ved some of them
of their wind.

"I hear a motor-boat," said Roger. "Wonder if it is Nat Poole's craft?"

"It is!" answered Plum. "Here he comes, right close to shore!"

The river was a good fifteen feet below the level of the roadway, and
gazing down through the bushes lining the water's edge, the students
beheld Nat Poole's motor-boat gliding along in a zig-zag fashion. Nat
was not in the craft, which was evidently running without an occupant.

CHAPTER XV

A RUNAWAY MOTOR-BOAT

"What do you make of that?"

"The motor-boat must have run away from Nat!"

"Either that or Nat has fallen overboard!"

"Maybe Nat has been drowned!"

These and other remarks were made, as the boys on the highway gazed down
at the craft that was speeding along in such an erratic fashion over the
surface of the river. A closer look confirmed their first opinion, that
nobody was on board.

"I'm going to try to stop her!" shouted Dave, and ran back along the
highway, and disappeared into the bushes. Roger followed him closely,
and some of the others trailed behind.

"I am going up the river--to see if I can find Nat!" shouted Phil, and
away he sped, and Sam and Ben went along.

It was no easy matter for Dave to work his way down the bank of the
stream. The bushes were thick and the footing uncertain, and once his
jacket caught on a root and he had to pause to free himself. But at
last he came out on a narrow strip of rocks and sand, at a point where
the Leming River made a broad turn.

The water at this point was quite shallow, and here he thought the
progress of the motor-boat would be stayed. His surmise was correct, the
craft bringing up between several smooth rocks. The engine continued to
work, pounding the boat back and forth, and threatening to sink her.

Fortunately, Dave had on a pair of gaiters he had borrowed, and they
were so big that he slipped them off with ease. His socks followed, and
then he rolled up his trousers to his knees, and waded into the stream.

"Be careful, or you'll slip and hurt yourself on the rocks!" sang out
the senator's son.

"I'm watching out!" returned Dave.

He was leaping from one smooth stone to another, keeping in the shallow
spots as much as possible. Thus he managed to get within a few yards of
the motor-boat.

As he came closer he saw that the craft was pounding on the rocks worse
than before. The pounding had in some way moved the gasoline control
forward and also advanc