"Neither have I," responded George glibly.

Meanwhile Sam had cast off and with his boat-hook had pushed the Black Growler out into the stream. The graceful lines of the motor-boat were more distinctly seen now and the enthusiasm of the spectators was somewhat noisily expressed.

At that moment, however, the Varmint II came sweeping in a great semi-circle toward the dock and the attention of the a.s.sembly was quickly divided.

The boys were able to overhear the comparisons which were made, some of them favorable to one boat and some to the other.

The Go Ahead boys, however, were so deeply interested in the sight of their rival that they gave slight heed to the comments. They were keenly watching the young men on board, but in a few minutes they were beyond the sight of the dock and the Varmint II consequently no longer could be seen.

"I tell you, Sam is right," said George positively. "Those fellows on that Varmint II are a hard crowd. If they have been betting as much money as Sam says they have, it may be that there's some reason for his being afraid that some accident may happen to the Black Growler."

"It wouldn't do any harm to keep pretty close watch anyway," suggested Grant. "Whatever the weather is I think it will be better to run her into the boat-house every night and put double locks on the doors."

"We'll do more than that," said Sam. "We'll have somebody on the lookout. I guess it wouldn't be very much of a job for you boys to divide the night up into watches. I'll stay on duty until eleven or twelve o'clock and from then on until six wouldn't take more than an hour and a half from each of you."

"We'll do that," said Fred quickly. "That's a good suggestion, Sam."

"But if we have the Black Growler fast inside the boat-house how can any one get at her?" inquired John.

"My dear String," said Grant solemnly, "I fear now that the remark of that wise Englishman was correct when he said that Nature never built men seven stories high without the top lofts being left empty."

"I have heard you say that before," retorted John, irritated by the manner more than by the words of his friend.

"Well, all I can say is," said Grant, "if you have any gray matter up there where your brain ought to be located you had better begin pretty soon to make it work. If a man wanted to break into the boat-house he wouldn't have very much trouble in doing it, no matter how many padlocks we put on the doors."

"That's right," spoke up George. "He could dive under the doors, or smash in the window or cut out a gla.s.s and if there wasn't any one on guard he might never be detected. No, sir, we've got to establish a guard and the fellow who is on duty must keep up a regular patrol. He must keep walking around the dock all the time."

"And there may be some other ways by which they will try to get at us besides injuring our boat," suggested Grant.

"I don't see what," spoke up John quickly. "It's the one boat they are afraid of and if they can only put the Black Growler out of business they won't have anything to fear, as far as the outcome of the race is concerned. What could they do anyway?"

"Oh, I don't know," said Grant. "I can think of a dozen tricks they might play, any one of which might throw us out of the race."

Grant's words proved to be more prophetic than he had dreamed. That very afternoon after the boys had taken their daily run over a part of the triangular course where the great race was to be held, an event occurred which confirmed his statement and added strength to Sam's warning.

The Black Growler already had finished her course and under low speed was moving with the current on her way back to the island where she belonged.

Suddenly and without any warning whistle, a swift little boat dashed out from behind one of the small islands which the Black Growler chanced to be pa.s.sing at the time and almost before the boys were aware of what was occurring there was a collision.

"Look out! Look out there!" shouted Fred, who was steering, in his loudest tones. At the same time he did his utmost to change the course of the motor-boat. His words of warning, however, were either unheard or unheeded. There was a sharp collision, for the smaller boat was moving swiftly. This was followed by the sound of a grinding crash. In dismay the Go Ahead boys ran to the side of their boat and speedily discovered that the metal bow of the little boat before them had cut a long gash which extended below the water's edge. Indeed, it was only by an effort that the other boat was freed. To all appearances she was uninjured. On board were two men, plainly belonging to the region.

"What's the matter with you?" called one of the men on the other boat.

"What's the matter with YOU?" retorted Fred. "Why didn't you whistle before you turned the end of the island?"

"How were we to know anything was there if you didn't let us know? You, yourself, ought to have whistled."

The damage to the Black Growler, however, was not to be explained away by abuse or questions. Sam, already in the skiff, had brought it along-side and was inspecting the damage on the outside. As yet he had not made any suggestions and how serious the collision might prove to have been was not yet known.

Meanwhile the other boat hastily withdrew and when the Go Ahead boys again looked up to discover where it was, not one of them was able to find it.

"That's a great note!" exclaimed George in disgust. "They not merely ram us, but they don't wait nor even offer to help us."

"They didn't want to help," grumbled Sam. "The sooner they could get away from here, the better."

"What do you mean?" said Grant, abruptly turning to face Sam as he spoke.

"It seems to me," spoke up John, "that Nature doesn't have to make every fellow seven stories high to leave his topknot vacant. Sam thinks those fellows ran into us purposely."

For a moment the Go Ahead boys stared blankly at one another. The suggestion of John in the light of what had occurred after the accident might be true. The men in the other boat were strangers to the boys, not one of whom had ever seen either of them before.

The silent manner in which the sharp little boat had come around the island also was suspicious. With redoubled anxiety the boys turned to Sam to discover how serious was the damage which had been inflicted.

"How do you find it, Sam?" called Fred anxiously. "Are we out of the race?"

Sam shook his head as if he either was unwilling or unable as yet to reply.

Meanwhile the Black Growler had been drifting with the current, all power instantly having been shut off. Slight effort was required to keep her headed aright and Fred had remained at the wheel when Sam had begun his investigations.

Conversation now ceased while all four boys anxiously awaited the results of Sam's efforts to discover whether or not the Black Growler had suffered serious damage.

CHAPTER XXIII

THE CALL IN THE NIGHT

The only announcement which Sam vouchsafed after he had completed his hasty inspection of the damage which had been done was, "I guess she'll stand it all right as far as Alexandria Bay."

"Are you going to drift all the way, Sam?" inquired John.

"Drift? No! I'm going ahead. Seems to me I've heard some boys talk about 'goin' ahead,' and now 's the time to find out whether they mean business or not."

Relieved by the manner of Sam, although he had not made any positive statement, the four Go Ahead boys eagerly watched him as under slow headway he carefully guided the swift little boat toward its destination.

An hour afterward, they arrived at Alexandria Bay. There Sam insisted once more upon the boys remaining on board while he sought the help he desired in repairing the Black Growler.

While the boys were awaiting his return, their conversation naturally turned upon the mishap which had befallen them and their anxiety concerning the outcome of the accident.

"I'm telling you," said John, "that I haven't seen but one fellow on the Varmint II that was on board when I came up the Hudson with them."

"What has become of the others?" inquired Fred.

"I don't know. I haven't seen any of them. I remember that one particular fellow because he made me think when I saw him that there weren't many things he would hesitate to do if he wanted to win pretty badly."

"Do you really think," inquired George, "that this 'accident' up here was not an accident at all? Do you honestly believe that they ran into us on purpose?"

"I'm not charging n.o.body with nothin', as Sam says," laughed John, "but it's strange that boat didn't give any warning."