fleeing before them.

"Put on all the speed you can, Tom!" begged Mr. Damon. "We'll catch
the scoundrels now. Speed up the motor! Oh, if I only had my
automobile now. Bless my crank shaft, but one can go so much faster on
land than on water."

The lad did not reply, but thought, with grim humor, that running an
automobile over Lake Carlopa would be no small feat. Mr. Damon,
however, knew what he was saying.

"We'll catch them! We'll nab 'em!" he cried. "Speed her up, Tom."

The youth was doing his best with the motor of the RED STREAK. 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 ha