“What, the rat?” asked Alice.

“No; I’ve found the broken wire that caused all our trouble,” came from Jerry. “It was the end of it sticking up through a crack and touching you on the ankle that you felt. Now we’ll be off!”

It was indeed the break in the copper conductor that he had discovered. The ends of the wire came up through a space in the flooring of the boat. They ran from a compartment in the forecastle back to the motor. In less than a minute Jerry had twisted the broken ends together. Then he fastened the conductor back in the spark plug. Turning on the gasolene he gave the fly wheel a twist.

There came a welcome chug-chug and then a throb of the motor. Jerry threw in the reverse gear. The water at the stern was churned into foam as the screw revolved. Slowly the Dartaway backed off the sand bar and into a deeper channel. Then Jerry threw in t. . . Read More